Aurora Information Uplink - User contributions [en]

Help:Style guide

2024-07-28T22:33:08Z

La Villa Strangiato: Takes some pages from Wikipedia's "Writing better articles" to elaborate more on the usage of headers, appropriate paragraph length, and so on. Adds navboxes.

{{Tutorial navigation}}
This article explains how to create articles, both lore and gameplay guides, that are clear and informative to a player. Much of this guide is taken from Wikipedia's [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Writing_better_articles guide to writing better articles], and has been parsed down for better relevancy to Space Station 13 and Aurorastation.

== Structure of the Article ==

Good articles start with introductions, continue with a clear structure, and end with standard navigation boxes and categories. Articles start with a lead section summarising the most important points of the topic. The lead section is the first part of the article; it comes above the first header, and may contain a lead image which is representative of the topic. In a lore article, it may contain a lead image and/or an infobox that provides a few key facts, such as locations, languages, and species. As a rough guide to size, a lead section should generally contain no more than four well-composed paragraphs.

===Paragraphs===
Paragraphs should be short enough to be readable, but long enough to develop an idea. Paragraphs should deal with a particular point or idea. All the sentences within a paragraph should revolve around the same topic. When the topic changes, a new paragraph should be started. Overly long paragraphs should be split up, as long as the cousin paragraphs keep the idea in focus.

=== Headings ===
Headings help clarify articles and create a structure shown in the table of contents. Headings are hierarchical. The article's title uses a '''level 1 heading''', so you should start with a level 2 heading <code>==Heading==</code>) and follow it with lower levels: <code>===Subheading===</code>, <code>====Subsubheading====</code>, and so forth. Whether extensive subtopics should be kept on one page or moved to individual pages is a matter of personal judgment.

=== Table of contents ===
The table of contents contains links to direct a reader to a specific section of the article. By default, the table of contents will drift to the left. To move the table of contents to the right, use <nowiki>{{toc_right}}</nowiki>. To get rid of a table of contents entirely, place <nowiki>__NO TOC__</nowiki> at the top of the page. A long page should use the <nowiki>{{TOC Hidden}}</nowiki> template. Place TOC templates at the bottom of the introductory paragraph.

== Writing Gameplay Guides ==

# Consult an expert on the gameplay. Even if you consider yourself an especially good player, errors can still surface. Ensure you have someone to proof-read your article who is aware of the mechanics behind it.
# Keep your explanations as succinct as possible. Use short, simple sentences and clear language. Ensure your guide is free of grammatical errors, run-on sentences, and other information-obscuring errata.
# Do not include bugs, exploits, or other unintended behavior in the guide.
# Use bold to emphasize '''lifesaving information'''. Use italics to put ''stress'' on a word, or differentiate it from a proceeding or succeeding statement.
# Provide a brief explanation of a technical term when it first appears.
# Do not use the most effective method in a guide. Provide and encourage room for exploration of different or better methods.

== Writing Lore Pages ==

As stated on the [[Wiki Staff Guidelines]] page, it is required that work-in-progress pages be avoided. In practice, what this means is that a wiki page should have each section filled out and ready to present before being pushed to the wiki. There should be no "finish later" or "WIP" text under a section. However, elements of the section can be expanded upon after their release.

Lore pages should be proofread by the lore team they apply to to ensure no continuity errors, spelling mistakes, or grammatical errors (or at least as few as possible) make it to the live page. The Lore Team Administration can also be consulted for large, wide-ranging changes, but this is not strictly necessary. Sections in a lore page should strive to stay at or below four paragraphs. If they extend over four paragraphs, the section in question should be trimmed, moved to its own page (if a faction page or capital planet), or sectioned under a collapsible box.

Writers should strive to avoid hard numbers on population. Percentages are generally acceptable when describing a demographic.

The tone of a lore page should remain should remain '''formal''', '''impersonal''', and '''dispassionate'''. Ambiguity in in-universe events or history can remain present, and is strongly encouraged to be included.

The exception to this tone is '''quotes''', which should be limited to one per section. They should generally be formatted with the quote (in quotation marks) in italics, a hyphen, the name and occupation the quote is attributed to, and the context of the quote. An example is:

<center>''“The people of Biesel could all collectively protest for a century. It still won’t change anything, because power in the Republic does not lie with people. It lies with corporations.”'' - Hugo Beasley, “A Himean In Mendell City”, released 2464</center>

The year the quote is from is relevant if the quote is from a "published work", such as a book or movie. If the quoted individual is deceased, their date of birth and death should be next to their name, as exemplified:

<center>''“I think there are better ways to build a society than draining the life and light from its best citizens.”'' - Mahmud ibn Amin (2328 - 2419), physicist and second leader of “Project Hubris”</center>

In lore wiki articles, the usage of '''bold text''' to denote emphasis on written dates or persons should be avoided. One exception is the name of the subject within the introductory paragraph of the article, such as:

<center>In the core worlds of Humanity’s power and built upon the center of the largest phoron deposits in the known galaxy, the '''Federal Republic of Biesel''' is an independent state and the economic and social centre of the Orion Spur.</center>

If a section is elaborated on further on a larger page, the link to the page should be underneath the header of the section and italicised. It should look like:

<center>''See also: [[Biesellite Culture and Society]]''</center>

=== Planet and Faction Pages ===
A full, complete planet or faction page should have the following sections:

*A brief introductory paragraph, summarising basic elements of the subject. '''Do not put an "Overview" header over this paragraph'''.
*If the page is a faction, '''Population and Planets''', in which the planets of the faction are listed and described in brief.
*'''History''', in which the planet/faction's history is explained
*'''Environment''', in which the planet's landscape, general climate, and basic atmospheric composition is explained
**An environment section is also where the planet's continents and its star system should be elaborated upon, provided its system does not have its own page (such as [[Tau Ceti]] or [[Sol]]).
*'''Economy''', in which the planet/faction's economy is elaborated upon. Currencies, industries, employment, and megacorporate involvement should be included here. Megacorporate involvement should have approval from the Lore Team Administration. If the planet/faction has its own corporations, these do not need to be approved by the Lore Team Administration unless they are involved with the megacorporations.
*'''Politics and Government''', in which the planet/faction's governmental system should be elaborated on. Political parties and common ideologies can be included. Note that if a planet is already part of a faction, they do not require a Politics and Government section (but it can be included if relevant).
*'''Culture and Demographics''', in which the general culture and attitudes of the planet are expanded on. This is the widest-ranging section of the page; it is where content such as cuisine, language, societal attitudes, media, common sayings, architecture, art, fashion, etc. can be placed under. If a digression on a specific aspect of culture extends for more than '''two (2) paragraphs''', it should be placed under a subheading.
**If the planet has a significant population of immigrants, whether they be humans from another nation or aliens, this can be placed under a subheading. The relevant page describing the species abroad should be linked, such as [[Skrell Abroad]] or [[Unathi Abroad]]. Make sure to consult with the relevant lore team when including demographics from alien species teams.
***'''Crime''', if included, should also be placed under a subheading in Culture and Demographics.
*'''Military''', in which the planet/faction's military and armed forces are described. This includes branches, general actions, and structure. If the planet is part of a larger faction, this section is not required.
*'''Technology''', in which the planet/faction's notable technological advances or specializations are expanded on. If the planet is part of a larger faction, this section is not required.
*If the page is a planet, '''Major Cities/Population Centres''', where a number of major population centres can be described in brief. This should range from one to two paragraphs. Not applicable to faction pages.

=== Species Pages ===

Species pages are structured slightly differently than faction pages, but otherwise the general rules for formatting and style should be observed. Anything relevant to the species that cannot be categorized within these boundaries is permitted to be organized as the author sees fit.

A basic species page should have the following sections:

*A brief introductory paragraph, summarising basic elements of the subject. '''Do not put an "Overview" header over this paragraph'''.
*'''Heads of Staff''', or a section in which the jobs that the species or their subspecies can take are elaborated on.
**'''Relations with Megacorporations''' is a subsection where the species' relationships with megacorporations, and which ones will employ the species, is elaborated on. Some megacorporations may not employ [[Vaurca]] or specifically free [[IPC|IPCs]], for example.
*'''Mechanics''', where the mechanics such as the strengths, weaknesses (such as damage modifiers), language keys, and features are explained in bullet-point form. Non-mechanical traits can also be elaborated on here, but are suggested to be placed in Biology, Culture, or Social.
*'''Biology''', in which the species' general appearance, lifespan, internal biology, morphism, colour ranges, and diseases can be elaborated on.
*'''History''', in which a brief history of the species is explained; this can be its own page.
*'''Culture''', in which the species' general culture should be explained. This should have subheadings, and can link to multiple pages depending on the factions within the species, and the length of the content.
**Language, diet and cuisine, entertainment, media, and holidays should be within this section.
*'''Social''', in which the species' social workings should be explained. This should likely also have subheadings and multiple pages.
**Societal attitudes, religion, and relationships should go in this section.
*'''Politics''' or '''Factions''', in which the notable factions within the species should be elaborated on. For Vaurcae, this can mention the Hives; for [[Skrell]], the Free Traverse or an expansion on the structure of the Nralakk Federation, etc.
*'''Interspecies Relations''', in which the species' attitudes towards humanity and other species, as well as any internal strife or differing views, can be documented.
*'''Playing the Species''', which is intended to be a more out-of-character guide to how to portray the species for a player writing a species application. This can also be its own page separate from the main species page, depending on the length.
{{Tutorial navigation}}

Help:Basic Editing Guide

2024-07-28T22:31:51Z

La Villa Strangiato: fixes redlink

{{Tutorial navigation}}
Thank you for taking the time to consider contributing to the wiki. This guide - along with others that you can navigate to from the top and bottom of this page - is designed for all users, even wiki maintainers. Directly below this text is a preface to editing so that you're prepared to do the rest without worry.

'''IMPORTANT:''' To submit changes for review, you need to log in to the wiki. Do not create a new account. Instead, click "log in" and input your forum username and password in the appropriate boxes. They are linked.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==Foreword About Additions and Approval==
Any logged in user can submit changes to nearly any page, but those changes will not be merged unless a wiki maintainer reviews and approves of the changes or you are a maintainer/lore writer yourself. All wiki maintainers are given a large and obvious notification on any wiki page whenever there are submissions that await approval. Be sure to review the [[Help:Style guide|style guide]] before making large edits to make sure your page is nice and clean. In any case if you have questions or concerns about the wiki or your edits then feel free to contact a maintainer on the Discord.

===Your Wiki/Forum Account===
Aurora station utilizes a cross platform system that enables you to use the same account between the forum and the wiki. You will need to log onto the wiki through your forum account. To register a wiki account, you must first register a forum account. You can do that [https://forums.aurorastation.org/ucp.php?mode=register| at this link]. If you have trouble logging onto the wiki, contact a staff member.

==Criteria for Edits==
There is a list of criteria that should ideally be met before an edit is made. While they are not requirements, they should be used for determining whether an edit is needed to being with. These criteria also include edits Lore pages, however any Lore page edit is subject to approval by the associated Lore team before any edits can be accepted. To avoid an edit to a Lore page from being rejected, include which Lore Developer approved the edit in the "Summary" box.

Here is the general criteria of editing on the wiki:
#It corrects an error, or otherwise serves to correct a problem.
#It adds additional information to improve the page.
#It removes unnecessary clutter.
#It rephrases the text to be more clear or user friendly.

If an edit fails to meet one or more of the above criteria, or fails to adhere to the style guide, it may be subject to alteration or rejection by the Wiki Maintenance team.

==Criteria for Page Creation==
Creating a brand new page has a stricter set of criteria. The content of a new page is still subject to the editing criteria from earlier, but must also meet one or both of the criteria below:

#It serves an obvious purpose not filled adequately by any other page.
#It is deemed by the wiki maintainer team to be a quality addition.

==Editing==
Once you've logged in, click 'Edit' at the top to begin the process of editing a page. The button should look like this:

[[File:Editing Page.png|166px]]

Once you click that edit button, you should be brought to a the wiki editor (also known as the wiki parser) containing all of the text and formatting for the page. Ctrl-F to the or scroll down to the section you with to change, and begin editing. At the bottom where it says 'Summary' you should type a bief explanation of the changes made. If the edits you made were relatively minor (fixing typos, formatting, etc) then you can click the 'This is a minor edit' button. It should look similar to this:

[[File:Editing_Page2.png|700px]]

Before submitting your changes, ''always'' preview your work to make sure your changes have not accidentally changed the page formatting. You may even catch some other issues that you missed at first glance. When you are done with your edits and want to submit them, click 'Save changes' to submit the changes for approval. You should see this if all went well:

[[File:Pending_Review.png|300px]]

==Formatting==
<i>See also: [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting The Guide to Formatting]</i>

Mediawiki has many tools to stylize your text, which can aid in readability if used properly. Be sure to take a look at the [[Help:Style guide|style guide]] for info on how these tools may best be used. The following table provides examples on some of the most common formatting:
{| class="wikitable" border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: #666666; background-color: #efefef; width: " cellpadding="5"
|+ Example Wikitext
|-
! What you type || What it looks like
|-
|<pre>''italic text''</pre> || ''italic text''
|-
|<pre>'''bold text'''</pre> || '''bold text'''
|-
|<pre><small>small text</small></pre> || <small>small text</small>
|-
|<pre>
no indent
:single indent
::double indent
:::triple indent
</pre>
||
no indent
:single indent
::double indent
:::triple indent
|-
|<pre>
#Entry 1
#Entry 2
#Entry 3
##Entry 3 subtype 1
</pre>
||
#Entry 1
#Entry 2
#Entry 3
##Entry 3 subtype 1
|-
|<pre>
*Bullet 1
*Bullet 2
*Bullet 3
**Bullet 3 subtype 1
*#Bullet 3 number 1
</pre>
||
*Bullet 1
*Bullet 2
*Bullet 3
**Bullet 3 subtype 1
*#Bullet 3 number 1
|-
|<pre>
=Heading Level 1=
==Heading Level 2==
===Heading Level 3===
====Heading Level 4====
</pre>
||

=Heading Level 1=
==Heading Level 2==
===Heading Level 3===
====Heading Level 4====
<br>
|}

==Linking==
<i>See also: [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links The Guide to Links]</i>

You are probably already familiar with links if you have managed to reach this guide. It is the blue text you often see around wiki pages, [[#Linking|and it usually looks like this]]. The table below contains a brief summary of how to link to other pages.
{| class="wikitable" border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: #666666; background-color: #efefef; width: " cellpadding="5"
|+ Example Links
|-
! || What you type || What it looks like || What it's for
|-
! 1
|<pre>[[Assistant]]</pre> || [[Assistant]] || This is the standard inter-wiki link. If you want to link to another page on the wiki, then use this.
|-
! 2
|<pre>[[Assistant|Dirty maintenance gremlins]]</pre> || [[Assistant|Dirty maintenance gremlins]] || Adding a <code><nowiki>|</nowiki></code> (known as a [[wikipedia:Vertical_bar|vertical bar]]) between the page name and some text will render that link as the text you put in, in case you want to hide a link inside some relevant information. You may discover that this very guide uses this method in more than a few areas!
|-
! 3
|<pre>[[Guide to EVA#Jetpacks|How to use Jetpacks]]</pre> || [[Guide to EVA#Jetpacks|How to use Jetpacks]] || Sometimes only a specific part of a page is relevant to what you're typing about, so in this case we link to the page ''and'' the relevant subheading. Anything that appears in the table of contents (or is otherwise "anchored") can be linked to this way.
|-
! 4
|<pre>[[#Editing|The Editing subheading]]</pre> || [[#Editing|The Editing subheading]] || If you want to link to a subheading that's already on the page you're editing, you can forego having to include the name of the page and only include the subheading name.
|-
! 5
|<pre>[[wikipedia:Space Station 13|Wikipedia Article about SS13]]</pre> || [[wikipedia:Space Station 13|Wikipedia Article about SS13]] || This simply links back to Wikipedia. You probably won't be using this much since Aurora's setting is purely fictional, but this is here for posterity.
|-
! 6
|<pre>[https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/7780-looking-for-wiki-developers/#comment-153366 Burrito's cry for help]</pre> || [https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/7780-looking-for-wiki-developers/#comment-153366 Burrito's cry for help] || If you must link to something outside of the wiki then this is what you'd use. Note that there is nothing separating the URL from the rendered text except for a space, and that the entire link is surrounded by single brackets, not double. ''Do not'' link to external links without approval from a wiki maintainer.
|}

==Images==
<i>See also: [[Help:Images|The Guide to Images]]</i>

Images are just that: images. They are used to offer a visual aid to information, and to make the information more digestible. Files can only be uploaded by Wiki Maintainers and Lore Developers, however this should not discourage anyone from preparing images for an edit. To upload a file, reach out to a Wiki Maintainer who can upload the file for you.

Below are the steps for uploading a file:
#Click the '''Upload file''' button on the left of your screen<br>'''OR'''<br>Click on a red link to the file of your choosing.
#Click '''Choose file''' to select what file to upload from your PC.
#*Ideally this is in a common image format (JPG, PNG, GIF, etc).
#Give the file a name, ideally relevant to what the file is about.
#*If you went with the red link method then the filename is probably already populated.
#Give it a summary if you want.
#Click '''Upload file''' to finish.
That should do it, as long as there are no errors (most common being duplicate images). Note that due to how caching works that it may take a while for your file to actually render on pages it's used.

'''Please note:''' If you are uploading sprites from the game, ensure that their dimensions are 32x32 (or whatever their original resolution is). If you want to scale a sprite up, do so through the wiki and not an image editor (see below). Ideally all sprites are retrieved from the game's files and not from screenshots. [[Help:Images|See the images guide for a how-to on getting the best possible sprites]].

{| class="wikitable" border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: #666666; background-color: #efefef; width: " cellpadding="5"
|+ Various ways to link a file
|-
! What you type || What it looks like || Explanation
|-
|<pre>[[File:Btoolbox.png]]</pre> || [[File:Btoolbox.png]] || This is the simplest way to display an image. These will typically default to the left side of the page.
|-
|<pre>[[File:Btoolbox.png|64px]]</pre> || [[File:Btoolbox.png|64px]] || By using <code>64px</code> (or any other number, ideally multiples of 32 if it's a sprite) you can scale an image via the wiki.
|-
|<pre>[[File:Btoolbox.png|64px|center]]</pre> || [[File:Btoolbox.png|64px|center]] || You can use <code>center</code> to put an image directly in the center of the page. There are other directions you can use as well, like <code>right</code>.
|-
|<pre>[[File:Btoolbox.png|link=Help:Contents|I AM VERY LOUD LOOKING TEXT]]</pre> || [[File:Btoolbox.png|link=Help:Contents|I AM VERY LOUD LOOKING TEXT]] || The first part transforms the image into a link to another page. Normally this would link back to the image itself. The second part adds a caption to images that is only visible if you hover your cursor over it, which can be useful for additional-but-not-useful info about an item.
|-
|<pre>[[File:Btoolbox.png|link=|This image goes no where]]</pre> || [[File:Btoolbox.png|link=|This image goes no where]] || By setting the link to an empty value you can make the image do nothing if it's clicked on.
|-
|<pre>[[File:Btoolbox.png|thumb|Caption!]]</pre> || [[File:Btoolbox.png|thumb|Caption!]] || If you want information related to an image to be readily visible then you can use the <code>thumb</code> parameter, followed by the info you'd like to type. Thumbs will default to the right side of the page.
|-
|}

==Page Creation==
'''Remember:''' Only create a new page if the new page meets the [[#Criteria for Page Creation|Criteria for Page Creation]]. If you are unsure whether a new page meets the criteria, contact a Wiki Maintainer.

Creating a page is as simple as searching for a missing page in the search bar, and clicking on the red link:

[[File:Creating_a_page.png|300px]]

After that, you'll get a wiki parser similar to what you would see when editing another page, except this time it's completely empty. This is perhaps a bit daunting at first, but if what you are writing about is similar to another page then you can probably use most of its content here (ex. you're writing about a new job, there are lots of other standalone job pages that you can draw resources from).

To avoid leaving a new page unfinished, utilize [[#Sandbox Pages|Sandbox Pages]]. When you finish creating the new page, copy and paste what is written in your Sandbox page to the page you wish to create, and submit it approval using the steps listed below.

Alternatively, you can throw a <code><nowiki>{{Wip}}</nowiki></code> template at the top to say that the page is a work in progress, after which it's added to the WIP category for tracking. However, we avoid the use of WIP pages. If you have questions, please contact a Wiki Maintainer.

Once you are done writing and stylizing everything, you can hit '''Save page''' at the bottom along with a summary of what the page is about.

[[File:Save_page.png|300px]]

After that, this should appear, followed by either approval or denial from Wiki Maintainers:

[[File:Pending_Review.png|300px]]

==Sandbox Pages==
In some cases, an edit may be too large to finish at one time, or you may be creating a new page and may make multiple edits to format it correctly. In these cases, we use "Sandbox Pages". Sandbox pages are associated with an account or topic, and are used to make multiple edits without affecting what the end user sees. Sandbox Pages are also used to avoid creating Work-In-Progress pages. Anyone may have a Sandbox page, and all edits made to a Sandbox page are typically accepted unless they contain potentially malicious edits (such as an external link to a malicious site).

To make a Sandbox page:
#Follow the steps found in [[#Page Creation|Page Creation]] using "Sandbox:(AccountNamehere)" in the search bar
#When presented with the wiki parser, enter the beginning of whichever project you wish to start.
##This may be copying another page which you wish to make a large edit on, or starting from scratch on a new page
#Include the project you are working on within the 'Summary'
#Submit changes for approval

If you have questions or concerns about Sandbox pages, contact a Wiki Maintainer.
{{Tutorial navigation}}

Help:Basic Editing Guide

2024-07-28T22:31:18Z

La Villa Strangiato: Fixes a redlink. Adds TOC. Brings headers in line with style guide.

{{Tutorial navigation}}
Thank you for taking the time to consider contributing to the wiki. This guide - along with others that you can navigate to from the top and bottom of this page - is designed for all users, even wiki maintainers. Directly below this text is a preface to editing so that you're prepared to do the rest without worry.

'''IMPORTANT:''' To submit changes for review, you need to log in to the wiki. Do not create a new account. Instead, click "log in" and input your forum username and password in the appropriate boxes. They are linked.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==Foreword About Additions and Approval==
Any logged in user can submit changes to nearly any page, but those changes will not be merged unless a wiki maintainer reviews and approves of the changes or you are a maintainer/lore writer yourself. All wiki maintainers are given a large and obvious notification on any wiki page whenever there are submissions that await approval. Be sure to review the [[Help:Style guide|style guide]] before making large edits to make sure your page is nice and clean. In any case if you have questions or concerns about the wiki or your edits then feel free to contact a maintainer on the Discord.

===Your Wiki/Forum Account===
Aurora station utilizes a cross platform system that enables you to use the same account between the forum and the wiki. You will need to log onto the wiki through your forum account. To register a wiki account, you must first register a forum account. You can do that [https://forums.aurorastation.org/ucp.php?mode=register| at this link]. If you have trouble logging onto the wiki, contact a staff member.

==Criteria for Edits==
There is a list of criteria that should ideally be met before an edit is made. While they are not requirements, they should be used for determining whether an edit is needed to being with. These criteria also include edits Lore pages, however any Lore page edit is subject to approval by the associated Lore team before any edits can be accepted. To avoid an edit to a Lore page from being rejected, include which Lore Developer approved the edit in the "Summary" box.

Here is the general criteria of editing on the wiki:
#It corrects an error, or otherwise serves to correct a problem.
#It adds additional information to improve the page.
#It removes unnecessary clutter.
#It rephrases the text to be more clear or user friendly.

If an edit fails to meet one or more of the above criteria, or fails to adhere to the style guide, it may be subject to alteration or rejection by the Wiki Maintenance team.

==Criteria for Page Creation==
Creating a brand new page has a stricter set of criteria. The content of a new page is still subject to the editing criteria from earlier, but must also meet one or both of the criteria below:

#It serves an obvious purpose not filled adequately by any other page.
#It is deemed by the wiki maintainer team to be a quality addition.

==Editing==
Once you've logged in, click 'Edit' at the top to begin the process of editing a page. The button should look like this:

[[File:Editing Page.png|166px]]

Once you click that edit button, you should be brought to a the wiki editor (also known as the wiki parser) containing all of the text and formatting for the page. Ctrl-F to the or scroll down to the section you with to change, and begin editing. At the bottom where it says 'Summary' you should type a bief explanation of the changes made. If the edits you made were relatively minor (fixing typos, formatting, etc) then you can click the 'This is a minor edit' button. It should look similar to this:

[[File:Editing_Page2.png|700px]]

Before submitting your changes, ''always'' preview your work to make sure your changes have not accidentally changed the page formatting. You may even catch some other issues that you missed at first glance. When you are done with your edits and want to submit them, click 'Save changes' to submit the changes for approval. You should see this if all went well:

[[File:Pending_Review.png|300px]]

==Formatting==
<small><i>See also: [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting The Guide to Formatting]</i></small><br>
Mediawiki has many tools to stylize your text, which can aid in readability if used properly. Be sure to take a look at the [[Help:Style Guide|style guide]] for info on how these tools may best be used. The following table provides examples on some of the most common formatting:
{| class="wikitable" border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: #666666; background-color: #efefef; width: " cellpadding="5"
|+ Example Wikitext
|-
! What you type || What it looks like
|-
|<pre>''italic text''</pre> || ''italic text''
|-
|<pre>'''bold text'''</pre> || '''bold text'''
|-
|<pre><small>small text</small></pre> || <small>small text</small>
|-
|<pre>
no indent
:single indent
::double indent
:::triple indent
</pre>
||
no indent
:single indent
::double indent
:::triple indent
|-
|<pre>
#Entry 1
#Entry 2
#Entry 3
##Entry 3 subtype 1
</pre>
||
#Entry 1
#Entry 2
#Entry 3
##Entry 3 subtype 1
|-
|<pre>
*Bullet 1
*Bullet 2
*Bullet 3
**Bullet 3 subtype 1
*#Bullet 3 number 1
</pre>
||
*Bullet 1
*Bullet 2
*Bullet 3
**Bullet 3 subtype 1
*#Bullet 3 number 1
|-
|<pre>
=Heading Level 1=
==Heading Level 2==
===Heading Level 3===
====Heading Level 4====
</pre>
||

=Heading Level 1=
==Heading Level 2==
===Heading Level 3===
====Heading Level 4====
<br>
|}

==Linking==
<i>See also: [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links The Guide to Links]</i>

You are probably already familiar with links if you have managed to reach this guide. It is the blue text you often see around wiki pages, [[#Linking|and it usually looks like this]]. The table below contains a brief summary of how to link to other pages.
{| class="wikitable" border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: #666666; background-color: #efefef; width: " cellpadding="5"
|+ Example Links
|-
! || What you type || What it looks like || What it's for
|-
! 1
|<pre>[[Assistant]]</pre> || [[Assistant]] || This is the standard inter-wiki link. If you want to link to another page on the wiki, then use this.
|-
! 2
|<pre>[[Assistant|Dirty maintenance gremlins]]</pre> || [[Assistant|Dirty maintenance gremlins]] || Adding a <code><nowiki>|</nowiki></code> (known as a [[wikipedia:Vertical_bar|vertical bar]]) between the page name and some text will render that link as the text you put in, in case you want to hide a link inside some relevant information. You may discover that this very guide uses this method in more than a few areas!
|-
! 3
|<pre>[[Guide to EVA#Jetpacks|How to use Jetpacks]]</pre> || [[Guide to EVA#Jetpacks|How to use Jetpacks]] || Sometimes only a specific part of a page is relevant to what you're typing about, so in this case we link to the page ''and'' the relevant subheading. Anything that appears in the table of contents (or is otherwise "anchored") can be linked to this way.
|-
! 4
|<pre>[[#Editing|The Editing subheading]]</pre> || [[#Editing|The Editing subheading]] || If you want to link to a subheading that's already on the page you're editing, you can forego having to include the name of the page and only include the subheading name.
|-
! 5
|<pre>[[wikipedia:Space Station 13|Wikipedia Article about SS13]]</pre> || [[wikipedia:Space Station 13|Wikipedia Article about SS13]] || This simply links back to Wikipedia. You probably won't be using this much since Aurora's setting is purely fictional, but this is here for posterity.
|-
! 6
|<pre>[https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/7780-looking-for-wiki-developers/#comment-153366 Burrito's cry for help]</pre> || [https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/7780-looking-for-wiki-developers/#comment-153366 Burrito's cry for help] || If you must link to something outside of the wiki then this is what you'd use. Note that there is nothing separating the URL from the rendered text except for a space, and that the entire link is surrounded by single brackets, not double. ''Do not'' link to external links without approval from a wiki maintainer.
|}

==Images==
<i>See also: [[Help:Images|The Guide to Images]]</i>

Images are just that: images. They are used to offer a visual aid to information, and to make the information more digestible. Files can only be uploaded by Wiki Maintainers and Lore Developers, however this should not discourage anyone from preparing images for an edit. To upload a file, reach out to a Wiki Maintainer who can upload the file for you.

Below are the steps for uploading a file:
#Click the '''Upload file''' button on the left of your screen<br>'''OR'''<br>Click on a red link to the file of your choosing.
#Click '''Choose file''' to select what file to upload from your PC.
#*Ideally this is in a common image format (JPG, PNG, GIF, etc).
#Give the file a name, ideally relevant to what the file is about.
#*If you went with the red link method then the filename is probably already populated.
#Give it a summary if you want.
#Click '''Upload file''' to finish.
That should do it, as long as there are no errors (most common being duplicate images). Note that due to how caching works that it may take a while for your file to actually render on pages it's used.

'''Please note:''' If you are uploading sprites from the game, ensure that their dimensions are 32x32 (or whatever their original resolution is). If you want to scale a sprite up, do so through the wiki and not an image editor (see below). Ideally all sprites are retrieved from the game's files and not from screenshots. [[Help:Images|See the images guide for a how-to on getting the best possible sprites]].

{| class="wikitable" border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: #666666; background-color: #efefef; width: " cellpadding="5"
|+ Various ways to link a file
|-
! What you type || What it looks like || Explanation
|-
|<pre>[[File:Btoolbox.png]]</pre> || [[File:Btoolbox.png]] || This is the simplest way to display an image. These will typically default to the left side of the page.
|-
|<pre>[[File:Btoolbox.png|64px]]</pre> || [[File:Btoolbox.png|64px]] || By using <code>64px</code> (or any other number, ideally multiples of 32 if it's a sprite) you can scale an image via the wiki.
|-
|<pre>[[File:Btoolbox.png|64px|center]]</pre> || [[File:Btoolbox.png|64px|center]] || You can use <code>center</code> to put an image directly in the center of the page. There are other directions you can use as well, like <code>right</code>.
|-
|<pre>[[File:Btoolbox.png|link=Help:Contents|I AM VERY LOUD LOOKING TEXT]]</pre> || [[File:Btoolbox.png|link=Help:Contents|I AM VERY LOUD LOOKING TEXT]] || The first part transforms the image into a link to another page. Normally this would link back to the image itself. The second part adds a caption to images that is only visible if you hover your cursor over it, which can be useful for additional-but-not-useful info about an item.
|-
|<pre>[[File:Btoolbox.png|link=|This image goes no where]]</pre> || [[File:Btoolbox.png|link=|This image goes no where]] || By setting the link to an empty value you can make the image do nothing if it's clicked on.
|-
|<pre>[[File:Btoolbox.png|thumb|Caption!]]</pre> || [[File:Btoolbox.png|thumb|Caption!]] || If you want information related to an image to be readily visible then you can use the <code>thumb</code> parameter, followed by the info you'd like to type. Thumbs will default to the right side of the page.
|-
|}

==Page Creation==
'''Remember:''' Only create a new page if the new page meets the [[#Criteria for Page Creation|Criteria for Page Creation]]. If you are unsure whether a new page meets the criteria, contact a Wiki Maintainer.

Creating a page is as simple as searching for a missing page in the search bar, and clicking on the red link:

[[File:Creating_a_page.png|300px]]

After that, you'll get a wiki parser similar to what you would see when editing another page, except this time it's completely empty. This is perhaps a bit daunting at first, but if what you are writing about is similar to another page then you can probably use most of its content here (ex. you're writing about a new job, there are lots of other standalone job pages that you can draw resources from).

To avoid leaving a new page unfinished, utilize [[#Sandbox Pages|Sandbox Pages]]. When you finish creating the new page, copy and paste what is written in your Sandbox page to the page you wish to create, and submit it approval using the steps listed below.

Alternatively, you can throw a <code><nowiki>{{Wip}}</nowiki></code> template at the top to say that the page is a work in progress, after which it's added to the WIP category for tracking. However, we avoid the use of WIP pages. If you have questions, please contact a Wiki Maintainer.

Once you are done writing and stylizing everything, you can hit '''Save page''' at the bottom along with a summary of what the page is about.

[[File:Save_page.png|300px]]

After that, this should appear, followed by either approval or denial from Wiki Maintainers:

[[File:Pending_Review.png|300px]]

==Sandbox Pages==
In some cases, an edit may be too large to finish at one time, or you may be creating a new page and may make multiple edits to format it correctly. In these cases, we use "Sandbox Pages". Sandbox pages are associated with an account or topic, and are used to make multiple edits without affecting what the end user sees. Sandbox Pages are also used to avoid creating Work-In-Progress pages. Anyone may have a Sandbox page, and all edits made to a Sandbox page are typically accepted unless they contain potentially malicious edits (such as an external link to a malicious site).

To make a Sandbox page:
#Follow the steps found in [[#Page Creation|Page Creation]] using "Sandbox:(AccountNamehere)" in the search bar
#When presented with the wiki parser, enter the beginning of whichever project you wish to start.
##This may be copying another page which you wish to make a large edit on, or starting from scratch on a new page
#Include the project you are working on within the 'Summary'
#Submit changes for approval

If you have questions or concerns about Sandbox pages, contact a Wiki Maintainer.
{{Tutorial navigation}}

Solarian Reconstruction Mandates

2024-07-24T20:36:23Z

La Villa Strangiato: more minor edits

{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Navbox Human Lore}}

Occupying most of the territory once known as the [[Human Wildlands]], the Solarian Reconstruction Mandates (SRM) are an effort by the Alliance to re-exert its control over much of the territory it lost in the initial phase of the Solarian Civil War (2462-65). They are divided into the Northern SRM, covering the Northern Wildlands, and Southern SRM, covering the Southern Wildlands. Devastated by neglect, war, and three years of anarchy it is unlikely the Mandates will return to their pre-2462 levels of productivity anytime soon, but their existence represents a step forward for the Alliance -- and for some actors such as the [[Republic of Biesel]], a grave concern as the Alliance re-exerts its authority on a galactic scale.

==Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate==
[[File:Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate.png|500px|thumb|The flag of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate.]]
Formed in the aftermath of the conclusion of the Solarian Civil War, or the War in the [[Human Wildlands|Northern Wildlands]], the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate is the structure through which the Alliance intends to rebuild the devastated Northern Reaches, which have been devastated by three years of anarchy and half a year of intense fighting between the three post-Solarian states which once dwelled in this region: the fascistic Solarian Restoration Front (Front/SRF), the bandit state known as the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems (League), and the democratic Middle Ring Shield Pact (Pact). Only intervention on the Pact’s behalf by the Solarian Navy in mid-2465 saved the region from further anarchy and the fall of its most developed world, [[San Colette]], to the Solarian Restoration Front.

Shortly after the [[Solarian Armed Forces#The Solarian Navy|Navy]] declared the end of large-scale combat operations against the remnants of the League and SRF in mid-2465 the Alliance declared the establishment of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate to coordinate a civilian reconstruction effort of the region rather than, as the Alliance at the time was, a naval military junta. The Mandate has much work ahead of it in the coming months and years to fix the damage caused to much of the region by the Solarian Civil War. Notably the Mandate does not contain the entirety of the Northern Reaches as [[Konyang]] has joined the [[Coalition of Colonies]]. However, with the Alliance seemingly finding its footing in the [[The Orion Spur|Spur]] once again, who is to say what will come for its secessionist world?

===Government===

The Reconstruction Mandate’s government, as it was formed by a joint effort of the Alliance’s main provisional civilian government and its ruling military junta, is an unusual civilian government which has been given broad powers to carry out its mission of rebuilding the Northern Reaches and has little in the way of a voting population to answer to. It is, essentially, a civilian dictatorship created as a temporary measure to stabilize the region without having to concern itself with elections. While most regions are controlled by civilians, some, such as the former SRF capital of Lycoris, are ruled by military governments. Furthermore, the Reconstruction Mandate has sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspected Front and League members or sympathizers for reasons of national security, and these suspected members can be detained for an indefinite length of time. Despite the Mandate’s status as a civilian dictatorship it has not interfered with many local governments, particularly those of the democratic Pact, to preserve its approval and ensure local governments are loyal to it.

The Reconstruction Mandate is dominated by Coletters due to the system’s status as the headquarters for the [[Solarian Armed Forces#Notable Navy Forces|1st Battlegroup]] during the final weeks of the Solarian Civil War and the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette’s steadfast refusal to, despite three years of isolation, officially secede from the Alliance as the worlds of the Front and Pact did. Most non-Coletters within the Mandate’s government are either Solarian bureaucrats from the core worlds or citizens of other ex-Pact worlds which remained loyal to Sol such as Novo Igman, Lhokgon, and New Peoria. Few Mandate officials are from the regions formerly controlled by the Front or the League.

The current Governor of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate is '''Geraldo de los Reyes'''. Formerly a Colettish bureaucrat of the Solarian Department of the Interior, de los Reyes has been commended multiple times for both his incorruptibility and his work in ensuring – prior to 2462 – the Warp Gate Project’s goals were being met, or at least worked towards. Despite his decades of service as a bureaucrat de los Reyes is relatively inexperienced as a political operative, and now must balance the competing interests of multiple actors in the Northern Reaches ranging from the Colettish government to the [[Solarian Armed Forces]] to the remnants of the Pact and other statelets. Only time will tell if he can succeed, or if he will fail.

===Military===

The Reconstruction Mandate’s mission is supported by a significant Solarian military presence intended to suppress the remnants of the Front and League, many of which have become guerrillas and bandits, in the region. It can additionally call upon limited System Defense Force assets from the former Pact such as the Civil Guard, though these forces are in the process of being regenerated and upgraded with modern warp-capable engines following the events of the Solarian Civil War which showed [[Solarian Armed Forces#System Defense Forces|SDF]] vessels direly need independent warp capabilities. Many [[Solarian Armed Forces#The Solarian Army|The Solarian Army]] units — such as [[Solarian Armed Forces#Notable Army Divisions|2nd Venusian Air Cavalry Division]] — are involved in anti-insurgent operations on the planets of the now-defeated Front, where many fanatical followers of its ideology have chosen to fight to the bitter end as guerillas instead of surrendering to what they see as a false Solarian government.

===Notable Worlds===

====San Colette====

The capital world of the Reconstruction Mandate,'''[[San Colette]]''' was subjected to intense fighting during the closing weeks of the Solarian Civil War during the Front’s invasion. Its System Defense Force, the Civil Guard, fought valiantly alongside mercenaries of the Free Solarian Fleets and its Pact allies, and ultimately lured the Front into a trap near D’Anzin which allowed much of its naval to be destroyed by the intervening 1st Battlegroup strike force. The Mandate rapidly resolved many major issues within the Nueva Patria system and life in many areas of San Colette is starting to return to normalcy, though there is much work to do — particularly upon the distant planet of D’Anzin, where efforts to clean up the aftermath of phoron contamination from destroyed processing facilities are expected to take some time.

====Lhokgon====

Subject of intense fighting between the League and Front during the Solarian Civil War, the Helium-3 refining world of '''Lhokgon''' was devastated by fighting. Originally colonized at roughly the same time as San Colette by primarily Himalayan nations, Lhokgon’s system — the Gangetic System — is unusually rich in Helium-3 and served as an important mining and refining center for the fuel throughout much of the 24th and 25th century. In early 2463 Lhokgon, with the collapse of Solarian authority in the region, joined the Pact after its System Defense Forces repelled a League incursion which damaged multiple mining facilities in the Gangetic System’s outskirts.

With the Front’s invasion of the Pact in 2465 Lhokgon was once again thrown into conflict. Though its System Defense Forces fought valiantly they were ultimately unable to withstand the full brunt of the Pact’s offensive and the system fell to the Front, though not before the residents and government of Lhokgon were able to sabotage much of the system’s Helium-3 refining operations. The Front was not merciful in its occupation as a result: anyone affiliated with the Federal Solarian Republic of Lhokgon’s government they could find was given a summary military execution and employed in its Helium-3 industry were forced to work under pain of execution for themselves and their families. League offensives in the region caused the Front to enact even harsher policies as they moved to the defensive. By the time of the Solarian Navy’s arrival to liberate the system much of the industry not already destroyed by the Lhokgers themselves or fighting had been burnt to the ground by the Front, crippling a once-vibrant industry.

Between the Front’s occupation and the Navy’s liberation of the Federal Solarian Republic of Lkohgon many Lhokgers engaged in armed resistance against the Front, particularly as its retaliations increased, causing many Front-aligned Army units to be tied down on Lhokgon and thus unable to invade Nueva Patria. Now, after the Navy’s liberation, many of these guerilla fighters have become part of the Federal Solarian Republic’s reconstruction initiative, which seeks to rebuild Lhokgon’s Helium-3 industry with the assistance of Einstein Engines while maintaining the democratic system Lhokgers fought valiantly for. The road ahead is long, but the Lhokgers are confident they will overcome any challenge.

====Novo Igman====

One of the unlucky worlds to be captured by the League and Front and different times, the Federal Solarian Republic of '''Novo Igman''' was a major mining and industrial hub of the Northern Reaches prior to the Solarian Civil War. Colonized in the late 2300s by primarily Yugoslavian settlers, the planet never reached the prosperity of San Colette or Lycoris but had a relatively high standard of living by Solarian Outer Ring standards due to its industrial base and several large Solarian defense factories which produced Army equipment. This made it a major target for warlords during the initial chaos of the Solarian Civil War and the planet joined the Pact in early 2463 after fighting off a raid from the nearby League.

Novo Igman’s arsenals armed much of the Pact’s non-Colettish forces and served as a major source of armaments for the Free Solarian Fleets. The planet’s importance made it a major target for the League during their initial invasion, and Novo Igman quickly found itself the target of the League’s main offensive push. The planet eventually fell out of the Pact’s control in late March, 2465. The Federal Solarian Republic’s government refused to surrender to the League and much of the planet’s system defense force and military began to wage an insurgent war against the League, which quickly found itself unable to control much of the planet’s industrial capacity. When the Front took control over the planet in late April, 2465, the League occupation troops who remained behind found themselves caught between Novo Igman’s insurgents and Lycorii units who had been sent to subjugate the world. Many League troops, lacking a better option, opted to join with their former enemies against the Front, and a more vicious phase of the insurgent war began.

Novo Igman is unique amongst Front-occupied worlds for successfully overthrowing the Front’s provisional government before the Solarian Navy could arrive, effectively freeing themselves from their control in June, 2465, and declaring themselves once again the Solarian Federal Republic of Novo Igman. Navy forces shortly arrived and the planet has since officially rejoined the Alliance, and is receiving significant assistance in its rebuilding efforts. While Novo Igman has been badly damaged by the war, particularly during the three months of open warfare on the planet, it remains unbroken, and its people are confident they will find their footing once again.

====New Peoria====

The Solarian Republic of '''New Peoria''' was, prior to the Solarian Civil War, a relatively well-traveled warp gate hub utilized by travelers from the far Outer Solarian Ring traveling towards San Colette, particularly those traveling from what is now the Coalition of Colonies and Konyang. The system was seen by many in the Northern Reaches as a relatively minor world which lived in the shadow of San Colette’s success. New Peoria was nearly conquered by the League during the initial chaos of the Solarian Civil War and was only saved by the intervention of San Colette and the Free Solarian Fleets. The planet quickly joined the Pact after this.

During the initial weeks and months of the Solarian Civil War hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing chaos in the Wildlands and the Coalition passed through its warp gates on their way to San Colette, and New Peoria’s warp gates were a major evacuation point for Pact civilians caught in the Front’s path of advance prior to their destruction by the Pact in early March, 2465. After falling out of the Pact’s control and being seized by the Front in March, 2465, New Peoria’s system became a major rallying point for the Front’s forces and was the intended site of a push by the Front into Nueva Patria via the hacking of Colettish warp gates by specialized ships – a plan only narrowly thwarted by the Solarian Navy’s timely arrival. The Front forces in New Peoria’s orbit were destroyed by the Solarian Navy in the closing days of the Solarian Civil War, and the system itself rejoined the Alliance shortly thereafter.

Like many worlds located in the Northern Reaches the future of New Peoria is very much in flux due to the defection of many of its former trade partners to the Coalition of Colonies. The Solarian Navy, which is responsible for much of New Peoria’s rebuilding efforts, has refused to consider working with the Coalition and many on the planet are vehemently opposed to the Coalition due to their support – real or perceived – of the League. Some in New Peoria have called for the Navy to establish a new base in their system as a replacement for the mostly-destroyed naval facility of New Atlantica, or to fortify the system like Nueva Patria.

====Lycoris====

<center><b>NOTE: Due to its status as the capital of the Solarian Restoration Front, all residents of Lycoris are unplayable. This is enforceable by server moderation staff.</b></center>

Formerly the capital of the fascist Solarian Restoration Front, the Solarian Military Mandate of '''Lycoris''' — known as the Federal Solarian Republic of Lycoris and Lycoris Minoris, both under Front control and before the Civil War — is a world which has caused and seen a great deal of suffering. Located in the Alfheim System, it is one of the oldest inhabited systems in the Northern Reaches. Lycoris and Lycoris Minoris were wealthy worlds prior to the Solarian Civil War only equaled in the region by San Colette. The planet and its moon were most well-known for their impressive shipbuilding industry and enviable natural beauty. Dozens of ships were produced from its orbital works and millions visited the planet to see the distinctive red flowers it drew its name from.

The shipbuilding industry’s wealth brought many immigrants: most human, and some not. As the Alliance entered into a period of decline throughout the late 24th and early to mid 25th centuries politicians on Lycoris and its moon stoked the fires of nativism as a tool to ensure their continued dominance of the system’s politics. This Lycoris-first policy found immense success amongst the Lycorii and became more radical with the arrival of nonhumans to the system. First came the skrell, who were stereotyped as sneaky and subversive mind-readers looking to take the high-end careers of Lycorii and turn them into a colony of their Federation. Then came the unathi, who were stereotyped as a bloody and backwards species who had opted to burn themselves in nuclear fire when given an ounce of power, and the tajara, who were stereotyped as naturally violent and only fit for dull labor in the frigid northern reaches of the planet. The system was a major stronghold of ATLAS and profited immensely during Frost’s short and corrupt regime due to it being favored over San Colette. It thus comes as no surprise the Front found a natural stronghold here.

The killing, disappearing, and deporting of non-humans and humans suspected of “anti-Solarian sentiments” continued throughout the Front’s control of the planet, and almost every aspect of its government dedicated itself to this. Its civil government and system defense force eagerly dedicated themselves to the Front’s cause and Lycorii troops fought for the Front across the Northern Reaches from 2462 until June 2465, when a Solarian military intervention on behalf of San Colette crushed the Front and established a provisional military government over the planet and its moon. Even now many Front loyalists, unwilling to surrender, have run to the wilderness to wage an insurgent war. Those who remained behind have often found themselves arrested by the Solarian Army pending military tribunals.

Lycoris is a planet which has been tainted irreversibly by the Front and its struggle for unobtainable purity. Once renowned natural spots have become barren of their typical visitors, or revived for Front-aligned insurgents hoping to kill as many Solarians as they can before they die. The planet’s once unspoiled vistas have been covered in quickly-built Front facilities, now reduced to ruins by the Solarian Armed Forces during the Solarian Civil War. Its orbital yards now stand mostly silent, either sabotaged by the Front in a last act of defiance or lacking the workers to operate. Millions of Lycorii have died, either by the Front’s hands or fighting on its behalf in the Solarian Civil War.

====New Atlantica====

Formerly the “capital” of the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems, the large Interstellar War-era naval space station of '''New Atlantica''' was mostly destroyed in intense fighting between the League’s 67th Fleet and forces of the Solarian Restoration Front during the final weeks and days of the Solarian Civil War. Three years of neglect by the League and the — intense fighting around it has reduced much of the station to charred, slagged ruins intermixed with functional or partially-functional sections. Almost none of the prewar civilian population remains and the few dozen civilians who still inhabit the station are mostly transient offworlder human salvagers formerly performing independent salvage operations and now contracted by the Navy to help remove debris from hazardous areas.

None wish to rebuild or repair the hulking and aged corpse of New Atlantica, but rumors have begun to swirl of the Navy building new sensor arrays in the system to monitor the Coalition. Some say the majority of these are pointed towards one system in particular: the now-border system of Konyang, recently seceded to the Alliance and now staring down its former overlord.

==Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate==
[[File:Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate.png|500px|thumb|The flag of the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate.]]
Controlling the former territory of the Southern Solarian Military District and the Solarian Provisional Government, the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate (SSRM) was formed shortly after the end of the Solarian Civil War. The main non-state opposition to the SSRM are the remnants of the Biesel-aligned Southern Fleet Administration (SFA), which is most active in a formerly Solarian region adjacent to the SSRM known as the Pustkowie, or Wasteland, in Visegradi Creole. The SSRM began to stabilize prior to the War in the Northern Wildlands through the efforts of the local Solarian Navy garrison, particularly the First Middle Ring Battlegroup under the command of Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai – now the governor of the SSRM.

The Alliance’s government declared the establishment of the SSRM to coordinate further reconstruction efforts in the region. Unlike the NSRM, the SSRM is a military government dominated by the Solarian Navy due to its more hazardous position on the edge of the Sparring Sea and Badlands. While the SSRM is more stable than its northern counterpart there is still much work to do, and some have expressed concern that its military government means the Alliance is not as concerned about escaping its Navy-dominated past as it claims to be.

===Government===

The SSRM is a provisional military government which has been established to assist in the region’s formal transition back into the broader Alliance. It has broad powers to govern and direct the Southern Reaches as it sees fit, and martial law remains in place across much of the region — though it has lessened in some locations, with promises of a return to normalcy as the Alliance’s first fair elections since the 2450s begin. Szalai’s First Middle Ring Battlegroup and Yunso’s 6th Middle Ring Battlegroup dominate the military government of the region, having worked together to keep the area stable since the beginning of the Solarian Civil War.

The Governor of the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate is Solarian Navy Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai, formerly the leader of the Southern Solarian Military District and a career Navy officer with a history of excellence in service. A native Visegradi, Szalai has transformed the rainy world into a lynchpin of Solarian control in the region and has repelled all attempts to contest the Alliance’s hold over the Southern Reaches. To her frustration she has never been able to reclaim the devastated Pustkowie — formerly under the control of her rival, Fleet Admiral F.R. Beauchamp. While her governorship is likely temporary, with the SSRM soon to be handed over to civilian authorities once it is more stable, most in the region have confidence in Szalai.

Governing alongside Szalai is the second most important officer in the Southern Reaches: Fleet Admiral Myo Yunso of the Sixth Middle Ring Battlegroup. A Konyanger who has remained loyal to the Alliance, Yunso has been both a staunch ally and fierce rival to Anderson MacPherson, the former governor of Sankt Frederick and current highest-ranked civilian member of the Reconstruction Mandate. Yunso is as professional as Szalai but lacks her experience, with the Sixth having been mostly confined to the area around Sankt Frederick for the duration of the Solarian Civil War. Like Szalai, Yunso is expected to step down from power once the region becomes more stable.

===Military===

The SSRM has more local military forces at its disposal due to the presence of the First and Sixth Middle Ring Battlegroups — entities regarded as the best forces in the Middle Ring prior to the civil war’s outbreak. Most Navy and Army forces dispatched to the Mandates are stationed in the Northern Reaches, which has led to some discontent amongst forces in the Southern Reaches. These troops, many of them having fought since the beginning of the civil war, wish to finally receive large amounts of Solarian reinforcements and to return to a kind of normalcy. But with the Northern Reaches recovering from a devastating conflict these reinforcements may be months —potentially years — away.

===Notable Worlds===

The Southern Reaches is less populous than its northern counterpart and has long been regarded as a frontier where the Alliance ends and the more dangerous Sparring Sea begins.

====Visegrad====

The capital of the Mandate is the rainy world of '''[[Visegrad]]'''. Formerly the capital of the Southern Solarian Military District Visegrad has survived the Solarian Civil War and its own civil war, with pro-Solarian and secessionist forces engaged in open warfare during the first months after the Solarian Collapse. The arrival of Szalai’s forces resulted in a Solarian victory and the start of military governance over the planet. With the civil war over and elections around the corner, many wonder what will become of Visegrad now that it has been transformed into a major military hub for the entire region.

====Sankt Frederick====

The other prominent world of the Mandate is '''Sankt Frederick''', formerly the capital of the Solarian Provisional Government of the Southern Reaches (SPG). One of the rare worlds which did not collapse into anarchy after the events of 2462, Sankt Frederick has been one of the most stable worlds in the Wildlands and was a common destination for refugees fleeing from more violent areas such as the Wasteland and the Corporate Reconstruction Zone. One warp gate jump away from the broader Alliance, most residents of Sankt Frederick barely felt the impact of the civil war upon their agricultural world and for most their primary interaction with the civil war was seeing refugee workers in the planet’s orbital hydroponics facilities.

Sankt Frederick is an idyllic, verdant world which has long served as the agrarian breadbasket for much of the Alliance through its use of intensive planetside agriculture and sprawling orbital hydroponics facilities. The Alliance’s support of the provisional government of the system — consisting of the mostly-intact remains of its government — has allowed it to prosper even during the civil war, with much of its production now being shipped to the devastated Northern Reaches. However, many residents of the planet are bitter at the government's decision to favor Visegrad over their world, viewing it as yet another example of naval cronyism in the Alliance.

===The Pustkowie===

The region beyond Mandate control, the Pustkowie is an anarchistic wasteland where violence rules and little has been left intact. Previously controlled by the Southern Fleet Administration (SFA), the Pustkowie’s fortunes took a turn for the worse following the skrellian intervention which ended the SFA as a cohesive force. The remaining flag officers of the SFA, deprived of the central leadership of Fleet Admiral F.R. Beauchamp, quickly turned on one another and descended into further warlordism as the region collapsed around them. By early 2465 the region had become too unstable to reasonably reclaim, and is the only former region of the Alliance not under the control of any nation.

Those who remain in the Pustkowie are often those who do not wish to be found by the government of any nation in the Orion Spur. They are often deserters, bandits, pirates, mercenaries, or anarchists who, dissatisfied with the broader Spur, have relocated to this area. To live in the Pustkowie is not a romantic existence: it is one where every day of life is a difficult task and survival is often in question, as the ex-SFA warlords who lord over much of the region are known for both their immense greed and cruelty. It is unlikely the Pustkowie will ever be a productive region of space before the next century, and the Alliance has shown no desire to reclaim it.

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Solarian Reconstruction Mandates

2024-07-24T20:35:46Z

La Villa Strangiato: minor change

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Occupying most of the territory once known as the [[Human Wildlands]], the Solarian Reconstruction Mandates (SRM) are an effort by the Alliance to re-exert its control over much of the territory it lost in the initial phase of the Solarian Civil War (2462-65). They are divided into the Northern SRM, covering the Northern Wildlands, and Southern SRM, covering the Southern Wildlands. Devastated by neglect, war, and three years of anarchy it is unlikely the Mandates will return to their pre-2462 levels of productivity anytime soon, but their existence represents a step forward for the Alliance -- and for some actors such as the [[Republic of Biesel]], a grave concern as the Alliance re-exerts its authority on a galactic scale.

==Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate==
[[File:Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate.png|500px|thumb|The flag of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate.]]
Formed in the aftermath of the conclusion of the Solarian Civil War, or the War in the [[Human Wildlands|Northern Wildlands]], the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate is the structure through which the Alliance intends to rebuild the devastated Northern Reaches, which have been devastated by three years of anarchy and half a year of intense fighting between the three post-Solarian states which once dwelled in this region: the fascistic Solarian Restoration Front (Front/SRF), the bandit state known as the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems (League), and the democratic Middle Ring Shield Pact (Pact). Only intervention on the Pact’s behalf by the Solarian Navy in mid-2465 saved the region from further anarchy and the fall of its most developed world, [[San Colette]], to the Solarian Restoration Front.

Shortly after the [[Solarian Armed Forces#The Solarian Navy|Navy]] declared the end of large-scale combat operations against the remnants of the League and SRF in mid-2465 the Alliance declared the establishment of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate to coordinate a civilian reconstruction effort of the region rather than, as the Alliance at the time was, a naval military junta. The Mandate has much work ahead of it in the coming months and years to fix the damage caused to much of the region by the Solarian Civil War. Notably the Mandate does not contain the entirety of the Northern Reaches as [[Konyang]] has joined the [[Coalition of Colonies]]. However, with the Alliance seemingly finding its footing in the [[The Orion Spur|Spur]] once again, who is to say what will come for its secessionist world?

===Government===

The Reconstruction Mandate’s government, as it was formed by a joint effort of the Alliance’s main provisional civilian government and its ruling military junta, is an unusual civilian government which has been given broad powers to carry out its mission of rebuilding the Northern Reaches and has little in the way of a voting population to answer to. It is, essentially, a civilian dictatorship created as a temporary measure to stabilize the region without having to concern itself with elections. While most regions are controlled by civilians, some, such as the former SRF capital of Lycoris, are ruled by military governments. Furthermore, the Reconstruction Mandate has sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspected Front and League members or sympathizers for reasons of national security, and these suspected members can be detained for an indefinite length of time. Despite the Mandate’s status as a civilian dictatorship it has not interfered with many local governments, particularly those of the democratic Pact, to preserve its approval and ensure local governments are loyal to it.

The Reconstruction Mandate is dominated by Coletters due to the system’s status as the headquarters for the [[Solarian Armed Forces#Notable Navy Forces|1st Battlegroup]] during the final weeks of the Solarian Civil War and the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette’s steadfast refusal to, despite three years of isolation, officially secede from the Alliance as the worlds of the Front and Pact did. Most non-Coletters within the Mandate’s government are either Solarian bureaucrats from the core worlds or citizens of other ex-Pact worlds which remained loyal to Sol such as Novo Igman, Lhokgon, and New Peoria. Few Mandate officials are from the regions formerly controlled by the Front or the League.

The current Governor of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate is '''Geraldo de los Reyes'''. Formerly a Colettish bureaucrat of the Solarian Department of the Interior, de los Reyes has been commended multiple times for both his incorruptibility and his work in ensuring – prior to 2462 – the Warp Gate Project’s goals were being met, or at least worked towards. Despite his decades of service as a bureaucrat de los Reyes is relatively inexperienced as a political operative, and now must balance the competing interests of multiple actors in the Northern Reaches ranging from the Colettish government to the [[Solarian Armed Forces]] to the remnants of the Pact and other statelets. Only time will tell if he can succeed, or if he will fail.

===Military===

The Reconstruction Mandate’s mission is supported by a significant Solarian military presence intended to suppress the remnants of the Front and League, many of which have become guerrillas and bandits, in the region. It can additionally call upon limited System Defense Force assets from the former Pact such as the Civil Guard, though these forces are in the process of being regenerated and upgraded with modern warp-capable engines following the events of the Solarian Civil War which showed [[Solarian Armed Forces#System Defense Forces|SDF]] vessels direly need independent warp capabilities. Many [[Solarian Armed Forces#The Solarian Army|The Solarian Army]] units — such as [[Solarian Armed Forces#Notable Army Divisions|2nd Venusian Air Cavalry Division]] — are involved in anti-insurgent operations on the planets of the now-defeated Front, where many fanatical followers of its ideology have chosen to fight to the bitter end as guerillas instead of surrendering to what they see as a false Solarian government.

===Notable Worlds===

====San Colette====

The capital world of the Reconstruction Mandate,'''[[San Colette]]''' was subjected to intense fighting during the closing weeks of the Solarian Civil War during the Front’s invasion. Its System Defense Force, the Civil Guard, fought valiantly alongside mercenaries of the Free Solarian Fleets and its Pact allies, and ultimately lured the Front into a trap near D’Anzin which allowed much of its naval to be destroyed by the intervening 1st Battlegroup strike force. The Mandate rapidly resolved many major issues within the Nueva Patria system and life in many areas of San Colette is starting to return to normalcy, though there is much work to do — particularly upon the distant planet of D’Anzin, where efforts to clean up the aftermath of phoron contamination from destroyed processing facilities are expected to take some time.

====Lhokgon====

Subject of intense fighting between the League and Front during the Solarian Civil War, the Helium-3 refining world of '''Lhokgon''' was devastated by fighting. Originally colonized at roughly the same time as San Colette by primarily Himalayan nations, Lhokgon’s system — the Gangetic System — is unusually rich in Helium-3 and served as an important mining and refining center for the fuel throughout much of the 24th and 25th century. In early 2463 Lhokgon, with the collapse of Solarian authority in the region, joined the Pact after its System Defense Forces repelled a League incursion which damaged multiple mining facilities in the Gangetic System’s outskirts.

With the Front’s invasion of the Pact in 2465 Lhokgon was once again thrown into conflict. Though its System Defense Forces fought valiantly they were ultimately unable to withstand the full brunt of the Pact’s offensive and the system fell to the Front, though not before the residents and government of Lhokgon were able to sabotage much of the system’s Helium-3 refining operations. The Front was not merciful in its occupation as a result: anyone affiliated with the Federal Solarian Republic of Lhokgon’s government they could find was given a summary military execution and employed in its Helium-3 industry were forced to work under pain of execution for themselves and their families. League offensives in the region caused the Front to enact even harsher policies as they moved to the defensive. By the time of the Solarian Navy’s arrival to liberate the system much of the industry not already destroyed by the Lhokgers themselves or fighting had been burnt to the ground by the Front, crippling a once-vibrant industry.

Between the Front’s occupation and the Navy’s liberation of the Federal Solarian Republic of Lkohgon many Lhokgers engaged in armed resistance against the Front, particularly as its retaliations increased, causing many Front-aligned Army units to be tied down on Lhokgon and thus unable to invade Nueva Patria. Now, after the Navy’s liberation, many of these guerilla fighters have become part of the Federal Solarian Republic’s reconstruction initiative, which seeks to rebuild Lhokgon’s Helium-3 industry with the assistance of Einstein Engines while maintaining the democratic system Lhokgers fought valiantly for. The road ahead is long, but the Lhokgers are confident they will overcome any challenge.

====Novo Igman====

One of the unlucky worlds to be captured by the League and Front and different times, the Federal Solarian Republic of '''Novo Igman''' was a major mining and industrial hub of the Northern Reaches prior to the Solarian Civil War. Colonized in the late 2300s by primarily Yugoslavian settlers, the planet never reached the prosperity of San Colette or Lycoris but had a relatively high standard of living by Solarian Outer Ring standards due to its industrial base and several large Solarian defense factories which produced Army equipment. This made it a major target for warlords during the initial chaos of the Solarian Civil War and the planet joined the Pact in early 2463 after fighting off a raid from the nearby League.

Novo Igman’s arsenals armed much of the Pact’s non-Colettish forces and served as a major source of armaments for the Free Solarian Fleets. The planet’s importance made it a major target for the League during their initial invasion, and Novo Igman quickly found itself the target of the League’s main offensive push. The planet eventually fell out of the Pact’s control in late March, 2465. The Federal Solarian Republic’s government refused to surrender to the League and much of the planet’s system defense force and military began to wage an insurgent war against the League, which quickly found itself unable to control much of the planet’s industrial capacity. When the Front took control over the planet in late April, 2465, the League occupation troops who remained behind found themselves caught between Novo Igman’s insurgents and Lycorii units who had been sent to subjugate the world. Many League troops, lacking a better option, opted to join with their former enemies against the Front, and a more vicious phase of the insurgent war began.

Novo Igman is unique amongst Front-occupied worlds for successfully overthrowing the Front’s provisional government before the Solarian Navy could arrive, effectively freeing themselves from their control in June, 2465, and declaring themselves once again the Solarian Federal Republic of Novo Igman. Navy forces shortly arrived and the planet has since officially rejoined the Alliance, and is receiving significant assistance in its rebuilding efforts. While Novo Igman has been badly damaged by the war, particularly during the three months of open warfare on the planet, it remains unbroken, and its people are confident they will find their footing once again.

====New Peoria====

The Solarian Republic of '''New Peoria''' was, prior to the Solarian Civil War, a relatively well-traveled warp gate hub utilized by travelers from the far Outer Solarian Ring traveling towards San Colette, particularly those traveling from what is now the Coalition of Colonies and Konyang. The system was seen by many in the Northern Reaches as a relatively minor world which lived in the shadow of San Colette’s success. New Peoria was nearly conquered by the League during the initial chaos of the Solarian Civil War and was only saved by the intervention of San Colette and the Free Solarian Fleets. The planet quickly joined the Pact after this.

During the initial weeks and months of the Solarian Civil War hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing chaos in the Wildlands and the Coalition passed through its warp gates on their way to San Colette, and New Peoria’s warp gates were a major evacuation point for Pact civilians caught in the Front’s path of advance prior to their destruction by the Pact in early March, 2465. After falling out of the Pact’s control and being seized by the Front in March, 2465, New Peoria’s system became a major rallying point for the Front’s forces and was the intended site of a push by the Front into Nueva Patria via the hacking of Colettish warp gates by specialized ships – a plan only narrowly thwarted by the Solarian Navy’s timely arrival. The Front forces in New Peoria’s orbit were destroyed by the Solarian Navy in the closing days of the Solarian Civil War, and the system itself rejoined the Alliance shortly thereafter.

Like many worlds located in the Northern Reaches the future of New Peoria is very much in flux due to the defection of many of its former trade partners to the Coalition of Colonies. The Solarian Navy, which is responsible for much of New Peoria’s rebuilding efforts, has refused to consider working with the Coalition and many on the planet are vehemently opposed to the Coalition due to their support – real or perceived – of the League. Some in New Peoria have called for the Navy to establish a new base in their system as a replacement for the mostly-destroyed naval facility of New Atlantica, or to fortify the system like Nueva Patria.

====Lycoris====

<center><b>NOTE: Due to its status as the capital of the Solarian Restoration Front, all residents of Lycoris are unplayable. This is enforceable by server moderation staff.</b></center>

Formerly the capital of the fascist Solarian Restoration Front, the Solarian Military Mandate of '''Lycoris''' — known as the Federal Solarian Republic of Lycoris and Lycoris Minoris, both under Front control and before the Civil War — is a world which has caused and seen a great deal of suffering. Located in the Alfheim System, it is one of the oldest inhabited systems in the Northern Reaches. Lycoris and Lycoris Minoris were wealthy worlds prior to the Solarian Civil War only equaled in the region by San Colette. The planet and its moon were most well-known for their impressive shipbuilding industry and enviable natural beauty. Dozens of ships were produced from its orbital works and millions visited the planet to see the distinctive red flowers it drew its name from.

The shipbuilding industry’s wealth brought many immigrants: most human, and some not. As the Alliance entered into a period of decline throughout the late 24th and early to mid 25th centuries politicians on Lycoris and its moon stoked the fires of nativism as a tool to ensure their continued dominance of the system’s politics. This Lycoris-first policy found immense success amongst the Lycorii and became more radical with the arrival of nonhumans to the system. First came the skrell, who were stereotyped as sneaky and subversive mind-readers looking to take the high-end careers of Lycorii and turn them into a colony of their Federation. Then came the unathi, who were stereotyped as a bloody and backwards species who had opted to burn themselves in nuclear fire when given an ounce of power, and the tajara, who were stereotyped as naturally violent and only fit for dull labor in the frigid northern reaches of the planet. The system was a major stronghold of ATLAS and profited immensely during Frost’s short and corrupt regime due to it being favored over San Colette. It thus comes as no surprise the Front found a natural stronghold here.

The killing, disappearing, and deporting of non-humans and humans suspected of “anti-Solarian sentiments” continued throughout the Front’s control of the planet, and almost every aspect of its government dedicated itself to this. Its civil government and system defense force eagerly dedicated themselves to the Front’s cause and Lycorii troops fought for the Front across the Northern Reaches from 2462 until June 2465, when a Solarian military intervention on behalf of San Colette crushed the Front and established a provisional military government over the planet and its moon. Even now many Front loyalists, unwilling to surrender, have run to the wilderness to wage an insurgent war. Those who remained behind have often found themselves arrested by the Solarian Army pending military tribunals.

Lycoris is a planet which has been tainted irreversibly by the Front and its struggle for unobtainable purity. Once renowned natural spots have become barren of their typical visitors, or revived for Front-aligned insurgents hoping to kill as many Solarians as they can before they die. The planet’s once unspoiled vistas have been covered in quickly-built Front facilities, now reduced to ruins by the Solarian Armed Forces during the Solarian Civil War. Its orbital yards now stand mostly silent, either sabotaged by the Front in a last act of defiance or lacking the workers to operate. Millions of Lycorii have died, either by the Front’s hands or fighting on its behalf in the Solarian Civil War.

====New Atlantica====

Formerly the “capital” of the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems, the large Interstellar War-era naval space station of '''New Atlantica''' was mostly destroyed in intense fighting between the League’s 67th Fleet and forces of the Solarian Restoration Front during the final weeks and days of the Solarian Civil War. Three years of neglect by the League and the — intense fighting around it has reduced much of the station to charred, slagged ruins intermixed with functional or partially-functional sections. Almost none of the prewar civilian population remains and the few dozen civilians who still inhabit the station are mostly transient offworlder human salvagers formerly performing independent salvage operations and now contracted by the Navy to help remove debris from hazardous areas.

None wish to rebuild or repair the hulking and aged corpse of New Atlantica, but rumors have begun to swirl of the Navy building new sensor arrays in the system to monitor the Coalition. Some say the majority of these are pointed towards one system in particular: the now-border system of Konyang, recently seceded to the Alliance and now staring down its former overlord.

==Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate==
[[File:Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate.png|500px|thumb|The flag of the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate.]]
Controlling the former territory of the Southern Solarian Military District and the Solarian Provisional Government, the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate (SSRM) was formed shortly after the end of the Solarian Civil War. The main non-state opposition to the SSRM are the remnants of the Biesel-aligned Southern Fleet Administration (SFA), which is most active in a formerly Solarian region adjacent to the SSRM known as the Nieużytek, or Wasteland, in Visegradi Creole. The SSRM began to stabilize prior to the War in the Northern Wildlands through the efforts of the local Solarian Navy garrison, particularly the First Middle Ring Battlegroup under the command of Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai – now the governor of the SSRM.

The Alliance’s government declared the establishment of the SSRM to coordinate further reconstruction efforts in the region. Unlike the NSRM, the SSRM is a military government dominated by the Solarian Navy due to its more hazardous position on the edge of the Sparring Sea and Badlands. While the SSRM is more stable than its northern counterpart there is still much work to do, and some have expressed concern that its military government means the Alliance is not as concerned about escaping its Navy-dominated past as it claims to be.

===Government===

The SSRM is a provisional military government which has been established to assist in the region’s formal transition back into the broader Alliance. It has broad powers to govern and direct the Southern Reaches as it sees fit, and martial law remains in place across much of the region — though it has lessened in some locations, with promises of a return to normalcy as the Alliance’s first fair elections since the 2450s begin. Szalai’s First Middle Ring Battlegroup and Yunso’s 6th Middle Ring Battlegroup dominate the military government of the region, having worked together to keep the area stable since the beginning of the Solarian Civil War.

The Governor of the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate is Solarian Navy Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai, formerly the leader of the Southern Solarian Military District and a career Navy officer with a history of excellence in service. A native Visegradi, Szalai has transformed the rainy world into a lynchpin of Solarian control in the region and has repelled all attempts to contest the Alliance’s hold over the Southern Reaches. To her frustration she has never been able to reclaim the devastated Nieużytek — formerly under the control of her rival, Fleet Admiral F.R. Beauchamp. While her governorship is likely temporary, with the SSRM soon to be handed over to civilian authorities once it is more stable, most in the region have confidence in Szalai.

Governing alongside Szalai is the second most important officer in the Southern Reaches: Fleet Admiral Myo Yunso of the Sixth Middle Ring Battlegroup. A Konyanger who has remained loyal to the Alliance, Yunso has been both a staunch ally and fierce rival to Anderson MacPherson, the former governor of Sankt Frederick and current highest-ranked civilian member of the Reconstruction Mandate. Yunso is as professional as Szalai but lacks her experience, with the Sixth having been mostly confined to the area around Sankt Frederick for the duration of the Solarian Civil War. Like Szalai, Yunso is expected to step down from power once the region becomes more stable.

===Military===

The SSRM has more local military forces at its disposal due to the presence of the First and Sixth Middle Ring Battlegroups — entities regarded as the best forces in the Middle Ring prior to the civil war’s outbreak. Most Navy and Army forces dispatched to the Mandates are stationed in the Northern Reaches, which has led to some discontent amongst forces in the Southern Reaches. These troops, many of them having fought since the beginning of the civil war, wish to finally receive large amounts of Solarian reinforcements and to return to a kind of normalcy. But with the Northern Reaches recovering from a devastating conflict these reinforcements may be months —potentially years — away.

===Notable Worlds===

The Southern Reaches is less populous than its northern counterpart and has long been regarded as a frontier where the Alliance ends and the more dangerous Sparring Sea begins.

====Visegrad====

The capital of the Mandate is the rainy world of '''[[Visegrad]]'''. Formerly the capital of the Southern Solarian Military District Visegrad has survived the Solarian Civil War and its own civil war, with pro-Solarian and secessionist forces engaged in open warfare during the first months after the Solarian Collapse. The arrival of Szalai’s forces resulted in a Solarian victory and the start of military governance over the planet. With the civil war over and elections around the corner, many wonder what will become of Visegrad now that it has been transformed into a major military hub for the entire region.

====Sankt Frederick====

The other prominent world of the Mandate is '''Sankt Frederick''', formerly the capital of the Solarian Provisional Government of the Southern Reaches (SPG). One of the rare worlds which did not collapse into anarchy after the events of 2462, Sankt Frederick has been one of the most stable worlds in the Wildlands and was a common destination for refugees fleeing from more violent areas such as the Wasteland and the Corporate Reconstruction Zone. One warp gate jump away from the broader Alliance, most residents of Sankt Frederick barely felt the impact of the civil war upon their agricultural world and for most their primary interaction with the civil war was seeing refugee workers in the planet’s orbital hydroponics facilities.

Sankt Frederick is an idyllic, verdant world which has long served as the agrarian breadbasket for much of the Alliance through its use of intensive planetside agriculture and sprawling orbital hydroponics facilities. The Alliance’s support of the provisional government of the system — consisting of the mostly-intact remains of its government — has allowed it to prosper even during the civil war, with much of its production now being shipped to the devastated Northern Reaches. However, many residents of the planet are bitter at the government's decision to favor Visegrad over their world, viewing it as yet another example of naval cronyism in the Alliance.

===The Pustkowie===

The region beyond Mandate control, the Pustkowie is an anarchistic wasteland where violence rules and little has been left intact. Previously controlled by the Southern Fleet Administration (SFA), the Pustkowie’s fortunes took a turn for the worse following the skrellian intervention which ended the SFA as a cohesive force. The remaining flag officers of the SFA, deprived of the central leadership of Fleet Admiral F.R. Beauchamp, quickly turned on one another and descended into further warlordism as the region collapsed around them. By early 2465 the region had become too unstable to reasonably reclaim, and is the only former region of the Alliance not under the control of any nation.

Those who remain in the Pustkowie are often those who do not wish to be found by the government of any nation in the Orion Spur. They are often deserters, bandits, pirates, mercenaries, or anarchists who, dissatisfied with the broader Spur, have relocated to this area. To live in the Pustkowie is not a romantic existence: it is one where every day of life is a difficult task and survival is often in question, as the ex-SFA warlords who lord over much of the region are known for both their immense greed and cruelty. It is unlikely the Pustkowie will ever be a productive region of space before the next century, and the Alliance has shown no desire to reclaim it.

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The Orion Spur

2024-07-24T20:35:23Z

La Villa Strangiato: changes "nieuzytek" to "pustkowie", again

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==Orion Spur==
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[[File:Orionspurindicator.png|thumb|left|An indicator for where the Orion Spur is in the Milky Way.]]
=Overview=
This is a page for the regional descriptors and '''starmap''' of the Orion Spur, the setting of the Aurora server's universe.

'''[[The Orion Spur#The Starmap|At the very bottom of this page is a fully interactive map of the region that will be updated as time goes on. To access it, hit expand on the right of its collapsible box.]]'''

The Orion Spur is the center of all things familiar in the galaxy, yet is largely unexplored by even the most noteworthy Skrell and Human expeditions. It represents a tiny portion of a much larger galaxy that is indicative of a thriving and lush interstellar community. At least, the hope is that whatever lay beyond could be considered such.

The Orion Spur is traditionally charted in a horizontal two-dimensional fashion imposed over the Milky Way. This is due to the fact that the density of noteworthy locations is rather thin and spread out evenly across its internal regions. This is not to say the galaxy is not three dimensional - however for your ease of comprehension, it will not be treated as such.

To the Galactic North of the Orion Spur (closer toward the galactic center in this definition) is the Sagittarius Arm, and to the Galactic South (further from the galactic center) would be the Perseus Arm.

Details as to the background of the Orion Spur can be found [[Background summary|here.]] This region of space (or perhaps all of space if this is any indicator) is particularly anomalous, and some of its anomalies can be detailed on the [[Deep Space]] page.

Details on the regions of, and factions within the Orion Spur can be found below.

=Regions=
==[[Sol Alliance|Solarian Alliance]]==
The Alliance of Sovereign Solarian Nations is the single largest political entity in known space. Nearly half of Humanity can trace their home to here.

===Jewel Worlds===

Centered in the heart of the Sol Alliance and safe from any common galactic dangers, the Jewel Worlds are the historical home of humanity and stand as the most developed and populous region in the entire Orion Spur. Though humanity has since split into a multitude of nations many still view the Jewel Worlds – particularly the Sol System – with a hint of reverence due to the storied history of this region.

Major worlds in the Jewel Worlds include the entirety of the Sol System, the [[Eridani Federation|Epsilon Eridani]] system, [[New Hai Phong]], and [[Silversun]].

Two bluespace gates – massive structures which rely on phoron to provide faster than light travel – exist within the Jewel Worlds. The first, from Epsilon Eridani to Qerrbalak, is still functional if mostly used for government vessels due to the high price of phoron. The second, from the Sol System to [[Konyang]], currently sits inactive and partially dismantled due to Konyang’s formal secession from the Alliance in 2462.

===Alliance Neutral Zone===

A massive region of neutral space established over two hundred years ago during the time after the Interstellar War, the “ANZ” is a testament to the Coalition’s fear. Both the Alliance and Coalition have long since built their borders around this demilitarized zone, taking great care to not officially overstep their boundaries and create hostilities. However, it is very clear the Alliance itself has long cared little for this zone, regularly “accidentally” pushing survey fleets into its boundaries. The ANZ entirely encompasses the Weeping Stars region.

''As of the [[KING OF THE WORLD]] arc's finale in late 2462, the ANZ no longer exists.''

===Northern Reaches===

Prior to 2462 the Northern Reaches — named so due to their status as the furthest point of Solarian control in the galactic north — were an area of immense post-Interstellar War investment by both the Solarian Alliance and the various megacorporations which had come to pull the strings of its economic system from behind the scenes. This investment allowed for the region to be heavily developed over the 2300s and 2400s, though large amounts of funds disappeared due to increasingly large amounts of government corruption, and resulted in it being the most prosperous sections of the Alliance outside of its Inner Ring.

Following the Solarian Collapse of 2462 the Northern Reaches have been divided between the Coalition, Biesel, and the post-Solarian statelets of the Northern Wildlands, which has caused it to be wracked by instability. As of 2465 the regionhas become the site of the largest conflict in the Spur since the Interstellar War: the War in the Northern Wildlands, or Solarian Civil War. This War has seen the Wildlands ripped apart by violence and looting, with many concerned the conflict will spill over into neighboring states.

Major worlds in the Northern Reaches include [[San Colette]], [[Human Wildlands#The Solarian Restoration Front|Lycoris]], and [[Konyang]].

===Southern Reaches===

While it never had the development of its counterpart to the galactic north, the Southern Reaches were considered a critical part of the Alliance prior to the Solarian Collapse and great efforts — featuring the corruption typically associated with the post-Interstellar War Alliance — were made to ensure it remained secure and safe as this region was the southernmost section of the Alliance. These defensive efforts would greatly benefit the Alliance in 2462 when, despite losing nominal control over the area, two Sol-aligned statelets — the Solarian Provisional Government and Southern Solarian Military District — emerged from the aftermath of the Collapse, securing most of the region for the Alliance de facto if not de jure.

But the furthest reaches of this area were not so lucky. Lacking significant infrastructure and ineffective local military forces, the southernmost region of the Southern Reaches found themselves under the control of the Biesel-funded Southern Fleet Administration, a bandit group which destroyed much of the region through rampant looting and has caused it to be known as the Pustkowie, or Wasteland, by pro-Solarian forces in the region. Even though the Pustkowie is nominally claimed by the Alliance most doubt it will make any serious effort to claim this now mostly depopulated and decivilized region.

Major worlds in the Southern Reaches include [[Visegrad]] and [[Human Wildlands#The Solarian Provisional Government|Sankt Frederick]]. The Pustkowie, its south, is home to no major population centers.

==[[Coalition of Colonies]]==
The Coalition of Colonies is the largest Human entity in known space, regarded highly in the Frontier as a bastion of hope against the burgeoning Solarian Alliance. Over 85 billion people reside across the entire Coalition, with all relatively evenly spread out.

===Liberty’s Cradle===

The beating heart of the modern Coalition of Colonies, Liberty’s Cradle is home to many of the Coalition’s most developed and influential worlds. In contrast to the Solarian stereotype of the frontier as a decivilized wasteland populated by roving bands of pirates and petty warlords, Liberty’s Cradle is a prosperous and safe region which has a higher standard of living than much of the former Middle and Outer Ring possessed prior to the Solarian Collapse of 2462. Post-Collapse the area has continued to prosper and, now that it dwells far behind the Coalition-controlled Weeping Stars, is more secure than it has ever been before.

This region, prior to the Interstellar War, was divided between the Inner and Central Solarian Frontier. During the Interstellar War both regions were the site of intense fighting between the Alliance and Coalition, which ultimately secured total control over the area through the Treaty of Xansan. In the 25th century the distinction between these two frontiers has disappeared and the entire region is simply referred to as Liberty’s Cradle in honor of the sacrifices made by the Coalition during the Interstellar War.

Major worlds in Liberty’s Cradle include [[Xanu Prime|Xanu]], [[Himeo]], and [[Vysoka]]. [[Orepit]] can additionally be found within its borders.

===Weeping Stars===

The region most devastated by the Interstellar War, the majority of the Weeping Stars has yet to recover from the damage it suffered during the War and much of it remains underdeveloped and sparsely inhabited. During the hegemonic era of the Solarian Alliance, when the Alliance stretched from Sol to the edge of known space, this region was known as the Inner Solarian Frontier and was intended to serve as a highly-developed region for humanity to thrive in. Massive amounts of funds were used to build an infrastructure which was still incomplete when war broke out in 2277, and the shattered ruins of long-lost Solarian hegemonic era structures and projects are present throughout the region.

The Weeping Stars served as the Alliance Neutral Zone until 2462, when the Solarian Collapse saw the region fall out of Solarian control.

Major worlds in the Weeping Stars include [[Gadpathur]] and [[Burzsia]].

===Light’s Edge===

An unusual region which is sparsely populated even in the 25th century, Light’s Edge was the furthest extent of the Alliance’s hegemonic era exploration efforts in the southeastern Spur. Few attempts were made to colonize it prior to the Interstellar War and even fewer of these attempts were successful, with Assunzione being the most successful of all hegemonic era colonies in the region. Light’s Edge derives its name from its position next to Lemurian Sea, a vast and mostly uncharted region which is entirely devoid of stars. Both Light’s Edge and the Lemurian Sea are home to a variety of unusual stellar phenomena which have attracted widespread scientific interest.

The Lemurian Sea is an astrological curiosity which is entirely free of stars. This region is a relatively new discovery and classification, having only been officially broken off of Light’s Edge by most astrographical institutions following the rediscovery of Assunzione and limited exploration beyond its position on the border of what would become the Lemurian Sea. Most astrological charts advise avoiding the region as travelers are known to report a feeling of general uneasiness while passing through it and many vessels are known to have disappeared within the Sea.

Major worlds in Light’s Edge include Zaurghis and [[Assunzione]], which sits on the very edge of the Lemurian Sea. No known settlements exist within the Lemurian Sea.
[[File:Light's Edge.png.png|thumb|Light's Edge - Waiting to be Explored. ]]

==Human Frontier and Colonial Space==
The Human Frontier consists of any amount of open space that is charted but is left without any major galactic sovereignty. This is seen as lawless, wild space to some while untold billions call it home. Colonial territories such as Elyra or Dominia are the few bastions of solid civilization in this chaotic place.

===The Clash===
The Clash is the farthest point of the Human Frontier and the closest settlement of Human territories to Nralakk Federation space, with some independent factions practically floating on the border of it.

===Arusha===
Arusha is a truly alien sector within the Orion Spur, known for its great many barely-habitable planets populated by xenoflora that is like nothing ever seen elsewhere in charted space. Presumably anomalous in nature or spread by a now long-gone civilization, these Arushan plant species are widely famous for their odd appearance, high luminescence and very specific compatible habitats. The products of harvesting Arushan plants are seen as delicacies across charted space.

===Badlands===
The Badlands are home to some of the Orion Spur’s most savage flora and fauna, a phenomenon that attracts only the wildest and wisest of the system’s inhabitants - xenobiologists, weapon scientists, there’s even a market for mercenaries, in the hunting of the particularly large and lethal creatures. Of course, there are also those looking to make a life for themselves, but natives aren’t known to treat settlements kindly.
[[File:Perispolis2.png|Persepolis, capital of Elyra and a major political player in the Badlands.|thumb]]
The majority of the [[Tajara|People's Republic of Adhomai]] and the [[Republic of Elyra]]’s space finds itselves positioned in the Badlands. As well, the entire [[Unathi|Izweski Hegemony]] and a small portion of the [[Empire of Dominia]].

'''The Badlands are accessible by a set of bluespace gates leading to and from Tau Ceti and Persepolis/New Ankara.'''

===Valley Hale===
Nestled in the narrow Frontier space between the [[Republic of Elyra]] and the former borders of the Solarian Alliance is Valley Hale, a large region filled with a large amount of old, dying stars and impassable nebulae. Due to close proximity to patrols on either end of this space, it isn’t frequented much by criminal elements and is one of the safer parts of the known Frontier. After 2462, the Republic of Elyra has occupied the majority of Valley Hale, now bordering the [[Republic of Biesel]].

===Sparring Sea===
A large region of heavily contested space, mostly avoided, barring those with lofty goals or sinister dealings. It is populated by all sorts of outcasts and outlaws, but notably Unathi pirates and exiles, Dominian edict breakers and even the scarce eccentric band of Skrell are all known to seek refuge here. Though piracy is common, plenty of stubborn colonies of all backgrounds make stakes here.

===Crescent Expanse===
A large, mostly uncontrolled area, the Crescent Expanse represents the furthest stretches of human colonization and stretches to the border of the Nralakk Federation. This area was in the process of development by the Solarian Alliance prior to the Interstellar War and half-complete relics of the Alliance's hegemonic era can be found scattered across its planets and floating in long-abandoned systems. The Coalition of Colonies, Nralakk Federation, and Solarian Alliance are currently attempting to expand their influence into this region with varying degrees of success.

==[[Skrell|Nralakk Federation]]==
The Nralakk Federation is an authoritarian, centralized union of star systems. Although humans have fractured heavily in their expansion, Skrell have remained in a largely singular government through strict reinforcement of education, travel, technology and research, while its laws and planned economy organised by the Grand Council further allow the Federation to control the direction of the nation. Social media is maintained by the Federation government, which gags unacceptable discussions or thoughts and instead encourages people to be like the Idols that they reward with credits, high-quality housing, and fine living.

===The Homeworld===

The geographical and strategic centre of the Nralakk Federation, the Homeworld region encompasses the entirety of the Nralakk system, the origin point for the Skrell species. The region is considered the "jewel" of the Federation, being both the most affluent and most influential system of the nation, as well as housing almost a quarter of the Orion Spur's total Skrell. It has a single Bluespace gate, connecting the system to Humanity's [[Eridani_Federation|Episilon Eridani]].

[[Qerrbalak]], [[Qerr'Malic]], and [[Aliose]] are noteworthy planets within the Homeworld region.

===Inner Systems===

The Inner Systems are parts of the Nralakk Federation that were the first to be colonised by Skrell, and have had centuries, if not thousands of years of development. This region sees a high quality of life and technological standing on par with the Homeworld, which gradually begins to decline as one reaches the border with the Traverse. Older colonies have become specialised in one way or another, while the "newer" colonies focus almost purely on manufacturing as they transition from resource extraction to refining and production. The Inner Systems are divided between the [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#The_Elemental_Systems:_The_First_Waves|'''First Waves''']], colonies that were established early in the age of Skrell colonisation, and the [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#The_Contingent_Systems:_The_Second_Waves|'''Second Waves''']], which were established much later to further support Qerrbalak and its colonies.

[[Aweiji]] is located in the Inner Systems.

===The Traverse===
The Traverse is the frontier of Federation society. Research and mining outposts, newly-established colonies, and manufacturing facilities can be found dotted throughout this large-spanning section of Federation space. While the quality of life and purpose of settlements in the Traverse vary drastically, they will all follow similar trends based on which [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#The_Tetramerous_Systems:_The_Traverse|district]] they are in. The Traverse is also home to independence movements, resistance cells, and other [[Federation_Crime_and_Resistance|criminal]] organisations that operate in Federation space.

[[Tattuqig]] and [[Xrim]] are located in the Traverse.

====Pluat Ven’qop - The Pluat Cooperative====

The “crown” of the Traverse, the Pluat Ven’qop (or the Pluat Cooperative) is host to much of the Traverse’s industrial facilities. Besides Pluat itself, several other planets and megafactory stations take in raw resources imported in from other areas in the Traverse or the Spur at large for manufacturing civilian and military goods for the Federation. Though, the majority of the goods produced here are necessities rather than luxury items.

The standard of living is comparable to living within the Contingent Systems, thanks to the importance and support the Federation places on the district. Qukala Patrols are a common sight here and piracy rates are extremely low. Technologically speaking, citizens enjoy advanced industrial designs and slightly outdated, but enjoyable luxury devices.

====Qukala-Median Treqki - The Median====
Also known as the Median Naval District, it was created shortly after first contact with the Solarian Alliance, this district was to serve as a firm wall between human and skrell territory. The Qukala established several military bases and patrol outposts in the region to handle potential piracy, be it Humans preying on Skrell or vice versa. The region was largely unoccupied prior to the Qukala’s establishment in the area, outside of a few mining and agricultural colonies. Thanks to warm relations with the Alliance, the Qukala never had to make much use of their power here, until the Solarian Warlord States arrived in force. Recently, occasional skirmishes have broken out in the Median as opportunistic raiders swelled in numbers in the wake of the collapse of Solarian authority.

Skrell from the Median are few and far between, especially those that decided to venture out in the Spur. Most of the population are farmers, miners, Qukala, and those that make up the services to support them. The planets in the district were developed enough for the Qukala to purchase local food rather than importing it from the inner worlds, but little more support than that has been received from the Federation.

====Q'elpi - The Q’elpi Basin====
The Skrell residing in the “Basin” of the Traverse do not often feel the touch of Nralakk’s hand in their affairs, for better or worse. The region is largely decentralized with administrations being planetary in nature rather than covering large swathes of space. The Basin is home to barely habitable planets and plenty of asteroid fields. Outside of initial construction and colonization efforts, the Federation has provided nearly no extra support to the Basin. Most colonies and habitats get by via trading minerals and valuable gasses for food and domestic goods.

During the [[The_Phoron_Scarcity:_Skrell_Arc|phoron crisis]], it was revealed that around a dozen systems in the Q'elpi region were secretly collaborating with the Ti'Rakqi, the largest group of Marauders in Federation space. When the Qukala and local Nlomkala attempted a mass arrest of the civilian Government for their part in the collaboration, the systems quickly broke into open defiance of the Federation Government. The '''"Marauder Systems"''', as they came to be known, are currently under martial law as slow progress is being made to pacify them. The Federation has publicly stated its intention to return the systems back to a civilian Government once the collaborators have been detained and "dissident activity" has ceased.

====Zeiqi-Trqn - The Deadspace Spine ====
The portion of the Traverse situated towards galactic west near uncharted space is aptly dubbed the “Deadspace Spine” when translated from Nral’Malic. The region was one of the first colonization targets of pre-Glorsh skrell. The colonies and installations here are very old, very occupied, and very lawless.

Due to the Tri-Qyu incident, much of the skrellian infrastructure in place to keep their interstellar empire intact was rendered inoperable, setting the species back with resounding force. Due to the distance, the Zeiqi-Trqn was one of the final areas of pre-Glorsh space to be “reclaimed” by the Nralakk Federation.

This reclamation took quite some time though, and during the decades prior, the skrell in the Zeiqi-Trqn recovered their ability to traverse the stars earlier than most due to their distance from the Tri-Qyu system. They lacked sufficient industrial power to produce the fuel and other necessities required to return to the core worlds, and instead opted to engage in communal trade to keep the region breathing until they could be found.

A few decades before rediscovery, a plague swept through the Zeiqi-Trqn. Its origins are unknown and widely speculated about, popular theories being that it was a Glorsh-Omega bio-weapon or some unknown bacteria from Deadspace. Regardless, the “Black-Blood” caused the blood of a victim to cease transmission of oxygen to the cells, eventual corruption of DNA and caused the body to use carbon instead of mercury in its blood, causing its infamous black color. The plague wiped out a few of the fledgling colonies completely and severely damaged the populace of the remaining planets and stations. Authority collapsed and the region descended into anarchy.

Desperate skrell turned towards piracy and exploitation to stay alive. Colonies were raided and burned, rival pirate fleets fought for any scraps of fuel or food, and countless others died from the indiscriminate conflict. When the Federation arrived, little was left to save. The Grand Council condemned the area as a “lost cause” and enacted measures to destroy colonies, ships, and stations suspected to contain traces of the Black-Blood. To this day, there is no cure to the disease, only early treatment can prevent cases from becoming terminal. Any skrell suspected of visiting the region is subject to screening to avoid spreading it to the Federation core.

Inside the Zeiqi-Trqn itself, skrell who refuse to bend the knee to Nralakk, prefer to live more criminal lives, or simply lack the power to go elsewhere live in squalor. The region receives no support from the Nralakk Federation, and no regular patrols outside of the ones on its border.

====Estuaries====

The Estuaries are considered the final frontier for Skrellian expansion, being one of the few directions the Nralakk Federation can expand without encroaching on its neighbour's borders. The region is mostly comprised of small developing colonies, termed "Boundary Worlds" or "Boundaries" for short. The Estuaries are almost a perfect location for independence movements and other illegal operations to flourish; the lack of infrastructure and value found in the Estuaries has resulted in Qukala patrols being few and far between, allowing for Marauders, Lyukal cells, and anti-Federation agitators to operate with unparalleled freedom.

The Estuaries have learned to rely less on the Federation, with colonies adopting a more "generalist" plan compared to the specialised societies found elsewhere in the Federation to facilitate trade and survival. Technology and quality of life within this segment of the Traverse can vary wildly, but usually ranks lower than elsewhere in the Federation as a result of the colonies here either being newly established or lacking the resources to develop to what's considered standard in the modern-day.

==The Starmap==
{{Template:Aurora_Starmap}}

The Orion Spur

2024-07-24T20:34:44Z

La Villa Strangiato: changes "nieuzytek" to "pustkowie"

{{Navbox Lore}}
==Orion Spur==
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[[File:Orionspurindicator.png|thumb|left|An indicator for where the Orion Spur is in the Milky Way.]]
=Overview=
This is a page for the regional descriptors and '''starmap''' of the Orion Spur, the setting of the Aurora server's universe.

'''[[The Orion Spur#The Starmap|At the very bottom of this page is a fully interactive map of the region that will be updated as time goes on. To access it, hit expand on the right of its collapsible box.]]'''

The Orion Spur is the center of all things familiar in the galaxy, yet is largely unexplored by even the most noteworthy Skrell and Human expeditions. It represents a tiny portion of a much larger galaxy that is indicative of a thriving and lush interstellar community. At least, the hope is that whatever lay beyond could be considered such.

The Orion Spur is traditionally charted in a horizontal two-dimensional fashion imposed over the Milky Way. This is due to the fact that the density of noteworthy locations is rather thin and spread out evenly across its internal regions. This is not to say the galaxy is not three dimensional - however for your ease of comprehension, it will not be treated as such.

To the Galactic North of the Orion Spur (closer toward the galactic center in this definition) is the Sagittarius Arm, and to the Galactic South (further from the galactic center) would be the Perseus Arm.

Details as to the background of the Orion Spur can be found [[Background summary|here.]] This region of space (or perhaps all of space if this is any indicator) is particularly anomalous, and some of its anomalies can be detailed on the [[Deep Space]] page.

Details on the regions of, and factions within the Orion Spur can be found below.

=Regions=
==[[Sol Alliance|Solarian Alliance]]==
The Alliance of Sovereign Solarian Nations is the single largest political entity in known space. Nearly half of Humanity can trace their home to here.

===Jewel Worlds===

Centered in the heart of the Sol Alliance and safe from any common galactic dangers, the Jewel Worlds are the historical home of humanity and stand as the most developed and populous region in the entire Orion Spur. Though humanity has since split into a multitude of nations many still view the Jewel Worlds – particularly the Sol System – with a hint of reverence due to the storied history of this region.

Major worlds in the Jewel Worlds include the entirety of the Sol System, the [[Eridani Federation|Epsilon Eridani]] system, [[New Hai Phong]], and [[Silversun]].

Two bluespace gates – massive structures which rely on phoron to provide faster than light travel – exist within the Jewel Worlds. The first, from Epsilon Eridani to Qerrbalak, is still functional if mostly used for government vessels due to the high price of phoron. The second, from the Sol System to [[Konyang]], currently sits inactive and partially dismantled due to Konyang’s formal secession from the Alliance in 2462.

===Alliance Neutral Zone===

A massive region of neutral space established over two hundred years ago during the time after the Interstellar War, the “ANZ” is a testament to the Coalition’s fear. Both the Alliance and Coalition have long since built their borders around this demilitarized zone, taking great care to not officially overstep their boundaries and create hostilities. However, it is very clear the Alliance itself has long cared little for this zone, regularly “accidentally” pushing survey fleets into its boundaries. The ANZ entirely encompasses the Weeping Stars region.

''As of the [[KING OF THE WORLD]] arc's finale in late 2462, the ANZ no longer exists.''

===Northern Reaches===

Prior to 2462 the Northern Reaches — named so due to their status as the furthest point of Solarian control in the galactic north — were an area of immense post-Interstellar War investment by both the Solarian Alliance and the various megacorporations which had come to pull the strings of its economic system from behind the scenes. This investment allowed for the region to be heavily developed over the 2300s and 2400s, though large amounts of funds disappeared due to increasingly large amounts of government corruption, and resulted in it being the most prosperous sections of the Alliance outside of its Inner Ring.

Following the Solarian Collapse of 2462 the Northern Reaches have been divided between the Coalition, Biesel, and the post-Solarian statelets of the Northern Wildlands, which has caused it to be wracked by instability. As of 2465 the regionhas become the site of the largest conflict in the Spur since the Interstellar War: the War in the Northern Wildlands, or Solarian Civil War. This War has seen the Wildlands ripped apart by violence and looting, with many concerned the conflict will spill over into neighboring states.

Major worlds in the Northern Reaches include [[San Colette]], [[Human Wildlands#The Solarian Restoration Front|Lycoris]], and [[Konyang]].

===Southern Reaches===

While it never had the development of its counterpart to the galactic north, the Southern Reaches were considered a critical part of the Alliance prior to the Solarian Collapse and great efforts — featuring the corruption typically associated with the post-Interstellar War Alliance — were made to ensure it remained secure and safe as this region was the southernmost section of the Alliance. These defensive efforts would greatly benefit the Alliance in 2462 when, despite losing nominal control over the area, two Sol-aligned statelets — the Solarian Provisional Government and Southern Solarian Military District — emerged from the aftermath of the Collapse, securing most of the region for the Alliance de facto if not de jure.

But the furthest reaches of this area were not so lucky. Lacking significant infrastructure and ineffective local military forces, the southernmost region of the Southern Reaches found themselves under the control of the Biesel-funded Southern Fleet Administration, a bandit group which destroyed much of the region through rampant looting and has caused it to be known as the Nieużytek, or Wasteland, by pro-Solarian forces in the region. Even though the Nieużytek is nominally claimed by the Alliance most doubt it will make any serious effort to claim this now mostly depopulated and decivilized region.

Major worlds in the Southern Reaches include [[Visegrad]] and [[Human Wildlands#The Solarian Provisional Government|Sankt Frederick]]. The Pustkowie, its south, is home to no major population centers.

==[[Coalition of Colonies]]==
The Coalition of Colonies is the largest Human entity in known space, regarded highly in the Frontier as a bastion of hope against the burgeoning Solarian Alliance. Over 85 billion people reside across the entire Coalition, with all relatively evenly spread out.

===Liberty’s Cradle===

The beating heart of the modern Coalition of Colonies, Liberty’s Cradle is home to many of the Coalition’s most developed and influential worlds. In contrast to the Solarian stereotype of the frontier as a decivilized wasteland populated by roving bands of pirates and petty warlords, Liberty’s Cradle is a prosperous and safe region which has a higher standard of living than much of the former Middle and Outer Ring possessed prior to the Solarian Collapse of 2462. Post-Collapse the area has continued to prosper and, now that it dwells far behind the Coalition-controlled Weeping Stars, is more secure than it has ever been before.

This region, prior to the Interstellar War, was divided between the Inner and Central Solarian Frontier. During the Interstellar War both regions were the site of intense fighting between the Alliance and Coalition, which ultimately secured total control over the area through the Treaty of Xansan. In the 25th century the distinction between these two frontiers has disappeared and the entire region is simply referred to as Liberty’s Cradle in honor of the sacrifices made by the Coalition during the Interstellar War.

Major worlds in Liberty’s Cradle include [[Xanu Prime|Xanu]], [[Himeo]], and [[Vysoka]]. [[Orepit]] can additionally be found within its borders.

===Weeping Stars===

The region most devastated by the Interstellar War, the majority of the Weeping Stars has yet to recover from the damage it suffered during the War and much of it remains underdeveloped and sparsely inhabited. During the hegemonic era of the Solarian Alliance, when the Alliance stretched from Sol to the edge of known space, this region was known as the Inner Solarian Frontier and was intended to serve as a highly-developed region for humanity to thrive in. Massive amounts of funds were used to build an infrastructure which was still incomplete when war broke out in 2277, and the shattered ruins of long-lost Solarian hegemonic era structures and projects are present throughout the region.

The Weeping Stars served as the Alliance Neutral Zone until 2462, when the Solarian Collapse saw the region fall out of Solarian control.

Major worlds in the Weeping Stars include [[Gadpathur]] and [[Burzsia]].

===Light’s Edge===

An unusual region which is sparsely populated even in the 25th century, Light’s Edge was the furthest extent of the Alliance’s hegemonic era exploration efforts in the southeastern Spur. Few attempts were made to colonize it prior to the Interstellar War and even fewer of these attempts were successful, with Assunzione being the most successful of all hegemonic era colonies in the region. Light’s Edge derives its name from its position next to Lemurian Sea, a vast and mostly uncharted region which is entirely devoid of stars. Both Light’s Edge and the Lemurian Sea are home to a variety of unusual stellar phenomena which have attracted widespread scientific interest.

The Lemurian Sea is an astrological curiosity which is entirely free of stars. This region is a relatively new discovery and classification, having only been officially broken off of Light’s Edge by most astrographical institutions following the rediscovery of Assunzione and limited exploration beyond its position on the border of what would become the Lemurian Sea. Most astrological charts advise avoiding the region as travelers are known to report a feeling of general uneasiness while passing through it and many vessels are known to have disappeared within the Sea.

Major worlds in Light’s Edge include Zaurghis and [[Assunzione]], which sits on the very edge of the Lemurian Sea. No known settlements exist within the Lemurian Sea.
[[File:Light's Edge.png.png|thumb|Light's Edge - Waiting to be Explored. ]]

==Human Frontier and Colonial Space==
The Human Frontier consists of any amount of open space that is charted but is left without any major galactic sovereignty. This is seen as lawless, wild space to some while untold billions call it home. Colonial territories such as Elyra or Dominia are the few bastions of solid civilization in this chaotic place.

===The Clash===
The Clash is the farthest point of the Human Frontier and the closest settlement of Human territories to Nralakk Federation space, with some independent factions practically floating on the border of it.

===Arusha===
Arusha is a truly alien sector within the Orion Spur, known for its great many barely-habitable planets populated by xenoflora that is like nothing ever seen elsewhere in charted space. Presumably anomalous in nature or spread by a now long-gone civilization, these Arushan plant species are widely famous for their odd appearance, high luminescence and very specific compatible habitats. The products of harvesting Arushan plants are seen as delicacies across charted space.

===Badlands===
The Badlands are home to some of the Orion Spur’s most savage flora and fauna, a phenomenon that attracts only the wildest and wisest of the system’s inhabitants - xenobiologists, weapon scientists, there’s even a market for mercenaries, in the hunting of the particularly large and lethal creatures. Of course, there are also those looking to make a life for themselves, but natives aren’t known to treat settlements kindly.
[[File:Perispolis2.png|Persepolis, capital of Elyra and a major political player in the Badlands.|thumb]]
The majority of the [[Tajara|People's Republic of Adhomai]] and the [[Republic of Elyra]]’s space finds itselves positioned in the Badlands. As well, the entire [[Unathi|Izweski Hegemony]] and a small portion of the [[Empire of Dominia]].

'''The Badlands are accessible by a set of bluespace gates leading to and from Tau Ceti and Persepolis/New Ankara.'''

===Valley Hale===
Nestled in the narrow Frontier space between the [[Republic of Elyra]] and the former borders of the Solarian Alliance is Valley Hale, a large region filled with a large amount of old, dying stars and impassable nebulae. Due to close proximity to patrols on either end of this space, it isn’t frequented much by criminal elements and is one of the safer parts of the known Frontier. After 2462, the Republic of Elyra has occupied the majority of Valley Hale, now bordering the [[Republic of Biesel]].

===Sparring Sea===
A large region of heavily contested space, mostly avoided, barring those with lofty goals or sinister dealings. It is populated by all sorts of outcasts and outlaws, but notably Unathi pirates and exiles, Dominian edict breakers and even the scarce eccentric band of Skrell are all known to seek refuge here. Though piracy is common, plenty of stubborn colonies of all backgrounds make stakes here.

===Crescent Expanse===
A large, mostly uncontrolled area, the Crescent Expanse represents the furthest stretches of human colonization and stretches to the border of the Nralakk Federation. This area was in the process of development by the Solarian Alliance prior to the Interstellar War and half-complete relics of the Alliance's hegemonic era can be found scattered across its planets and floating in long-abandoned systems. The Coalition of Colonies, Nralakk Federation, and Solarian Alliance are currently attempting to expand their influence into this region with varying degrees of success.

==[[Skrell|Nralakk Federation]]==
The Nralakk Federation is an authoritarian, centralized union of star systems. Although humans have fractured heavily in their expansion, Skrell have remained in a largely singular government through strict reinforcement of education, travel, technology and research, while its laws and planned economy organised by the Grand Council further allow the Federation to control the direction of the nation. Social media is maintained by the Federation government, which gags unacceptable discussions or thoughts and instead encourages people to be like the Idols that they reward with credits, high-quality housing, and fine living.

===The Homeworld===

The geographical and strategic centre of the Nralakk Federation, the Homeworld region encompasses the entirety of the Nralakk system, the origin point for the Skrell species. The region is considered the "jewel" of the Federation, being both the most affluent and most influential system of the nation, as well as housing almost a quarter of the Orion Spur's total Skrell. It has a single Bluespace gate, connecting the system to Humanity's [[Eridani_Federation|Episilon Eridani]].

[[Qerrbalak]], [[Qerr'Malic]], and [[Aliose]] are noteworthy planets within the Homeworld region.

===Inner Systems===

The Inner Systems are parts of the Nralakk Federation that were the first to be colonised by Skrell, and have had centuries, if not thousands of years of development. This region sees a high quality of life and technological standing on par with the Homeworld, which gradually begins to decline as one reaches the border with the Traverse. Older colonies have become specialised in one way or another, while the "newer" colonies focus almost purely on manufacturing as they transition from resource extraction to refining and production. The Inner Systems are divided between the [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#The_Elemental_Systems:_The_First_Waves|'''First Waves''']], colonies that were established early in the age of Skrell colonisation, and the [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#The_Contingent_Systems:_The_Second_Waves|'''Second Waves''']], which were established much later to further support Qerrbalak and its colonies.

[[Aweiji]] is located in the Inner Systems.

===The Traverse===
The Traverse is the frontier of Federation society. Research and mining outposts, newly-established colonies, and manufacturing facilities can be found dotted throughout this large-spanning section of Federation space. While the quality of life and purpose of settlements in the Traverse vary drastically, they will all follow similar trends based on which [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#The_Tetramerous_Systems:_The_Traverse|district]] they are in. The Traverse is also home to independence movements, resistance cells, and other [[Federation_Crime_and_Resistance|criminal]] organisations that operate in Federation space.

[[Tattuqig]] and [[Xrim]] are located in the Traverse.

====Pluat Ven’qop - The Pluat Cooperative====

The “crown” of the Traverse, the Pluat Ven’qop (or the Pluat Cooperative) is host to much of the Traverse’s industrial facilities. Besides Pluat itself, several other planets and megafactory stations take in raw resources imported in from other areas in the Traverse or the Spur at large for manufacturing civilian and military goods for the Federation. Though, the majority of the goods produced here are necessities rather than luxury items.

The standard of living is comparable to living within the Contingent Systems, thanks to the importance and support the Federation places on the district. Qukala Patrols are a common sight here and piracy rates are extremely low. Technologically speaking, citizens enjoy advanced industrial designs and slightly outdated, but enjoyable luxury devices.

====Qukala-Median Treqki - The Median====
Also known as the Median Naval District, it was created shortly after first contact with the Solarian Alliance, this district was to serve as a firm wall between human and skrell territory. The Qukala established several military bases and patrol outposts in the region to handle potential piracy, be it Humans preying on Skrell or vice versa. The region was largely unoccupied prior to the Qukala’s establishment in the area, outside of a few mining and agricultural colonies. Thanks to warm relations with the Alliance, the Qukala never had to make much use of their power here, until the Solarian Warlord States arrived in force. Recently, occasional skirmishes have broken out in the Median as opportunistic raiders swelled in numbers in the wake of the collapse of Solarian authority.

Skrell from the Median are few and far between, especially those that decided to venture out in the Spur. Most of the population are farmers, miners, Qukala, and those that make up the services to support them. The planets in the district were developed enough for the Qukala to purchase local food rather than importing it from the inner worlds, but little more support than that has been received from the Federation.

====Q'elpi - The Q’elpi Basin====
The Skrell residing in the “Basin” of the Traverse do not often feel the touch of Nralakk’s hand in their affairs, for better or worse. The region is largely decentralized with administrations being planetary in nature rather than covering large swathes of space. The Basin is home to barely habitable planets and plenty of asteroid fields. Outside of initial construction and colonization efforts, the Federation has provided nearly no extra support to the Basin. Most colonies and habitats get by via trading minerals and valuable gasses for food and domestic goods.

During the [[The_Phoron_Scarcity:_Skrell_Arc|phoron crisis]], it was revealed that around a dozen systems in the Q'elpi region were secretly collaborating with the Ti'Rakqi, the largest group of Marauders in Federation space. When the Qukala and local Nlomkala attempted a mass arrest of the civilian Government for their part in the collaboration, the systems quickly broke into open defiance of the Federation Government. The '''"Marauder Systems"''', as they came to be known, are currently under martial law as slow progress is being made to pacify them. The Federation has publicly stated its intention to return the systems back to a civilian Government once the collaborators have been detained and "dissident activity" has ceased.

====Zeiqi-Trqn - The Deadspace Spine ====
The portion of the Traverse situated towards galactic west near uncharted space is aptly dubbed the “Deadspace Spine” when translated from Nral’Malic. The region was one of the first colonization targets of pre-Glorsh skrell. The colonies and installations here are very old, very occupied, and very lawless.

Due to the Tri-Qyu incident, much of the skrellian infrastructure in place to keep their interstellar empire intact was rendered inoperable, setting the species back with resounding force. Due to the distance, the Zeiqi-Trqn was one of the final areas of pre-Glorsh space to be “reclaimed” by the Nralakk Federation.

This reclamation took quite some time though, and during the decades prior, the skrell in the Zeiqi-Trqn recovered their ability to traverse the stars earlier than most due to their distance from the Tri-Qyu system. They lacked sufficient industrial power to produce the fuel and other necessities required to return to the core worlds, and instead opted to engage in communal trade to keep the region breathing until they could be found.

A few decades before rediscovery, a plague swept through the Zeiqi-Trqn. Its origins are unknown and widely speculated about, popular theories being that it was a Glorsh-Omega bio-weapon or some unknown bacteria from Deadspace. Regardless, the “Black-Blood” caused the blood of a victim to cease transmission of oxygen to the cells, eventual corruption of DNA and caused the body to use carbon instead of mercury in its blood, causing its infamous black color. The plague wiped out a few of the fledgling colonies completely and severely damaged the populace of the remaining planets and stations. Authority collapsed and the region descended into anarchy.

Desperate skrell turned towards piracy and exploitation to stay alive. Colonies were raided and burned, rival pirate fleets fought for any scraps of fuel or food, and countless others died from the indiscriminate conflict. When the Federation arrived, little was left to save. The Grand Council condemned the area as a “lost cause” and enacted measures to destroy colonies, ships, and stations suspected to contain traces of the Black-Blood. To this day, there is no cure to the disease, only early treatment can prevent cases from becoming terminal. Any skrell suspected of visiting the region is subject to screening to avoid spreading it to the Federation core.

Inside the Zeiqi-Trqn itself, skrell who refuse to bend the knee to Nralakk, prefer to live more criminal lives, or simply lack the power to go elsewhere live in squalor. The region receives no support from the Nralakk Federation, and no regular patrols outside of the ones on its border.

====Estuaries====

The Estuaries are considered the final frontier for Skrellian expansion, being one of the few directions the Nralakk Federation can expand without encroaching on its neighbour's borders. The region is mostly comprised of small developing colonies, termed "Boundary Worlds" or "Boundaries" for short. The Estuaries are almost a perfect location for independence movements and other illegal operations to flourish; the lack of infrastructure and value found in the Estuaries has resulted in Qukala patrols being few and far between, allowing for Marauders, Lyukal cells, and anti-Federation agitators to operate with unparalleled freedom.

The Estuaries have learned to rely less on the Federation, with colonies adopting a more "generalist" plan compared to the specialised societies found elsewhere in the Federation to facilitate trade and survival. Technology and quality of life within this segment of the Traverse can vary wildly, but usually ranks lower than elsewhere in the Federation as a result of the colonies here either being newly established or lacking the resources to develop to what's considered standard in the modern-day.

==The Starmap==
{{Template:Aurora_Starmap}}

Private Military Contracting Group

2024-07-24T20:34:01Z

La Villa Strangiato: changes "nieuzytek" to "pustkowie"

{{Navbox Corporations}}
{{Infobox Corporation
|headercolor = #000000 
|textcolor = white 
|name = Private Military Contracting Group
|logo = PMCGsmallogo
|headquarters = Eridani III, [[Epsilon Eridani]], Eridani Corporate Federation
|slogan = Always on guard, always on watch.
|languages = Sol Common, Tradeband, Tau Ceti Basic
|ceo = [[Notable Humans#Kubra Mobolaji|Kubra Mobolaji]]
|colors = <span style="color:#b9bdcd">White (#b9bdcd),</span> <span style="color:#99ccff">blue (#99ccff),</span>
<span style="color:#3355ff">dark blue (#3355ff),</span>
<span style="color:#363c43">black (#363c43),</span>
<span style="color:#c4a56e">gold (#c4a56e)</span>
|founded = 2463
|founder = Kubra Mobolaji
|regions =
<br>
* [[Republic of Elyra]]
* [[Sol Alliance]]
* [[Republic of Biesel]]
* [[Coalition of Colonies]]
* [[Izweski Hegemony]]
|}}

A coalition of security and medical contractors in service of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]], the '''Private Military Contracting Group''' is one of the elements born from the necessity of protecting an ever-growing corporate empire. Gathering mercenaries from all across the spur, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys a diverse force to anywhere they are needed; from mere office buildings to outposts in the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]]. As the megacorporations expand, these contractors follow to secure their holdings.

Unlike the other members of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]], the Private Military Contracting Group has few employees of its own. Only some liaisons and bureaucrats work behind the scenes to hire and manage the contractors. The rest of its members are in fact part of several organizations contracted to supply the Private Military Contracting Group.
{{TOC Hidden}}
== Corporate Affairs ==
=== History ===

Eridanian military contractors as a whole originate in the early 2200s, during the takeover of the Epsilon Eridani by its economic council. As residents of Eridani I (then known as Kamfulu) rioted and unionised against dangerous working conditions, low pay, and environmental destruction that was occurring on the planet, the Eridani Economic Council formed two loose coalitions of those willing to "restore order"; citizen militias wishing to earn a paycheck in an unstable climate, and ex-Solarian military personnel who were used to pacifying an unhappy populace. These coalitions were deployed en-masse against protestors; they broke strikes, disappeared the loudest dissenters, and restored iron-fisted order to Kamfulu.

After the majority of social unrest was quelled, these militias and private military contractors were gradually adopted into the new Eridani Corporate Federation. The experienced ex-military personnel were established as '''Ringspire''', marketed as highly-paid, highly-deadly mercenaries capable of being deployed in conflict zones just about everywhere. Meanwhile, those who had started out with security contracting in the riots were organised into the less-formal '''Eagle Corp.''', who were eager to hire just about anyone and became a final option for the desperate all over Solarian space. These corporations would eventually fall under the umbrella of control for the Eridani Federation's chief of system security, essentially the commander-in-chief for any of Eridani's military forces.

During the Interstellar War, these "EPMCs" grew to great renown as they were deployed alongside Solarian soldiers in ground forces and as strike teams alongside aerospace vessels. The news of their brutality was feared and loathed by the frontiersmen and Solarian allies alike. The Interstellar War also heralded the creation of '''Sekhmet Intergalactic''' in 2294, a medical contracting group; while Ringspire and Eagle Corp. had their own medical response divisions, Sekhmet's creation involved the recruitment of medical specialists, multi-pronged responses for both the groups, and an unscrupulous yet skilled and professional trauma response team to be sent out across the galaxy.

'''N4NL Incorporated''' was the fourth corporation to join the official umbrella of Eridani contractors in 2307, as the group branched into data security, electronic warfare, and digital asset protection. While Eridani's mass surveillance and data collection algorithms had always been vast, N4NL perfected it, creating the intricate network behind the ECF's employment records, banking, and punishing Extranet surveillance. Shortly after its official addition, the collective of Ringspire, Eagle Corp., Sekhmet, and N4NL became known as the Golden Fist for their incredible reputation for quality results across the Spur.

The corporation that would become the "thumb" of the Golden Fist was founded in 2450 by Farhad al-Sharif, a former N4NL executive and "positronic enthusiast" who had the unusual reputation of purchasing IPCs only to allow them to operate relatively uninhibited. '''Index Security Solutions''' was al-Sharif's plan to make better use of what he viewed as the fascinating capabilities of IPCs, and so became the only EPMC that recruited self-owned IPCs in large quantity.

The Golden Fist's reputation was such that in 2463, in the face of the growing instability brought on by the phoron scarcity and the Solarian Collapse, the executive board of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]] approached the Board of Five, Eridani's heads of government. The insurgency in the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]] had the Conglomerate envisioning an agency responsible for reinforcing the corporate security and medical ranks with hired contractors, in a similar fashion to how the Golden Fist was currently operated. It was proposed that Kubra Mobolaji, the chief of system security for the ECF, would be chief executive officer of this conglomerate within the conglomerate, and permit private contracting firms around the Spur to join the initiative.

Thus, the Private Military Contracting Group was born, becoming an umbrella organization to coordinate several distinct contractor elements within the Conglomerate's structure. Its subsidiaries are tasked with providing adequate manpower, while the Private Military Contracting Group deploys them where it is necessary. While some may question the loyalty of the Group's employees, the credits fuelled into their contracts have been enough to secure their allegiance.

The PMCG is currently tasked with supplementing the security and medical staff in SCC facilities, and was formerly tasked with supplementing the [[Tau Ceti Armed Forces]] during the Peacekeeper Mandate of [[Mictlan]]. When the megacorporation's lines become too thin due to the expansion of the conglomerate, the contractors from the Private Military Contracting Group are called to patch these holes. Despite their diverse backgrounds, all employees of the Group receive the necessary training to work in SCC facilities.

=== Influence ===
The PMCG has managed to carve out a niche for itself within the greater [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]] framework. Previously unknown or latent PMC groups are suddenly filling the holes that exist in the intricate networks of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]] while drawing ire from some who may not wish to see the underworld of contractor work in their professional setting. It is not uncommon to see highly trained Eridani mercenaries flank loutish Frontier bounty hunters, or Unathite noble physicians among Tajaran pharmacists who have retired from biological warfare.

Nevertheless, the Group's wide-ranging talents and Kubra Mobolaji's tight management, as well as being carried by the massively profitable Golden Fist, ensure its permanence as long as the PMCG's methods remain effective. They also hold power as an independent organization, always holding at least some influence in any war-torn region of space, including the Sparring Sea or the Solarian Wildlands, as they have grown quite popular among those who quickly need an expendable force to do their bidding.

== Executives and Branches ==
'''Chief Logistics Officer:''' Liang Wenqiang, b. 2410

Liang Wenqiang is the current chief logistics officer of the PMCG as a whole and chief executive officer of the Wildlands Squadron, having himself entered the private sector after a prominent career in the Solarian Navy’s special operations branch. Like many of his peers, the Unity Station born career officer felt the despair of the slow but steady decline of the Alliance, accompanied by the infighting and corruption in the Navy, urging him to seek a more lucrative and potentially rewarding employment in the private sector. His plans came to fruition with the founding of a small group of like-minded marines and officers, receiving contracts for protection and convoy escort against pirate raids. The disbanding of the group shortly after four years was not a dissuading factor, Liang having gained a reputation as a competent and bold organiser with substantial combat and planning experience, qualities that, along with a significant network of connections, landed him an executive position in the Group.

'''Chief Operating Officer:''' Diana Hakim, b. 2423

Diana Hakim is known as the voice delivering contracts and assignments to the various paramilitary formations and companies that operate under the Group’s umbrella. An [[Eridani Federation| Eridanian]] native, her childhood friendship with Kubra Mobolaji has generated many silent accusations of nepotism amongst the elite. Such thoughts are vastly outclassed by the praise of her organisational skills however, Diana’s shadowy and smart handlings being the driving force behind the operational unity of the many PMCs, ensuring the smooth coexistence and the prevention of unhealthy competition. Having started her career in an unrelated shipping company, she was quick to realise the potential of the Group, being taken on in a junior secretarial position thanks to her friend and skyrocketing through the ranks thanks to merit.

'''Chief Risk Officer:''' Erik Brandrsson, b. 2404

Erik Brandrsson, a [[New Gibson| New Gibsonite]], is the risk assessment expert employed by the Group, having risen to the position after a series of promotions following the merging of his previous employer, Nexus Corporate Security, with the Group. The calm and calculating man, having always been seen by his colleagues as a voice of reason, can trace his beginnings in the PMC sector from a very young age. Upon graduation from his business-oriented studies, he was taken on by the Tau Ceti-dominating [[NanoTrasen]] and placed into a rather unremarkable bureaucratic position inside Nexus, slowly rising through displays of competency and fierce loyalty which he still retains.

=== Major Branches ===

'''Eridani III, Epsilon Eridani, [[Eridani Federation|Eridani Corporate Federation]]:''' The PMCG has several operating branches within the Eridani Corporate Federation, but none are as expansive as the Triangle Complex rising above the barren surface of Eridani III. Nicknamed "The Cell" by the resident dreg population, each of its three towers manages a large portion of the planet’s private military forces, with one being devoted to monitoring naval/interstellar fleet operations, one being an additional training and management centre that specialises in prisoner management, riot control and policing for corporate security officers and mercenary soldiers, and the third being the headquarters of Eridani III’s extensive prison network. It is the managing branch of the PMCG’s operations within the Eridani Corporate Federation, as well as the [[Sol Alliance]].

'''Mendell City, [[Biesel]], [[Tau Ceti]]:''' The megacorporation’s branch located in Mendell’s District 10, a rare commercial plot in the district that was purchased and repurposed to serve as the Private Military Contracting Group's logistics headquarters, was built to hold much of its surplus equipment, the required administrative offices, and a recruitment centre to draw from Biesel’s diverse potential recruit pool. Nearby, a modest shuttle port is reserved for its exclusive usage. The majority of the PMCG contractors host staff within the Mendell branch, resulting in rife competition for contracts.

'''Hyperion Data Nexus, [[Valkyrie]], [[Tau Ceti]]:''' Originally founded by [[NanoTrasen]] and now under the umbrella of NT and the PMCG, the Hyperion Data Nexus is a massive sprawling complex on the moon of Valkyrie, serving as Nexus Corporate Security's headquarters and deployment for their Rapid Trauma Response Teams. The Data Nexus is also home to research and weapons development, which is usually sold from NanoTrasen to other contractors in the PMCG. A high clearance level is needed to enter the facility and only the most trusted are assigned there for work. Layoffs from the facility's R&D sector have abounded in the wake of the phoron scarcity, and there are ripplings of discontent and concern as [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]] begins to take over the Spur's weapons market.

'''Nouvelle-Rochelle, [[Xanu Prime]], [[Coalition of Colonies|Xanu]]:''' The Nouvelle-Rochelle branch is primarily the headquarters of Xanu Defense Services, and is home to XDS's shuttleport and the majority of its fleet. This location handles rapid response and deployment across the Coalition of Colonies, and assists in the transportation and recruitment of Coalition citizens wishing to join EPMCs. Coalition Rangers are a common sight at this location, usually working alongside XDS.

== Contractors ==
'''These companies are the only ones listed in the Private Military Contracting Group. Headcanon Contractors are not permitted for the Private Military Contracting Group. Your character can only be currently employed from the list below.'''

=== Eridani Private Military Contractors ===

Note that all Eridani Private Military Contractors that are '''not''' Eridanian natives '''must''' undergo an acclimatisation period of at least one month in the [[Eridani_I#Work_Tourism|Eridani PMC Academy on Eridani I]].

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
==== Ringspire ====

'''Chief Executive Officer:''' [[Notable Humans#Kubra Mobolaji|Kubra Mobolaji]]
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

A company known for working with anyone with enough funding, Ringspire contractors can be seen on any side of a conflict or job with enough credits to pay them. This has given them a reputation as being little more than hired guns, leaving higher than usual casualties in their wake. The company is also well-known for its indiscriminate use of heavy weapons, ranging from simple rocket launchers to orbital artillery bombardments, in its assignments. It is often said in Eridani’s mercenary community that Ringspire operations zones are easy to identify: simply search for areas with high amounts of corpses, looted buildings, and shell craters.

Ringspire’s most notable recent engagement was their involvement in the S'rend'marr Coalition on Adhomai. Hired by the People’s Republic of Adhomai to guard officials, flush out liberation army cells, they participated in the failed attempts to break through ALA lines on the Ras’nrr fronts and left a trail of devastation in its wake through its use of indiscriminate bombardments, autonomous combat equipment, and heavy amounts of looting by its mercenaries. While the S’rend’marr deployment is one of Ringspire’s most costly operations, company figures estimate that anywhere between fifteen and twenty-five tajara died for every Ringspire fatality. Despite this “kill ratio” (in Ringspire’s own terminology) the PRA opted not to renew the company’s contract.

But for an enterprising commander, Adhomai’s peace led to a far more profitable venture. A small faction of Ringspire remains in the DPRA city of Crevus to lead the company known as Olokun Curios. This smuggling operation posing as an art dealership allies to Adhomai’s low-lifes and self-proclaimed “archaeologists” to locate, secure, and ship tajara artefacts to sell in Eridani. Tajara attempts to investigate Olokun Curios have discovered nothing illegal about the organization, and many investigators have “coincidentally” had fatal accidents during their investigations.
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
==== Eagle Corp ====

'''Chief Executive Officer:''' [[Notable_Humans#Commander_Filije_Thiaw|Filije Thiaw]]
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

With enlisted ranks being filled by lower-class citizens drawn across human space, this company has a reputation for doggedly pursuing its goals no matter the effort required. As one of the more merit-based companies for promotion within the ranks, many officer positions are occupied by people from lower —questionable — backgrounds. The latter are often offered ‘new lives’ within the corporation, turning criminals about to meet the end of their careers into passable, and even valued operatives. The extensive training and ‘reintroduction’ programs sometimes employed in this process are viewed by some as a merciful second chance, and identity-destroying by others.

Recently, the company has launched initiatives to appeal to an even wider base of employees, with advertisement campaigns targeting potential alien contractors all over the Spur. These hopeful (or desperate) recruits find themselves thrown into competitive or dangerous missions, either ending with their promotion or an untimely severing of contracts. Unathi and Vaurca employees have seen especially good rates within the company, as pragmatic and goal-oriented employees are valued greatly by the management.
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
==== Sekhmet Intergalactic ====

'''Chief Executive Officer:''' Charité Efulu
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

Known for their wide reach and even wider history of assignments, Sekhmet Intergalactic has established itself as the premier provider of professional healthcare, no questions asked. It is made up of several smaller companies dedicated to cornering the ever-present market of medical aid and supplies. Though these corporations would get their starts on the advent of the Interstellar War they remained splintered and tied to other forces, located just about anywhere there were patients to save and profit to be generated.

Nowadays, each company within the collective acts as a ‘branch’ on a respective frontline, extending the corporation’s presence to rival that of its peers. Due to this, and the propensity to extend morally dubious contracts, Sekhmet often comes into rivalry with the Interstellar Aid Corps. The IAC offers humanitarian relief with both health and rights considered; in contrast, Sekhmet entices customers with predatory, yet government-grade deals that are at times the only way out. Though many of their doctors, surgeons and front-line medics are happy to take a pretty bonus to their paycheck for a shady assignment, a considerable number of their employees are uncomfortable with this reputation and actively fight it with a consummate work ethic and heaps of experience from all around the Spur.
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
==== N4NL Incorporated ====

'''Chief Executive Officer:''' Farhad al-Sharif
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

A company that had its start in meagre technical upkeep and insurance, N4NL Incorporated is nowadays better known for their cutting-edge augmentation and air-tight cyber security. Specializing in technological warfare, N4NL operatives are often augmented with the company’s own brand of technology to guard and operate high-tech equipment, frequently testing prototypes in the meanwhile. Officially the corporation is split between the departments of Asset Insurance and Asset Development, in practice, most employees are found in the former branch. Asset Insurance is famous for everything from contracting civilian employees out as telecommunications engineers or server network maintainers, to operating and testing electronic warfare equipment in the backline of many conflicts, to guarding and maintaining advanced cybersecurity apparatuses across the Orion Spur. N4NL Asset Insurance teams are perhaps the most widespread representatives of the Golden Fist, with most megacorporate facilities having at least a small team on-staff to combat and prevent data security issues. These teams were particularly common on [[Mictlan]] due to the planet’s history of intellectual property theft. Many conspiracy theorists speculate that N4NL Incorporated has had a hand in many “unfortunate accidents”' that have befallen famous Mictlanian copyright violators, but the company has consistently denied these rumours; whether or not they were veracious, Mictlan expelled them from further operations within their borders in 2466.

N4NL’s Asset Development is much less publicly visible than its Asset Insurance counterpart and is primarily concerned with finding new and powerful technologies the company can use for its own benefit. N4NL does their best to disguise this side venture from the view of the public and of their customers, and Asset Development agents are often “seeded” into Asset Insurance teams in order to conduct what the company refers to as “passive corporate observation” in order to discover emergent technologies of interest to the company. While not limited to the department, hefty bonuses are offered for investigating and securing new technologies found out on the field. Many of their contractors are also given experimental augments to field-test, and good performance often correlates with more personalized, high-quality cybernetics offered to an employee, thereby keeping them loyal and dependent. N4NL additionally employs many positronics, both free and company-owned, in its ranks due to the ease with which many modern IPCs can interface with electronic systems and accept new augments.
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">

==== Index Security Solutions ====

'''Chief Executive Officer:''' Akide Sulu
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

Index Security Solutions is the newest addition to the Golden Fist, and one of the few military contractors to employ IPCs, which make up the majority of its employees. The company is known for its top-notch security contracting for both public and private facilities, as well as personal bodyguard detailing for high-level individuals. IPCs owned by this company receive high-quality maintenance and conditions, but operate under a permanent ownership contract, with freedom or transfer to another owner being impossible.

The company’s reputation is quite polarizing thanks to several factors, one of which is Index’s very own ‘Advanced Threat Assessment’ (ATA) data pack which many of its employees come equipped with, allowing units to analyze and respond to potential threats in a nearly super-human capacity. Though a complex program to insert into a positronic, this development has been known to save the lives of many Eridanian officials; most famously preventing a shuttle-bombing targeting the former representative of Eridani I in 2436.

This same tool is seen as oppressive and terrifying by others, particularly by Dregs, who have been personally targeted by harsh profiling algorithms that discriminate by acting on even slight transgressions. Index has mostly refused to comment on this, citing that their units are simply more sensitive than that of others in their field.
</div></div>

=== Other Private Military Contractors ===

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
==== Nexus Corporate Security ====
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

Nexus Corporate Security is [[NanoTrasen|NanoTrasen's]] private civilian security division, specialising in guarding corporate VIPs and high-ranking cabinet members of the Republic of Biesel. While still owned by NanoTrasen, a share of the company is held by the Private Military Contracting Group, and contractors are listed as both NanoTrasen and PMCG employees. They are known for their distinct black, red, and blue uniforms.

Nexus was founded by Xavier Trasen shortly after the establishment of Hyperion Data Nexus on [[Valkyrie]], in 2418. After NanoTrasen significantly downsized its security contracting division to distribute more funds to research and development, its service industry, and its medical divisions in the wake of the phoron scarcity, Nexus has become the "face" of the company's security forces. Many of NanoTrasen's security personnel have ended up employed with Nexus, if they weren't already poached by [[Idris Incorporated]] or [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]. Mictlan's expulsion of N4NL Incorporated from the Sankta Tereza system has disinclined the top brass from attempting further operations on the planet, for now.
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
==== Xanu Defense Services ====
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
Xanu Defense Services is a military contractor focused on space operations, largely made up of bounty hunters, adventurers, and ex-military from across the Coalition of Colonies. It was originally founded after the Interstellar War to provide protection to ships traveling through the dangerous, uncharted parts of the frontier. Despite its name, XDS recruits from all over the Coalition, including alien and synthetic citizens. With the assistance of the relatively-new PMCG, XDS has expanded its services to Biesel and the Corporate Reconstruction Zone after the Solarian Collapse. There they take a mainly neutral stance, not assisting in curbing insurgency, but reclaiming assets, acting as escorts, and driving out piracy.

XDS’s security personnel are specially trained in EVA and boarding drills. They own a sizable fleet of small and medium-size spacecraft, but only lend crew to the SCC. At the moment, most of its ships are busy aiding the Frontier Protection Bureau in securing national borders from dangerous elements.
</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
==== Wildlands Squadron ====
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The Wildlands Squadron is a mercenary group made up of Solarian ex-military, unemployed law agents, and refugees from the instability, most from [[Solarian Reconstruction Mandates|minor colonies]] in the Middle Ring, as well as citizens from [[Visegrad]] and [[San Colette]]. As large swathes of territory changed hands during Sol's collapse, many Mictlani and Port Antilleans who wished to retain their Solarian citizenship joined the Squadron as well. The Squadron ranges in quality across its units, with personnel ranging from experienced ex-military to recruits barely out of their first months of police training when the Collapse hit. Their weaponry and armor is almost always outdated yet still very much functional and kept in good working order, though their vessels are few, mainly relying on the Golden Fist to secure them transport. While the majority of the Squadron is human, IPCs both free and owned are permitted membership, assuming they resided or worked with a former Solarian member-state.

Because of its origins, the non-PMCG corporations are suspicious of the Wildlands Squadron. To avoid any possible collaboration in the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]], they are mainly stationed in space stations and ships.
</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">

==== Jackal Incorporated ====
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
Headquartered in Qamar Azraq, [[New Suez]], Jackal Incorporated is a military contractor specializing in escort and standby security, along with a limited specialised medical response team. They were founded in the aftermath of the Lii’draic Incursion, and joined the PMCG at Kubra Mobolaji’s behest in early 2465. A significant amount of their funding and contracts is provided to them by Elco, Elyra’s premier phoron-processing and R&D company. These contracts range from private security for Elco’s top executives, to being the largest contractor that works with Medina’s Phoron Bulletin. Its personnel are typically made up of Elyran Armed Forces veterans that range from young former conscripts looking for a payday to veterans of the Lii’draic Incursion. Jackal is unpopular among the Republican parliament for its unscrupulousness and what is seen as “luring away” ex-conscripts from their duty to the nation, but the EAF is known to occasionally purchase the company’s services in the Sparring Sea and the Badlands.
</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">

==== Grupo Amapola ====
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The Grupo Amapola (“Poppy Group”) was founded in 2466 by Salvador Clemente, a former lieutenant of the Mictlan Defense Force and later the Samaritans. Like all Samaritans operating as officers, Clemente was paroled after the Peacekeeper Mandate, under the condition that he would never serve in any military or armed forces in the [[Republic of Biesel]]. This parole, however, did not forbid Clemente from joining a private security group. Amapola was founded from a select group of Clemente’s closest Samaritan subordinates, and spread from there to draw in other eager recruits from across the planet, including in alien communities and El Menaje, [[Mictlan|Mictlan's]] free synthetic community. As a result, Amapola is one of the rare military contractors that have no company-owned IPCs under their own name, with other corporations hesitant to lend them theirs thus far.

In an ironic twist, Amapola’s first major contract may be with the Republic of Biesel itself, potentially curbing insurgency across the Corporate Reconstruction Zone and even chase overeager pirates into the Middle Ring’s Pustkowie region. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Amapola has a controversial reputation across Mictlan, especially among other former Samaritans.
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==== [[Little Adhomai#Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group| Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group]] ====
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[[File:Kazarrhaldiye flag.png|thumb|right|The logo of Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group, with its Siik'maas name underneath.]]
Founded by a trio of Tajaran war veterans, the Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group is a private military company based in an orbital station in Tau Ceti. The organization’s origins lie in the personal cliques of its founders, each being EPMC veterans, who then joined with a criminal organization of veterans in Little Adhomai. Membership swelled in the years since as Second Revolution veterans and other Tajara interested in security work have joined up. Tajara who are inducted into the KOG are sorted into one of its three battalions based on citizenship. Medical workers are put into their own specific corps. It is an open secret that the KOG will deny the application of non-Tajara despite Tajara being allowed into other PMCG members. The KOG has developed a rivalry with Ringspire due to competing for the same low-paying contracts along with some members having fought Ringspire during their Adhomai deployment.
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==== [[Unathi_Guilds#Dagamur_Freewater_Private_Forces|Dagamuir Freewater Private Forces]] ====
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Between the high standards of the Kataphracts, the obliteration of the homes of many warriors, and the harsh realities in-between, many Unathi find that they are unable to compete with others for the highest titles warriors can get. Enter the Dagamuir Freewater Private Forces: originating from the country that gives it its namesake, they started as blaggards for centuries up until the disruption that was the Contact War. The PF was founded on Ouerea following much of its original tenets and hires anyone from destitute Wastelanders, former Iron Masks, Ouereans (which typically expands to resident humans, Skrell, and K'laxan Vaurca), and even Aut'akh regardless of their religion or station. They train these recruits (rumoured to be a brutal and arduous ordeal) into hardened mercenaries sold to the highest bidder.

The Freewater Company follow their own beliefs on honour that, while largely true to the Warrior's Code, betrays the notion that there is such a thing as honourable combat. Underhanded tactics ranged combat, and other things usually appalling to Sinta are used without as much as a wag of the tail. Humans and Skrell that join the company, while not believing in the written tenets, typically agree with their intention and idealistic nature. Additionally, religious tolerance is taught and enforced within the company to keep the begrudging peace; anyone who acts against is liable to get demoted, suspended, or even fired— should they be caught and reported. While leased as contractors and security forces more often than not, they believe more typically in hard time sentencing than fines, quoting their current Black commander Akzazik Voizur, "Credits come and go, but time can never be bought back." Those that prove themselves to be repeat offenders or especially egregious criminals, like Guwan, may find themselves in hotter water with these contractors around.
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==== [[Vaurca Organizations#Ve'katak Phalanx|Ve'katak Phalanx]] ====
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Founded after the Flagsdale riots of 2464 by a [[Vaurca Organizations#Court of Queens|Court of Queens]] decree and made public early in 2465, the Ve'katak Phalanx (Ve'katak translating to 'Alliance' in Basic) is a Zo'rane-funded organization with pan-Vaurcaesian goals. Led by Queens [[Zoleth,_The_Herald_of_Scars|Zoleth]], [[Vedhra,_Princess_of_Configurations|Vedhra]] and [[Vytel,_The_Just_Queen|Vytel]] with oversight from [[Vaur,_The_Liminal_Queen|Vaur]]. The Phalanx is considered an independent company from the Court of Queens, though it is heavily influenced by it. The Ve'katak Phalanx is empowered under the amended Court of Queens charter to "undertake action to promote or restore interstellar peace and security to the members of the Court when endangered by threats, external or internal". This wide-reaching mission statement sees them serve as the de facto police of [[Flagsdale|Flagsdale]], having superseded the existing District 9 neighbourhood watch as well as additionally becoming a common sight patrolling various locations where Vaurcae are stationed. The reason behind this is not only to stop piracy and other forms of crime, but also to patrol for any attacks of Lii'draic origin.

When not deployed on the order of the Court of Queens, many of its members are rented out as private security to Court-approved buyers, mostly in and around [[Tau_Ceti|Tau Ceti]] and [[Uueoa-Esa|Hegemony]] space. While anti-Vaurca sentiment prevents widespread adoption, the skill and unyielding nature of Vaurca Warriors have seen them gain popularity in contested areas such as the [[Corporate_Reconstruction_Zone|Corporate Reconstruction Zone]], the [[The_Orion_Spur#Badlands|Badlands]], and the [[The_Orion_Spur#Sparring_Sea|Sparring Sea]]. They are sometimes seen patrolling these regions in small, rented patrol craft featuring retrofitted engines and drop-pods to support boarding action rather than drawn-out engagements or hitching rides as support for other PMCG vessels. The Ve'katak Phalanx has been seen as a solution to the unemployment crisis of Warrior Vaurcae, who now after several years have a Vaurca employer to support them. Other species are welcome to join the company as long as they hold anti-Lii'dra sentiments, but the entrance tests required are extremely gruelling for non-Vaurca, and those that do pass tend to find integration difficult due to the nature of the species.

Recently, non-Vaurca recruits to the Ve'katak Phalanx have begun a new experimental training program. This program makes extensive use of a secretive Virtual Reality system on Caprice known as the "Neural Simulation Training Environment". More about this program can be read [[Virtual_Reality#Neural_Simulation_Training_Environment | here.]]

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[[Category:Corporations]]

{{Navbox Lore}}

Solarian Reconstruction Mandates

2024-07-24T20:32:28Z

La Villa Strangiato: changes "nieuzytek" to "pustkowie", as pustkowie is a better word for wasteland than nieuzytek

{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Navbox Human Lore}}

Occupying most of the territory once known as the [[Human Wildlands]], the Solarian Reconstruction Mandates (SRM) are an effort by the Alliance to re-exert its control over much of the territory it lost in the initial phase of the Solarian Civil War (2462-65). They are divided into the Northern SRM, covering the Northern Wildlands, and Southern SRM, covering the Southern Wildlands. Devastated by neglect, war, and three years of anarchy it is unlikely the Mandates will return to their pre-2462 levels of productivity anytime soon, but their existence represents a step forward for the Alliance -- and for some actors such as the [[Republic of Biesel]], a grave concern as the Alliance re-exerts its authority on a galactic scale.

==Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate==
[[File:Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate.png|500px|thumb|The flag of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate.]]
Formed in the aftermath of the conclusion of the Solarian Civil War, or the War in the [[Human Wildlands|Northern Wildlands]], the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate is the structure through which the Alliance intends to rebuild the devastated Northern Reaches, which have been devastated by three years of anarchy and half a year of intense fighting between the three post-Solarian states which once dwelled in this region: the fascistic Solarian Restoration Front (Front/SRF), the bandit state known as the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems (League), and the democratic Middle Ring Shield Pact (Pact). Only intervention on the Pact’s behalf by the Solarian Navy in mid-2465 saved the region from further anarchy and the fall of its most developed world, [[San Colette]], to the Solarian Restoration Front.

Shortly after the [[Solarian Armed Forces#The Solarian Navy|Navy]] declared the end of large-scale combat operations against the remnants of the League and SRF in mid-2465 the Alliance declared the establishment of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate to coordinate a civilian reconstruction effort of the region rather than, as the Alliance at the time was, a naval military junta. The Mandate has much work ahead of it in the coming months and years to fix the damage caused to much of the region by the Solarian Civil War. Notably the Mandate does not contain the entirety of the Northern Reaches as [[Konyang]] has joined the [[Coalition of Colonies]]. However, with the Alliance seemingly finding its footing in the [[The Orion Spur|Spur]] once again, who is to say what will come for its secessionist world?

===Government===

The Reconstruction Mandate’s government, as it was formed by a joint effort of the Alliance’s main provisional civilian government and its ruling military junta, is an unusual civilian government which has been given broad powers to carry out its mission of rebuilding the Northern Reaches and has little in the way of a voting population to answer to. It is, essentially, a civilian dictatorship created as a temporary measure to stabilize the region without having to concern itself with elections. While most regions are controlled by civilians, some, such as the former SRF capital of Lycoris, are ruled by military governments. Furthermore, the Reconstruction Mandate has sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspected Front and League members or sympathizers for reasons of national security, and these suspected members can be detained for an indefinite length of time. Despite the Mandate’s status as a civilian dictatorship it has not interfered with many local governments, particularly those of the democratic Pact, to preserve its approval and ensure local governments are loyal to it.

The Reconstruction Mandate is dominated by Coletters due to the system’s status as the headquarters for the [[Solarian Armed Forces#Notable Navy Forces|1st Battlegroup]] during the final weeks of the Solarian Civil War and the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette’s steadfast refusal to, despite three years of isolation, officially secede from the Alliance as the worlds of the Front and Pact did. Most non-Coletters within the Mandate’s government are either Solarian bureaucrats from the core worlds or citizens of other ex-Pact worlds which remained loyal to Sol such as Novo Igman, Lhokgon, and New Peoria. Few Mandate officials are from the regions formerly controlled by the Front or the League.

The current Governor of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate is '''Geraldo de los Reyes'''. Formerly a Colettish bureaucrat of the Solarian Department of the Interior, de los Reyes has been commended multiple times for both his incorruptibility and his work in ensuring – prior to 2462 – the Warp Gate Project’s goals were being met, or at least worked towards. Despite his decades of service as a bureaucrat de los Reyes is relatively inexperienced as a political operative, and now must balance the competing interests of multiple actors in the Northern Reaches ranging from the Colettish government to the [[Solarian Armed Forces]] to the remnants of the Pact and other statelets. Only time will tell if he can succeed, or if he will fail.

===Military===

The Reconstruction Mandate’s mission is supported by a significant Solarian military presence intended to suppress the remnants of the Front and League, many of which have become guerrillas and bandits, in the region. It can additionally call upon limited System Defense Force assets from the former Pact such as the Civil Guard, though these forces are in the process of being regenerated and upgraded with modern warp-capable engines following the events of the Solarian Civil War which showed [[Solarian Armed Forces#System Defense Forces|SDF]] vessels direly need independent warp capabilities. Many [[Solarian Armed Forces#The Solarian Army|The Solarian Army]] units — such as [[Solarian Armed Forces#Notable Army Divisions|2nd Venusian Air Cavalry Division]] — are involved in anti-insurgent operations on the planets of the now-defeated Front, where many fanatical followers of its ideology have chosen to fight to the bitter end as guerillas instead of surrendering to what they see as a false Solarian government.

===Notable Worlds===

====San Colette====

The capital world of the Reconstruction Mandate,'''[[San Colette]]''' was subjected to intense fighting during the closing weeks of the Solarian Civil War during the Front’s invasion. Its System Defense Force, the Civil Guard, fought valiantly alongside mercenaries of the Free Solarian Fleets and its Pact allies, and ultimately lured the Front into a trap near D’Anzin which allowed much of its naval to be destroyed by the intervening 1st Battlegroup strike force. The Mandate rapidly resolved many major issues within the Nueva Patria system and life in many areas of San Colette is starting to return to normalcy, though there is much work to do — particularly upon the distant planet of D’Anzin, where efforts to clean up the aftermath of phoron contamination from destroyed processing facilities are expected to take some time.

====Lhokgon====

Subject of intense fighting between the League and Front during the Solarian Civil War, the Helium-3 refining world of '''Lhokgon''' was devastated by fighting. Originally colonized at roughly the same time as San Colette by primarily Himalayan nations, Lhokgon’s system — the Gangetic System — is unusually rich in Helium-3 and served as an important mining and refining center for the fuel throughout much of the 24th and 25th century. In early 2463 Lhokgon, with the collapse of Solarian authority in the region, joined the Pact after its System Defense Forces repelled a League incursion which damaged multiple mining facilities in the Gangetic System’s outskirts.

With the Front’s invasion of the Pact in 2465 Lhokgon was once again thrown into conflict. Though its System Defense Forces fought valiantly they were ultimately unable to withstand the full brunt of the Pact’s offensive and the system fell to the Front, though not before the residents and government of Lhokgon were able to sabotage much of the system’s Helium-3 refining operations. The Front was not merciful in its occupation as a result: anyone affiliated with the Federal Solarian Republic of Lhokgon’s government they could find was given a summary military execution and employed in its Helium-3 industry were forced to work under pain of execution for themselves and their families. League offensives in the region caused the Front to enact even harsher policies as they moved to the defensive. By the time of the Solarian Navy’s arrival to liberate the system much of the industry not already destroyed by the Lhokgers themselves or fighting had been burnt to the ground by the Front, crippling a once-vibrant industry.

Between the Front’s occupation and the Navy’s liberation of the Federal Solarian Republic of Lkohgon many Lhokgers engaged in armed resistance against the Front, particularly as its retaliations increased, causing many Front-aligned Army units to be tied down on Lhokgon and thus unable to invade Nueva Patria. Now, after the Navy’s liberation, many of these guerilla fighters have become part of the Federal Solarian Republic’s reconstruction initiative, which seeks to rebuild Lhokgon’s Helium-3 industry with the assistance of Einstein Engines while maintaining the democratic system Lhokgers fought valiantly for. The road ahead is long, but the Lhokgers are confident they will overcome any challenge.

====Novo Igman====

One of the unlucky worlds to be captured by the League and Front and different times, the Federal Solarian Republic of '''Novo Igman''' was a major mining and industrial hub of the Northern Reaches prior to the Solarian Civil War. Colonized in the late 2300s by primarily Yugoslavian settlers, the planet never reached the prosperity of San Colette or Lycoris but had a relatively high standard of living by Solarian Outer Ring standards due to its industrial base and several large Solarian defense factories which produced Army equipment. This made it a major target for warlords during the initial chaos of the Solarian Civil War and the planet joined the Pact in early 2463 after fighting off a raid from the nearby League.

Novo Igman’s arsenals armed much of the Pact’s non-Colettish forces and served as a major source of armaments for the Free Solarian Fleets. The planet’s importance made it a major target for the League during their initial invasion, and Novo Igman quickly found itself the target of the League’s main offensive push. The planet eventually fell out of the Pact’s control in late March, 2465. The Federal Solarian Republic’s government refused to surrender to the League and much of the planet’s system defense force and military began to wage an insurgent war against the League, which quickly found itself unable to control much of the planet’s industrial capacity. When the Front took control over the planet in late April, 2465, the League occupation troops who remained behind found themselves caught between Novo Igman’s insurgents and Lycorii units who had been sent to subjugate the world. Many League troops, lacking a better option, opted to join with their former enemies against the Front, and a more vicious phase of the insurgent war began.

Novo Igman is unique amongst Front-occupied worlds for successfully overthrowing the Front’s provisional government before the Solarian Navy could arrive, effectively freeing themselves from their control in June, 2465, and declaring themselves once again the Solarian Federal Republic of Novo Igman. Navy forces shortly arrived and the planet has since officially rejoined the Alliance, and is receiving significant assistance in its rebuilding efforts. While Novo Igman has been badly damaged by the war, particularly during the three months of open warfare on the planet, it remains unbroken, and its people are confident they will find their footing once again.

====New Peoria====

The Solarian Republic of '''New Peoria''' was, prior to the Solarian Civil War, a relatively well-traveled warp gate hub utilized by travelers from the far Outer Solarian Ring traveling towards San Colette, particularly those traveling from what is now the Coalition of Colonies and Konyang. The system was seen by many in the Northern Reaches as a relatively minor world which lived in the shadow of San Colette’s success. New Peoria was nearly conquered by the League during the initial chaos of the Solarian Civil War and was only saved by the intervention of San Colette and the Free Solarian Fleets. The planet quickly joined the Pact after this.

During the initial weeks and months of the Solarian Civil War hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing chaos in the Wildlands and the Coalition passed through its warp gates on their way to San Colette, and New Peoria’s warp gates were a major evacuation point for Pact civilians caught in the Front’s path of advance prior to their destruction by the Pact in early March, 2465. After falling out of the Pact’s control and being seized by the Front in March, 2465, New Peoria’s system became a major rallying point for the Front’s forces and was the intended site of a push by the Front into Nueva Patria via the hacking of Colettish warp gates by specialized ships – a plan only narrowly thwarted by the Solarian Navy’s timely arrival. The Front forces in New Peoria’s orbit were destroyed by the Solarian Navy in the closing days of the Solarian Civil War, and the system itself rejoined the Alliance shortly thereafter.

Like many worlds located in the Northern Reaches the future of New Peoria is very much in flux due to the defection of many of its former trade partners to the Coalition of Colonies. The Solarian Navy, which is responsible for much of New Peoria’s rebuilding efforts, has refused to consider working with the Coalition and many on the planet are vehemently opposed to the Coalition due to their support – real or perceived – of the League. Some in New Peoria have called for the Navy to establish a new base in their system as a replacement for the mostly-destroyed naval facility of New Atlantica, or to fortify the system like Nueva Patria.

====Lycoris====

<center><b>NOTE: Due to its status as the capital of the Solarian Restoration Front, all residents of Lycoris are unplayable. This is enforceable by server moderation staff.</b></center>

Formerly the capital of the fascist Solarian Restoration Front, the Solarian Military Mandate of '''Lycoris''' — known as the Federal Solarian Republic of Lycoris and Lycoris Minoris, both under Front control and before the Civil War — is a world which has caused and seen a great deal of suffering. Located in the Alfheim System, it is one of the oldest inhabited systems in the Northern Reaches. Lycoris and Lycoris Minoris were wealthy worlds prior to the Solarian Civil War only equaled in the region by San Colette. The planet and its moon were most well-known for their impressive shipbuilding industry and enviable natural beauty. Dozens of ships were produced from its orbital works and millions visited the planet to see the distinctive red flowers it drew its name from.

The shipbuilding industry’s wealth brought many immigrants: most human, and some not. As the Alliance entered into a period of decline throughout the late 24th and early to mid 25th centuries politicians on Lycoris and its moon stoked the fires of nativism as a tool to ensure their continued dominance of the system’s politics. This Lycoris-first policy found immense success amongst the Lycorii and became more radical with the arrival of nonhumans to the system. First came the skrell, who were stereotyped as sneaky and subversive mind-readers looking to take the high-end careers of Lycorii and turn them into a colony of their Federation. Then came the unathi, who were stereotyped as a bloody and backwards species who had opted to burn themselves in nuclear fire when given an ounce of power, and the tajara, who were stereotyped as naturally violent and only fit for dull labor in the frigid northern reaches of the planet. The system was a major stronghold of ATLAS and profited immensely during Frost’s short and corrupt regime due to it being favored over San Colette. It thus comes as no surprise the Front found a natural stronghold here.

The killing, disappearing, and deporting of non-humans and humans suspected of “anti-Solarian sentiments” continued throughout the Front’s control of the planet, and almost every aspect of its government dedicated itself to this. Its civil government and system defense force eagerly dedicated themselves to the Front’s cause and Lycorii troops fought for the Front across the Northern Reaches from 2462 until June 2465, when a Solarian military intervention on behalf of San Colette crushed the Front and established a provisional military government over the planet and its moon. Even now many Front loyalists, unwilling to surrender, have run to the wilderness to wage an insurgent war. Those who remained behind have often found themselves arrested by the Solarian Army pending military tribunals.

Lycoris is a planet which has been tainted irreversibly by the Front and its struggle for unobtainable purity. Once renowned natural spots have become barren of their typical visitors, or revived for Front-aligned insurgents hoping to kill as many Solarians as they can before they die. The planet’s once unspoiled vistas have been covered in quickly-built Front facilities, now reduced to ruins by the Solarian Armed Forces during the Solarian Civil War. Its orbital yards now stand mostly silent, either sabotaged by the Front in a last act of defiance or lacking the workers to operate. Millions of Lycorii have died, either by the Front’s hands or fighting on its behalf in the Solarian Civil War.

====New Atlantica====

Formerly the “capital” of the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems, the large Interstellar War-era naval space station of '''New Atlantica''' was mostly destroyed in intense fighting between the League’s 67th Fleet and forces of the Solarian Restoration Front during the final weeks and days of the Solarian Civil War. Three years of neglect by the League and the — intense fighting around it has reduced much of the station to charred, slagged ruins intermixed with functional or partially-functional sections. Almost none of the prewar civilian population remains and the few dozen civilians who still inhabit the station are mostly transient offworlder human salvagers formerly performing independent salvage operations and now contracted by the Navy to help remove debris from hazardous areas.

None wish to rebuild or repair the hulking and aged corpse of New Atlantica, but rumors have begun to swirl of the Navy building new sensor arrays in the system to monitor the Coalition. Some say the majority of these are pointed towards one system in particular: the now-border system of Konyang, recently seceded to the Alliance and now staring down its former overlord.

==Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate==
[[File:Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate.png|500px|thumb|The flag of the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate.]]
Controlling the former territory of the Southern Solarian Military District and the Solarian Provisional Government, the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate (SSRM) was formed shortly after the end of the Solarian Civil War. The main non-state opposition to the SSRM are the remnants of the Biesel-aligned Southern Fleet Administration (SFA), which is most active in a formerly Solarian region adjacent to the SSRM known as the Nieużytek, or Wasteland, in Visegradi Creole. The SSRM began to stabilize prior to the War in the Northern Wildlands through the efforts of the local Solarian Navy garrison, particularly the First Middle Ring Battlegroup under the command of Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai – now the governor of the SSRM.

The Alliance’s government declared the establishment of the SSRM to coordinate further reconstruction efforts in the region. Unlike the NSRM, the SSRM is a military government dominated by the Solarian Navy due to its more hazardous position on the edge of the Sparring Sea and Badlands. While the SSRM is more stable than its northern counterpart there is still much work to do, and some have expressed concern that its military government means the Alliance is not as concerned about escaping its Navy-dominated past as it claims to be.

===Government===

The SSRM is a provisional military government which has been established to assist in the region’s formal transition back into the broader Alliance. It has broad powers to govern and direct the Southern Reaches as it sees fit, and martial law remains in place across much of the region — though it has lessened in some locations, with promises of a return to normalcy as the Alliance’s first fair elections since the 2450s begin. Szalai’s First Middle Ring Battlegroup and Yunso’s 6th Middle Ring Battlegroup dominate the military government of the region, having worked together to keep the area stable since the beginning of the Solarian Civil War.

The Governor of the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate is Solarian Navy Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai, formerly the leader of the Southern Solarian Military District and a career Navy officer with a history of excellence in service. A native Visegradi, Szalai has transformed the rainy world into a lynchpin of Solarian control in the region and has repelled all attempts to contest the Alliance’s hold over the Southern Reaches. To her frustration she has never been able to reclaim the devastated Nieużytek — formerly under the control of her rival, Fleet Admiral F.R. Beauchamp. While her governorship is likely temporary, with the SSRM soon to be handed over to civilian authorities once it is more stable, most in the region have confidence in Szalai.

Governing alongside Szalai is the second most important officer in the Southern Reaches: Fleet Admiral Myo Yunso of the Sixth Middle Ring Battlegroup. A Konyanger who has remained loyal to the Alliance, Yunso has been both a staunch ally and fierce rival to Anderson MacPherson, the former governor of Sankt Frederick and current highest-ranked civilian member of the Reconstruction Mandate. Yunso is as professional as Szalai but lacks her experience, with the Sixth having been mostly confined to the area around Sankt Frederick for the duration of the Solarian Civil War. Like Szalai, Yunso is expected to step down from power once the region becomes more stable.

===Military===

The SSRM has more local military forces at its disposal due to the presence of the First and Sixth Middle Ring Battlegroups — entities regarded as the best forces in the Middle Ring prior to the civil war’s outbreak. Most Navy and Army forces dispatched to the Mandates are stationed in the Northern Reaches, which has led to some discontent amongst forces in the Southern Reaches. These troops, many of them having fought since the beginning of the civil war, wish to finally receive large amounts of Solarian reinforcements and to return to a kind of normalcy. But with the Northern Reaches recovering from a devastating conflict these reinforcements may be months —potentially years — away.

===Notable Worlds===

The Southern Reaches is less populous than its northern counterpart and has long been regarded as a frontier where the Alliance ends and the more dangerous Sparring Sea begins.

====Visegrad====

The capital of the Mandate is the rainy world of '''[[Visegrad]]'''. Formerly the capital of the Southern Solarian Military District Visegrad has survived the Solarian Civil War and its own civil war, with pro-Solarian and secessionist forces engaged in open warfare during the first months after the Solarian Collapse. The arrival of Szalai’s forces resulted in a Solarian victory and the start of military governance over the planet. With the civil war over and elections around the corner, many wonder what will become of Visegrad now that it has been transformed into a major military hub for the entire region.

====Sankt Frederick====

The other prominent world of the Mandate is '''Sankt Frederick''', formerly the capital of the Solarian Provisional Government of the Southern Reaches (SPG). One of the rare worlds which did not collapse into anarchy after the events of 2462, Sankt Frederick has been one of the most stable worlds in the Wildlands and was a common destination for refugees fleeing from more violent areas such as the Wasteland and the Corporate Reconstruction Zone. One warp gate jump away from the broader Alliance, most residents of Sankt Frederick barely felt the impact of the civil war upon their agricultural world and for most their primary interaction with the civil war was seeing refugee workers in the planet’s orbital hydroponics facilities.

Sankt Frederick is an idyllic, verdant world which has long served as the agrarian breadbasket for much of the Alliance through its use of intensive planetside agriculture and sprawling orbital hydroponics facilities. The Alliance’s support of the provisional government of the system — consisting of the mostly-intact remains of its government — has allowed it to prosper even during the civil war, with much of its production now being shipped to the devastated Northern Reaches. However, many residents of the planet are bitter at the government's decision to favor Visegrad over their world, viewing it as yet another example of naval cronyism in the Alliance.

===The Pustkowie===

The region beyond Mandate control, the Pustkowie is an anarchistic wasteland where violence rules and little has been left intact. Previously controlled by the Southern Fleet Administration (SFA), the Pustkowie’s fortunes took a turn for the worse following the skrellian intervention which ended the SFA as a cohesive force. The remaining flag officers of the SFA, deprived of the central leadership of Fleet Admiral F.R. Beauchamp, quickly turned on one another and descended into further warlordism as the region collapsed around them. By early 2465 the region had become too unstable to reasonably reclaim, and is the only former region of the Alliance not under the control of any nation.

Those who remain in the Nieużytek are often those who do not wish to be found by the government of any nation in the Orion Spur. They are often deserters, bandits, pirates, mercenaries, or anarchists who, dissatisfied with the broader Spur, have relocated to this area. To live in the Pustkowie is not a romantic existence: it is one where every day of life is a difficult task and survival is often in question, as the ex-SFA warlords who lord over much of the region are known for both their immense greed and cruelty. It is unlikely the Pustkowie will ever be a productive region of space before the next century, and the Alliance has shown no desire to reclaim it.

{{Navbox Human Lore}}
{{Navbox Lore}}

[[Category:Factions]]
[[Category:Pages]]
[[Category:Humanity]]

File:Starmap6.png

2024-07-24T00:51:16Z

La Villa Strangiato: La Villa Strangiato uploaded a new version of File:Starmap6.png

The sixth version of the Aurora starmap, originally by Kyres, edited by La Villa Strangiato.

File:Starmap 5navboxlore.png

2024-07-24T00:50:39Z

La Villa Strangiato: La Villa Strangiato uploaded a new version of File:Starmap 5navboxlore.png

== Summary ==
A black background version of the starmap intended for use in the main lore navbox. Made by Kyres, edited by Sneaky.

File:Starmap 5navboxlore.png

2024-07-24T00:47:16Z

La Villa Strangiato: La Villa Strangiato uploaded a new version of File:Starmap 5navboxlore.png

== Summary ==
A black background version of the starmap intended for use in the main lore navbox. Made by Kyres, edited by Sneaky.

Template:Aurora Starmap

2024-07-23T20:30:30Z

La Villa Strangiato: Updates starmap.

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===[[The Orion Spur]]===
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[[Category:Lore]]
[[Category:Map]]

File:Starmap6.png

2024-07-23T20:27:05Z

La Villa Strangiato:

The sixth version of the Aurora starmap, originally by Kyres, edited by La Villa Strangiato.

Stellar Corporate Conglomerate

2024-07-18T00:15:35Z

La Villa Strangiato: /* Notable Vessels */

{{Template:Navbox Corporations}}
{{Infobox Corporation
|headercolor = #336699 
|textcolor = white 
|name = Stellar Corporate Conglomerate
|logo = SCC_logo
|headquarters = Top of the World, [[Biesel]],
[[Republic of Biesel]]
|slogan = The unbreakable chainlink, holding the Spur together.
|languages = Tau Ceti Basic, Sol Common, Tradeband
|ceo = [[The Trasens#Miranda Trasen|Miranda Trasen]]
|colors = <span style="color:#336699">Navy blue (#336699),</span> <span style="color:#81d9ee">cyan
(#81d9ee),</span> <span style="color:#f1b61c">gold (#f1b61c)</span>
|founded = 2458 (unofficially), 2462 (officially)
|founder =
<br>
* [[NanoTrasen Corporation]]
* [[Idris Incorporated]]
* [[Hephaestus Industries]]
* [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]
* [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]
* [[Private Military Contracting Group|Eridani Private Military Contractors]]
|regions =
<br>
* [[Republic of Biesel]]
* [[Coalition of Colonies]]
* [[Sol Alliance]]
* [[Empire of Dominia]]
* [[Nralakk Federation]]
* [[People's Republic of Adhomai]]
* [[New Kingdom of Adhomai]]
* [[Izweski Hegemony]]
* [[Republic of Elyra]]
|}}
'''This is the page for the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, the organization the players work for. This contains very important setting information.'''

Formed at the height of corporate power in the galaxy, the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''' — colloquially known as the “Chainlink” — is a group of seven megacorporations exercising undisputed economic dominance over the [[Orion Spur]]. The Chainlink was founded to secure corporate-owned assets within [[Tau Ceti]] during the invasion of the [[Republic of Biesel]] by Grand Admiral Raymond Özdemir, who commanded the 35th Fleet of the [[Solarian Armed Forces|Solarian Navy]] during its siege of Tau Ceti.

The Chainlink has essentially forced the largest economic influences into a shell corporation, which the [[The Trasens|Trasen family]] holds an unsteady authority over. Though cooperation has been deemed “essential” at this point in time, behind the shaky peace lies unsteady alliances, corporate espionage, and cut-throat tactics as each corporation battles for dominance. Their unlikely alliance comes as a result of [[Einstein Engines]]’ threat to their economic prowess, as Einstein's warp drives and prominence within the [[Nralakk Federation]] and [[Sol Alliance]] have given them a new edge in a galaxy affected by a phoron scarcity.
{{TOC_Hidden}}
==Notable Members==
* '''Titanius Aeson,''' CEO of [[Hephaestus Industries]]
* '''Alex Mason,''' CEO of [[Idris Incorporated]]
* '''Liqin Hsiao-Li,''' CEO of [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]
* '''Lyudmila Zavodskoi,''' CEO of [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]
* '''Kubra Mobolaji,''' CEO of the [[Private Military Contracting Group]]
* '''Chin-hae Hong,''' CEO of [[Orion Express]]

==Corporate Affairs==
=== History ===
<center>''"Please understand, Miranda, that this is your venture. Our keiretsu is not your NanoTrasen."'' - [[Notable Humans#Liqin Hsiao-Li|Liqin Hsiao-Li]], CEO of [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]], in response to Miranda Trasen's motion to place a Chainlink trade embargo against [[Einstein Engines]], September 2464</center>
Though once shrouded in secrecy, the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate has become a staple of the Orion Spur, acting as the masters of the interstellar economy. With the earliest dated supply shipments being traced to 2458, it appears that the constituent megacorporations within the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate have sought to cooperate with one another to ensure their economic dominance since the First Solarian Invasion of the [[Republic of Biesel]], though within the shadows. Almost every element of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate had been hidden and concealed from the public, with even the deepest scrutiny only managing to uncover the "chainlink" insignia on supply shipments.

However, following the Second Solarian Invasion of the Republic of Biesel in 2462, the cooperative of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate revealed themselves to the interstellar community, proclaiming their goal was to protect the financial livelihood of all their corporate clients and assets, and to ensure megacorporate facilities across the Republic of Biesel would not be diminished as a result of “rogue actors”.

Since its reveal, the Chainlink has gone on to ensure its dominance through several masterful techniques – mostly centring around the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]] or the annexed Solarian territories by the Republic of Biesel. Pouring countless resources into stabilizing the region so as to further exploit it, the Chainlink has all but managed to prop the annexation as a legal undertaking of colonies abandoned by the [[Sol Alliance]] during the Collapse. Their efforts have not gone without resistance; in particular, the Republic of [[Mictlan]] proved ungrateful for the Chainlink’s efforts to uplift them. Sponsoring the [[Peacekeeper Mandate Arc|Peacekeeper Mandate]], a Biesellite military operation aiming to enforce the annexation, the Chainlink briefly managed to quell the uprising from various dissident groups. But the guerilla war on the planet has ended up in a less-than-ideal conclusion for the corporations, with [[Hasta La Victoria Siempre Arc|Mictlan eventually securing both the surrender of its insurgents and the power to limit the megacorporations' influence]].

Meanwhile, one of the Chainlink's primary assets, the [[SCCV Horizon]], has undertaken several humanitarian missions across the Spur in an attempt to bolster its reputation. [[Hephaestus Industries]] has helped provide the electronic "vaccine" for the [[Silicon Nightmares Arc|Rampancy Crisis]] of early 2466, and at it and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals' behest the Horizon has been assisting the [[Izweski Hegemony]] and the [[Nralakk Federation]] with [[New Blades Old Wounds Arc|humanitarian aid]] for the planet of [[Moghes]].

Elsewhere, the cold war and occasional skirmishes between the [[Republic of Elyra]] and the [[Empire of Dominia]] remain an excellent source of funding for both [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]] and the [[Private Military Contracting Group]]. The PMCG helps bankroll the Elyran military contractors of [[PMCG#Jackal Incorporated|Jackal Incorporated]], while Zavodskoi continues to manufacture and equip much of the [[Dominian Imperial Military|Imperial Fleet]]. Yet both megacorporations do not directly rival each other, and both have goals of expanding into each other's home turf – it benefits both Zavodskoi and the PMCG to have as wide a client base as possible.

[[The Trasens|Miranda Trasen]] maintains her dominance of the [[Orion Spur]] through her manoeuvring into the Director of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, using her position to push [[NanoTrasen]] interests, to the annoyance of the other constituent megacorporations. Whether or not NanoTrasen can remain on top in the face of dwindling phoron resources and the refinement of Einstein Engines' warp drives remains to be seen.

=== Influence and Reputation ===
<center>''"Connecting you, connecting us all. The Stellar Corporate Conglomerate; interlinking the Spur."'' - Advertising campaign, originally released May 2465</center>

The sheer size of the co-operating corporations' influence is enough to sway many of the powers on the interstellar stage. While some of the larger political entities retain some measure of independence, they still ultimately rely on the constituent members of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate for their respective niches within the interstellar economy.

Because of these galaxy-spanning ties, the SCC has promoted itself as a "peacekeeper" for the Orion Spur. Through the Conglomerate, nations and peoples that would have reason to make outright war with each other have settled on an uneasy peace – or, more cynically, a cold war instead of a hot one. The Stellar Corporate Conglomerate has leveraged the [[Republic of Biesel]]'s independence from the [[Sol Alliance]], and the corporate auxiliary forces of the [[Tau Ceti Armed Forces]] are a considerable contributor to the Biesellite military's staying power. Even the absence of a member-corporation from a nation-state is more space for the rest of the Conglomerate to form trade ties; the [[Republic of Elyra]], despite expelling [[NanoTrasen]] from its borders, continues to trade with Biesel through [[Orion Express]], [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]], and [[Idris Incorporated]] most prominently.

From banks to manufacturers, only a sliver of economic productivity in the Spur is controlled by independents. The main threat to the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate is [[Einstein Engines]]; despite the combined power of the Chainlink, Einstein has managed to compete against them through tight ties with the Sol Alliance and [[Nralakk Federation]], both the largest economies to exploit. But even despite this alleged rivalry, most of the member-corporations of the SCC have little trouble making dealings or working alongside Einstein Engines. Zeng-Hu and Idris are the most notable trade partners of Einstein, frequently purchasing their warp drives, their Shell frames, and commissioning them for ship designs, which causes the corporate echelons of NanoTrasen no end of grief.

As the alliance grows older, it becomes more and more evident that the constituents are operating on their own agendas, with the Conglomerate an alliance of convenience. Conducting themselves in a manner to not directly oppose NanoTrasen, the other megacorporations have begun leveraging their economic influence on nations, as seen with [[Hephaestus Industries]]’ planned expansion across [[Moghes]], Idris Incorporated’s leveraging credit provided to NanoTrasen during its attempt to recapture control of Phoenixport, and the [[Private Military Contracting Group]] purchasing the Grupo Amapola, made up of former corporate opponents.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">

=== Corporate Agendas ===
Each and every constituent megacorporation has their own agenda for the operations of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, which is always intended to work to their benefit.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
==== [[NanoTrasen]] ====

NanoTrasen seeks to maintain the status quo of them being the dominant megacorporation, subverting the influence held by the combined might of the megacorporations to its own benefit, and will go to great lengths to ensure they remain on top – even so far as to diminish the Conglomerate’s influence to ensure their own is maintained. The Trasens openly claim that NanoTrasen will remain the most influential megacorporation, and Miranda Trasen installing herself as Chief Executive Officer of the Conglomerate is not lost on observers external or internal. Though the phoronics industry seems to be dwindling, the corporation seeks to expand its foothold in other industries that it enjoys sizable market domination within.
==== [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] ====

Zeng-Hu seeks to combine the innovation of the megacorporations to its own benefit, while also being able to keep a closer eye on the research and medical exploits of NanoTrasen and Zavodskoi Interstellar. While the keiretsu has benefitted from newfound opportunities to expand into other nations, it still seeks to ensure its technological edge through careful manipulation of its patents and intellectual property, ensuring it stakes its claim before anyone else when it comes to discovery and innovation.
==== [[Private Military Contracting Group]] ====

Conflict pays, and the Private Military Contracting Group knows this better than anyone. Being absorbed into the PMCG is a good investment for both constituent and conglomerate, but it also allows the [[Eridani Federation]] to expand their profit and sphere of influence in a gradually-fracturing Spur. The PMCG amasses military-grade technology and fleets to sell and contract to, but that is merely one element of their agenda. The more the Conglomerate relies on the PMCG for enforcement, the more of a hold the PMCG has over galactic conflict. The Group as a whole maintains the Conglomerate should broaden its capabilities to fight, routinely citing the need for such when referring to the Second Solarian Incursion of Biesel, but even inside the Group different agendas between companies abound...
==== [[Hephaestus Industries]] ====

Hephaestus Industries, the manufacturing giant of the Spur, wishes to merely expand its foothold within its existing industries – industrial research and development, resource extraction, and shipping. Similarly to Zeng-Hu, it seeks to combine the brightest minds within the Conglomerate to gain a technological advantage, but with particular application to help its existing monopolies as opposed to Zeng-Hu’s broader wishes. The future resides within the furnaces of Hephaestus Industries, and Titanius Aeson seeks to ensure the interstellar stage knows it. Even with the damage wrought by the Solarian Corporate Authority, Hephaestus Industries seeks to ensure they remain in steady competition with Einstein Engines.
==== [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]] ====

Though the Solarian Corporate Authority revoked some of the megacorporation’s presence within the Solarian Alliance, Zavodskoi Interstellar still seeks to maintain strong ties. Now that the Alliance is NanoTrasen-free, Zavodskoi is free to directly challenge Zeng-Hu and Einstein Engines in industrial development and research. But its primary asset remains the Empire of Dominia, a nation-state which Zavodskoi has thoroughly entangled itself with and seeks to influence for their own benefit. Though Zavodskoi Interstellar agrees with the Private Military Contracting Group’s own agenda, and sometimes even contributes to its growth within the Conglomerate, it ultimately believes that the Conglomerate should remain “neutral” in the face of interstellar conflict, and profit from the lucrative opportunities that arise from playing both sides.
==== [[Idris Incorporated]] ====

Idris Incorporated wishes to ensure the Spur at large is indebted to the company as much as possible – extending loans, establishing new banking branches, and having a healthy supply of Idris Reclamation Units keep liability at a minimum. Though in perpetual competition with NanoTrasen and now Orion Express in the service industry, Idris continues to grow its repute of excellent, high-class service through its fashion, cruise lines, hotels, restaurants, and private security.
==== [[Orion Express]] ====

Orion Express may have been initially planned as the SCC's delivery asset, but CEO Chin-hae Hong clearly has bigger ambitions. OE sees the future of the economy relying on its delivery services and resource extraction, along with a cheap and easily-trained service department. Orion wants to ensure its status in the Chainlink becomes invaluable, not just for the shipping services it provides between the megacorporations but to the nation-states around the Spur. As the company probes the borders of Sol and the attention of the Solarian Corporate Authority, it is becoming clearer and clearer that Orion Express is attempting to leverage influence even where it means causing drifts with the other megacorporations.
</div></div>
== Branches and Notable Vessels ==
===Branches===
Compared to the far more widespread influence of their constituents, the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate's facilities are far and few between, and mostly exist within civilized space as a form of central command and mission control for Chainlink vessels. The Chainlink also has very few asset protection resources at its direct disposal, and if one of its vessels is in serious danger, duties of security will be delegated to local militaries or nearby corporate facilities. The following are the only dedicated SCC facilities in the galaxy, although the NTSS Odin has a small wing of its occupational deck dedicated to some Chainlink affairs, mostly delegated to it by the Top of the World headquarters.

'''Top of the World, [[Biesel]], [[Tau Ceti]]:''' The centre of the Conglomerate, the Top of the World branch sits in the middle of a plaza constructed in 2462. Originally it was planned to be constructed in Mendell City, but the lack of space in the sprawling urban zone and an inability to set it next to NanoTrasen's skyscraper means that it was relocated to the Trasen-funded borough. While not an overly tall building, it stands out as a circular, modernist construction of glass and steel in the midst of Top of the World's quaint, otherwise deliberately-rustic architecture. This facility is where the top executives of the SCC and the League of Chief Directors meet to discuss business, and where the operative decisions regarding the Chainlink are made.

'''[[Odin|NTCC Odin]], Tau Ceti:''' A recently-cleared wing on the NTCC Odin houses the Conglomerate's communication operations. This is where messages are received from other megacorporate communication offices, and where relay operators will send monitoring notices and regulation reminders to other SCC vessels.

'''[[New Suez|New Hormuz, New Suez, Tabiti]]:''' Shortly after NanoTrasen was forced to close its doors in the [[Republic of Elyra]], the small facility once belonging to NT was reopened as an SCC outpost. Understaffed, underfunded, and roundly disliked by residents of the moon, the New Hormuz facility mostly keeps in contact with the Orion Express shuttleport on Bursa and the [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] facility on [[Aemaq]].

'''[[Mictlan|Lago de Abundacia, Mictlan, Sankta Tereza]]:''' Constructed during the initial Peacekeeper Mandate, and partially rebuilt after the outright battle between the [[Tau Ceti Foreign Legion]] and the Samaritans, the Chainlink Lago de Abundacia facility presents itself as a tall, clean, white-and-blue office building in the downtown district of the city. During the [[Republic of Biesel]]'s occupation, it largely housed operations for the corporate auxiliary forces of the military. Now, with Mictlan an independent member-state of the Republic and the PMC of N4NL officially banned from operating in the system, the headquarters has become considerably less busy.

'''[[Xanu Prime|Nouvelle-Rochelle, Xanu Prime, Xanu]]:''' On the outskirts of Nouvelle-Rochelle operates this branch of the Chainlink, as a utilitarian blue warehouse space and shuttleport that lacks the Conglomerate's aesthetic sensibilities. It stays in close contact with the Xanu Defense Services branch, also in Nouvelle-Rochelle.

'''Hongse Cheongbao, [[Empire of Dominia#Zhurong|Zhurong]], Hashirajima:''' The Empire of Dominia has no proper SCC facility, but much like the Odin, a small wing of the Zavodskoi Interstellar headquarters within Zhurong houses Chainlink operations and communications, and is the first destination for Imperial citizens becoming employed with the Conglomerate.

'''Kal'lo, [[Qerrbalak]], Nralakk:''' The Chainlink facility in Skrellian space is repurposed from an old Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals operations center before its move to the city of Qwklip. Considered one of the more comfortable postings for bureaucrats of the Chainlink and employees from its constituent companies, this reputation is slightly marred by the [[Einstein Engines]] office building that sits across the street from it.

'''[[Crevus]], [[Adhomai]], [[S'rand'marr]]:''' The Chainlink base in Crevus is a building that blends in with much of the classically-styled architecture, with its tidy edges, baroque decorations, and stone exterior. All Adhomian contractors with the SCC must usually make a journey to the facility in Crevus to have their paperwork and identification in order, though citizens of the [[People's Republic of Adhomai]] can also visit the NanoTrasen facility in Nal'tor, which has a small wing dedicated to SCC activities.

'''K'rath, [[Ouerea]], [[Uueoa-Esa]]:''' The Chainlink's Uueoa-Esan branch is unmistakably modernist in construction, comparable to the Hephaestus Industries skyscraper at the heart of New Skalamar. It boasts elegant gardens of Ouerean and Moghresian flora in its courtyard, though some of the locals feel its sleek, elegant style and prominence in the skyline takes away from what many view as K'rath's distinguished, luxurious aesthetic.

=== Notable Vessels ===
Stellar Corporate Conglomerate vessels are an underdeveloped field, and the Chainlink relies on the ships of its constituents to ferry goods (particularly in the case of [[Orion Express]]), perform security duties, and complete research surveys. All Chainlink vessels have the secondary goal of locating and securing sources of phoron, though in practice the vessels tend to be used for whichever purpose the megacorporations can advocate or agree that they should be used for.

'''[[SCCV Horizon]]:''' The only ship in the ''Venator''-class, the SCCV Horizon is a long-range cruiser vessel designed for self-sufficient general-purpose work. The Horizon's purpose is manifold; it is a testing ground for the Chainlink's latest ship AIs, weaponry, sensors, and even physical structure, and as such tends to undergo frequent changes, refits, and swapping of its equipment and personnel. The Venator-class sensors are the Horizon's primary tool in locating potential phoron deposits, though its sensors also assist in general surveys of planetary bodies that is assigned for study to its research department. Meanwhile, the Horizon's engineering and flight crew are entrusted with the maintenance and firing of sophisticated weapon prototypes, the most notable being the top-secret "Leviathan" Zero-Point Artillery Technology, developed by Zavodskoi Interstellar.

'''''Icarus''-classes:''' If the Horizon is a show of the Chainlink's reach, the ''Icarus''-classes are a show of its power. The ''Icarus''-classes are frigate-sized vessels equipped with military-tier gear and three weapon systems. However, the ''Icarus''-classes are rarely deployed, particularly because there are only two of them; the SCCV Harmony, and the SCCV Ozymandias. Previously, the Harmony was deployed to [[Steel On The Horizon Arc|fend off a pirate cruiser raiding the Horizon]], and the Ozymandias has helped carry personnel of the [[Tau Ceti Armed Forces]] to conflicts in the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]].

'''''Serendipity''-classes:''' Serendipity-classes are survey and scouting vessels used mainly for research, mineral extraction, and for marking points of interest. They are designed to be self-sufficient for up to two years in worst-case scenarios, and there is discussion of sending a Serendipity into the less-travelled reaches of the Spur, near Light's Edge and the Deadspace Spine, to do delicate work that the Horizon may not be suited for.

== Internal Structure ==

The Chainlink is headed by the '''League of Chief Directors''', who manage the Conglomerate's internal affairs while delegating ultimate authority on employees of Chainlink operations to their respective corporations. Originally, most of the League of Chief Directors were NanoTrasen employees rewarded for their loyalty to the corporation, but as the Conglomerate grows older, many of them have been cycled out with representatives of other corporations (to NanoTrasen's chagrin).

These internal affairs include personnel assignment to Conglomerate postings (including job applications), background checks for SCC employees, advertising, and the maintenance and design of SCC outposts. Apart from this maintenance and bookkeeping, the SCC does not "sell" anything; its continued operations are thanks to the profits generated by its constituents in the name of the Chainlink. For these reasons, those employed directly by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate are bureaucrats, managers, and other office workers who manage the behind-the-scenes operations of a vast web of connected megacorporations.

=== Command Staff ===

On the other hand, there are the contractors with the Conglomerate. These employees are hired from a constituent corporation as command or command support staff, and are legally registered as working for the SCC. In practice they hold two contracts; one with their original corporation of employment, and one with the Chainlink. In the early days of the Conglomerate's founding, much of the command staff was promoted from NanoTrasen employees. But as the SCC diversifies and NanoTrasen's focus narrows, more and more command staff in the Chainlink originate from the other corporations.

To take a command staff position in an SCC facility, an employee must apply for the position by writing an application to the Internal Affairs Agency. This application must be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from a representative of their original megacorporation. However, letters of recommendation do not just have to come from constituents in the Chainlink; they can also come from smaller or state-run corporations, such as [[Republic_of_Elyra#Elyran_Megacorporations|Elco]], [[Xanu_Prime#Polaris_Holdings_-_"Heavenly_Guidance"|Polaris Holdings]], and [[Eridani I#Fantalu|Eridani Energy]]. Einstein Engines is the obvious exception to this rule, as Einstein will not offer letters of recommendation for employees seeking work with the SCC, and the SCC would not accept Einstein recommendations.

While working in an SCC facility, this "loaned" command employee is expected to follow certain terms laid out in their contract, although the enforcement of some of these terms can be loose depending on their importance or individual discretion. The corporate oversight of the Chainlink frowns on but rarely punishes a member of command staff wearing the logos and colours of their original corporation. Command staff demonstrating obvious bias towards their own corporation, such as employee favouritism or prioritizing sending reports of their work to their original corporation, is more strongly discouraged but difficult to verify. Not helping matters is that constituent corporations will often aid the employee showing bias; for example, a chief engineer originally contracted with Hephaestus Industries can expect to have their recorded experiments with a supermatter engine made property of Hephaestus and heavily censored before the report goes to the Chainlink itself.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
==== Chainlink Command Contract Highlights ====
As determined by the contract of all SCC employees and provided employees of Conglomerate Member Corporations, the following is a list of guidelines and requirements while performing duties or representing the SCC.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
The employee:
1. is expected to act in a manner befitting a representative of the Conglomerate and their originating corporation.
2. must place the interests of the Conglomerate before the interests of other organizations or groups, including their originating corporation or nation-state.
3. does not display branding of their originating corporation or nation-state in such a way that it breaches Conglomerate ideals.
4. does not display prohibited symbology including, but not limited to:
1. Emblems of [[Human Wildlands|"warlord states"]] constructed by the breakaway fleets of the [[Solarian Armed Forces]] Naval Fleets, including the Solarian Restoration Front, the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems, the Free Solarian Fleets, the Southern Solarian Military District, and the Southern Fleet Administration
2. Emblems of anti-corporate organizations such as the [[Himeo|United Syndicates of Himeo]], [[Democratic People's Republic of Adhomai]], the [[Mictlan|"Founding Movement", or the "Samaritans"]]
3. Emblems of the group [[Unathi_Crime_And_Enforcement#The_Champions_of_Moghes|"Champion of Moghes"]]

Failure to meet any of these listed items may result in a review of the employee's contract or punitive action.
</div></div>

=== Corporate Oversight ===
Though the megacorporations ostensibly cooperate, espionage, poaching workers, and leaking classified information is an ever-present risk. To combat this and to avoid bias in handling employee affairs, the Chainlink has created a third-party oversight agency that answers directly to the Chainlink and acts independently of any other megacorporation. This '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Internal Affairs Agency''', or SCCIAA, employs agents to deliberate on and disable potential threats to the corporate agenda. The SCCIAA and its Sophont Resources department will adjudicate corporate policy as well as incident reports in Chainlink facilities, and sometimes work closely with law enforcement if an employee has violated the regulations of their workplace. While the [[Biesellite Security and Law|Biesel Security Services Bureau]] is the first point of contact for Chainlink vessels as they operate under Biesellite law, local law enforcement may be called upon to handle serious crimes in stationary SCC facilities.

Only humans and [[Skrell]] are employed in these positions, though there is talk of employing corporate-owned [[IPC|IPCs]] as Internal Affairs agents.

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category:Corporations]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Stellar Corporate Conglomerate

2024-07-18T00:01:54Z

La Villa Strangiato: Updates and expands much of the page; some history is elaborated on, quotes are added. Expands on the SCC's advertisement of themselves as "peacemakers of the Spur" somewhat. Adds notable SCC facilities. Canonises some SCC vessels. Explains how SCC command staff is hired.

{{Template:Navbox Corporations}}
{{Infobox Corporation
|headercolor = #336699 
|textcolor = white 
|name = Stellar Corporate Conglomerate
|logo = SCC_logo
|headquarters = Top of the World, [[Biesel]],
[[Republic of Biesel]]
|slogan = The unbreakable chainlink, holding the Spur together.
|languages = Tau Ceti Basic, Sol Common, Tradeband
|ceo = [[The Trasens#Miranda Trasen|Miranda Trasen]]
|colors = <span style="color:#336699">Navy blue (#336699),</span> <span style="color:#81d9ee">cyan
(#81d9ee),</span> <span style="color:#f1b61c">gold (#f1b61c)</span>
|founded = 2458 (unofficially), 2462 (officially)
|founder =
<br>
* [[NanoTrasen Corporation]]
* [[Idris Incorporated]]
* [[Hephaestus Industries]]
* [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]
* [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]
* [[Private Military Contracting Group|Eridani Private Military Contractors]]
|regions =
<br>
* [[Republic of Biesel]]
* [[Coalition of Colonies]]
* [[Sol Alliance]]
* [[Empire of Dominia]]
* [[Nralakk Federation]]
* [[People's Republic of Adhomai]]
* [[New Kingdom of Adhomai]]
* [[Izweski Hegemony]]
* [[Republic of Elyra]]
|}}
'''This is the page for the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, the organization the players work for. This contains very important setting information.'''

Formed at the height of corporate power in the galaxy, the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''' — colloquially known as the “Chainlink” — is a group of seven megacorporations exercising undisputed economic dominance over the [[Orion Spur]]. The Chainlink was founded to secure corporate-owned assets within [[Tau Ceti]] during the invasion of the [[Republic of Biesel]] by Grand Admiral Raymond Özdemir, who commanded the 35th Fleet of the [[Solarian Armed Forces|Solarian Navy]] during its siege of Tau Ceti.

The Chainlink has essentially forced the largest economic influences into a shell corporation, which the [[The Trasens|Trasen family]] holds an unsteady authority over. Though cooperation has been deemed “essential” at this point in time, behind the shaky peace lies unsteady alliances, corporate espionage, and cut-throat tactics as each corporation battles for dominance. Their unlikely alliance comes as a result of [[Einstein Engines]]’ threat to their economic prowess, as Einstein's warp drives and prominence within the [[Nralakk Federation]] and [[Sol Alliance]] have given them a new edge in a galaxy affected by a phoron scarcity.
{{TOC_Hidden}}
==Notable Members==
* '''Titanius Aeson,''' CEO of [[Hephaestus Industries]]
* '''Alex Mason,''' CEO of [[Idris Incorporated]]
* '''Liqin Hsiao-Li,''' CEO of [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]
* '''Lyudmila Zavodskoi,''' CEO of [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]
* '''Kubra Mobolaji,''' CEO of the [[Private Military Contracting Group]]
* '''Chin-hae Hong,''' CEO of [[Orion Express]]

==Corporate Affairs==
=== History ===
<center>''"Please understand, Miranda, that this is your venture. Our keiretsu is not your NanoTrasen."'' - [[Notable Humans#Liqin Hsiao-Li|Liqin Hsiao-Li]], CEO of [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]], in response to Miranda Trasen's motion to place a Chainlink trade embargo against [[Einstein Engines]], September 2464</center>
Though once shrouded in secrecy, the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate has become a staple of the Orion Spur, acting as the masters of the interstellar economy. With the earliest dated supply shipments being traced to 2458, it appears that the constituent megacorporations within the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate have sought to cooperate with one another to ensure their economic dominance since the First Solarian Invasion of the [[Republic of Biesel]], though within the shadows. Almost every element of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate had been hidden and concealed from the public, with even the deepest scrutiny only managing to uncover the "chainlink" insignia on supply shipments.

However, following the Second Solarian Invasion of the Republic of Biesel in 2462, the cooperative of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate revealed themselves to the interstellar community, proclaiming their goal was to protect the financial livelihood of all their corporate clients and assets, and to ensure megacorporate facilities across the Republic of Biesel would not be diminished as a result of “rogue actors”.

Since its reveal, the Chainlink has gone on to ensure its dominance through several masterful techniques – mostly centring around the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]] or the annexed Solarian territories by the Republic of Biesel. Pouring countless resources into stabilizing the region so as to further exploit it, the Chainlink has all but managed to prop the annexation as a legal undertaking of colonies abandoned by the [[Sol Alliance]] during the Collapse. Their efforts have not gone without resistance; in particular, the Republic of [[Mictlan]] proved ungrateful for the Chainlink’s efforts to uplift them. Sponsoring the [[Peacekeeper Mandate Arc|Peacekeeper Mandate]], a Biesellite military operation aiming to enforce the annexation, the Chainlink briefly managed to quell the uprising from various dissident groups. But the guerilla war on the planet has ended up in a less-than-ideal conclusion for the corporations, with [[Hasta La Victoria Siempre Arc|Mictlan eventually securing both the surrender of its insurgents and the power to limit the megacorporations' influence]].

Meanwhile, one of the Chainlink's primary assets, the [[SCCV Horizon]], has undertaken several humanitarian missions across the Spur in an attempt to bolster its reputation. [[Hephaestus Industries]] has helped provide the electronic "vaccine" for the [[Silicon Nightmares Arc|Rampancy Crisis]] of early 2466, and at it and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals' behest the Horizon has been assisting the [[Izweski Hegemony]] and the [[Nralakk Federation]] with [[New Blades Old Wounds Arc|humanitarian aid]] for the planet of [[Moghes]].

Elsewhere, the cold war and occasional skirmishes between the [[Republic of Elyra]] and the [[Empire of Dominia]] remain an excellent source of funding for both [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]] and the [[Private Military Contracting Group]]. The PMCG helps bankroll the Elyran military contractors of [[PMCG#Jackal Incorporated|Jackal Incorporated]], while Zavodskoi continues to manufacture and equip much of the [[Dominian Imperial Military|Imperial Fleet]]. Yet both megacorporations do not directly rival each other, and both have goals of expanding into each other's home turf – it benefits both Zavodskoi and the PMCG to have as wide a client base as possible.

[[The Trasens|Miranda Trasen]] maintains her dominance of the [[Orion Spur]] through her manoeuvring into the Director of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, using her position to push [[NanoTrasen]] interests, to the annoyance of the other constituent megacorporations. Whether or not NanoTrasen can remain on top in the face of dwindling phoron resources and the refinement of Einstein Engines' warp drives remains to be seen.

=== Influence and Reputation ===
<center>''"Connecting you, connecting us all. The Stellar Corporate Conglomerate; interlinking the Spur."'' - Advertising campaign, originally released May 2465</center>

The sheer size of the co-operating corporations' influence is enough to sway many of the powers on the interstellar stage. While some of the larger political entities retain some measure of independence, they still ultimately rely on the constituent members of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate for their respective niches within the interstellar economy.

Because of these galaxy-spanning ties, the SCC has promoted itself as a "peacekeeper" for the Orion Spur. Through the Conglomerate, nations and peoples that would have reason to make outright war with each other have settled on an uneasy peace – or, more cynically, a cold war instead of a hot one. The Stellar Corporate Conglomerate has leveraged the [[Republic of Biesel]]'s independence from the [[Sol Alliance]], and the corporate auxiliary forces of the [[Tau Ceti Armed Forces]] are a considerable contributor to the Biesellite military's staying power. Even the absence of a member-corporation from a nation-state is more space for the rest of the Conglomerate to form trade ties; the [[Republic of Elyra]], despite expelling [[NanoTrasen]] from its borders, continues to trade with Biesel through [[Orion Express]], [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]], and [[Idris Incorporated]] most prominently.

From banks to manufacturers, only a sliver of economic productivity in the Spur is controlled by independents. The main threat to the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate is [[Einstein Engines]]; despite the combined power of the Chainlink, Einstein has managed to compete against them through tight ties with the Sol Alliance and [[Nralakk Federation]], both the largest economies to exploit. But even despite this alleged rivalry, most of the member-corporations of the SCC have little trouble making dealings or working alongside Einstein Engines. Zeng-Hu and Idris are the most notable trade partners of Einstein, frequently purchasing their warp drives, their Shell frames, and commissioning them for ship designs, which causes the corporate echelons of NanoTrasen no end of grief.

As the alliance grows older, it becomes more and more evident that the constituents are operating on their own agendas, with the Conglomerate an alliance of convenience. Conducting themselves in a manner to not directly oppose NanoTrasen, the other megacorporations have begun leveraging their economic influence on nations, as seen with [[Hephaestus Industries]]’ planned expansion across [[Moghes]], Idris Incorporated’s leveraging credit provided to NanoTrasen during its attempt to recapture control of Phoenixport, and the [[Private Military Contracting Group]] purchasing the Grupo Amapola, made up of former corporate opponents.

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=== Corporate Agendas ===
Each and every constituent megacorporation has their own agenda for the operations of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, which is always intended to work to their benefit.
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==== [[NanoTrasen]] ====

NanoTrasen seeks to maintain the status quo of them being the dominant megacorporation, subverting the influence held by the combined might of the megacorporations to its own benefit, and will go to great lengths to ensure they remain on top – even so far as to diminish the Conglomerate’s influence to ensure their own is maintained. The Trasens openly claim that NanoTrasen will remain the most influential megacorporation, and Miranda Trasen installing herself as Chief Executive Officer of the Conglomerate is not lost on observers external or internal. Though the phoronics industry seems to be dwindling, the corporation seeks to expand its foothold in other industries that it enjoys sizable market domination within.
==== [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] ====

Zeng-Hu seeks to combine the innovation of the megacorporations to its own benefit, while also being able to keep a closer eye on the research and medical exploits of NanoTrasen and Zavodskoi Interstellar. While the keiretsu has benefitted from newfound opportunities to expand into other nations, it still seeks to ensure its technological edge through careful manipulation of its patents and intellectual property, ensuring it stakes its claim before anyone else when it comes to discovery and innovation.
==== [[Private Military Contracting Group]] ====

Conflict pays, and the Private Military Contracting Group knows this better than anyone. Being absorbed into the PMCG is a good investment for both constituent and conglomerate, but it also allows the [[Eridani Federation]] to expand their profit and sphere of influence in a gradually-fracturing Spur. The PMCG amasses military-grade technology and fleets to sell and contract to, but that is merely one element of their agenda. The more the Conglomerate relies on the PMCG for enforcement, the more of a hold the PMCG has over galactic conflict. The Group as a whole maintains the Conglomerate should broaden its capabilities to fight, routinely citing the need for such when referring to the Second Solarian Incursion of Biesel, but even inside the Group different agendas between companies abound...
==== [[Hephaestus Industries]] ====

Hephaestus Industries, the manufacturing giant of the Spur, wishes to merely expand its foothold within its existing industries – industrial research and development, resource extraction, and shipping. Similarly to Zeng-Hu, it seeks to combine the brightest minds within the Conglomerate to gain a technological advantage, but with particular application to help its existing monopolies as opposed to Zeng-Hu’s broader wishes. The future resides within the furnaces of Hephaestus Industries, and Titanius Aeson seeks to ensure the interstellar stage knows it. Even with the damage wrought by the Solarian Corporate Authority, Hephaestus Industries seeks to ensure they remain in steady competition with Einstein Engines.
==== [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]] ====

Though the Solarian Corporate Authority revoked some of the megacorporation’s presence within the Solarian Alliance, Zavodskoi Interstellar still seeks to maintain strong ties. Now that the Alliance is NanoTrasen-free, Zavodskoi is free to directly challenge Zeng-Hu and Einstein Engines in industrial development and research. But its primary asset remains the Empire of Dominia, a nation-state which Zavodskoi has thoroughly entangled itself with and seeks to influence for their own benefit. Though Zavodskoi Interstellar agrees with the Private Military Contracting Group’s own agenda, and sometimes even contributes to its growth within the Conglomerate, it ultimately believes that the Conglomerate should remain “neutral” in the face of interstellar conflict, and profit from the lucrative opportunities that arise from playing both sides.
==== [[Idris Incorporated]] ====

Idris Incorporated wishes to ensure the Spur at large is indebted to the company as much as possible – extending loans, establishing new banking branches, and having a healthy supply of Idris Reclamation Units keep liability at a minimum. Though in perpetual competition with NanoTrasen and now Orion Express in the service industry, Idris continues to grow its repute of excellent, high-class service through its fashion, cruise lines, hotels, restaurants, and private security.
==== [[Orion Express]] ====

Orion Express may have been initially planned as the SCC's delivery asset, but CEO Chin-hae Hong clearly has bigger ambitions. OE sees the future of the economy relying on its delivery services and resource extraction, along with a cheap and easily-trained service department. Orion wants to ensure its status in the Chainlink becomes invaluable, not just for the shipping services it provides between the megacorporations but to the nation-states around the Spur. As the company probes the borders of Sol and the attention of the Solarian Corporate Authority, it is becoming clearer and clearer that Orion Express is attempting to leverage influence even where it means causing drifts with the other megacorporations.
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== Branches and Notable Vessels ==
===Branches===
Compared to the far more widespread influence of their constituents, the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate's facilities are far and few between, and mostly exist within civilized space as a form of central command and mission control for Chainlink vessels. The Chainlink also has very few asset protection resources at its direct disposal, and if one of its vessels is in serious danger, duties of security will be delegated to local militaries or nearby corporate facilities. The following are the only dedicated SCC facilities in the galaxy, although the NTSS Odin has a small wing of its occupational deck dedicated to some Chainlink affairs, mostly delegated to it by the Top of the World headquarters.

'''Top of the World, [[Biesel]], [[Tau Ceti]]:''' The centre of the Conglomerate, the Top of the World branch sits in the middle of a plaza constructed in 2462. Originally it was planned to be constructed in Mendell City, but the lack of space in the sprawling urban zone and an inability to set it next to NanoTrasen's skyscraper means that it was relocated to the Trasen-funded borough. While not an overly tall building, it stands out as a circular, modernist construction of glass and steel in the midst of Top of the World's quaint, otherwise deliberately-rustic architecture. This facility is where the top executives of the SCC and the League of Chief Directors meet to discuss business, and where the operative decisions regarding the Chainlink are made.

'''[[Odin|NTCC Odin]], Tau Ceti:''' A recently-cleared wing on the NTCC Odin houses the Conglomerate's communication operations. This is where messages are received from other megacorporate communication offices, and where relay operators will send monitoring notices and regulation reminders to other SCC vessels.

'''[[New Suez|New Hormuz, New Suez, Tabiti]]:''' Shortly after NanoTrasen was forced to close its doors in the [[Republic of Elyra]], the small facility once belonging to NT was reopened as an SCC outpost. Understaffed, underfunded, and roundly disliked by residents of the moon, the New Hormuz facility mostly keeps in contact with the Orion Express shuttleport on Bursa and the [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] facility on [[Aemaq]].

'''[[Mictlan|Lago de Abundacia, Mictlan, Sankta Tereza]]:''' Constructed during the initial Peacekeeper Mandate, and partially rebuilt after the outright battle between the [[Tau Ceti Foreign Legion]] and the Samaritans, the Chainlink Lago de Abundacia facility presents itself as a tall, clean, white-and-blue office building in the downtown district of the city. During the [[Republic of Biesel]]'s occupation, it largely housed operations for the corporate auxiliary forces of the military. Now, with Mictlan an independent member-state of the Republic and the PMC of N4NL officially banned from operating in the system, the headquarters has become considerably less busy.

'''[[Xanu Prime|Nouvelle-Rochelle, Xanu Prime, Xanu]]:''' On the outskirts of Nouvelle-Rochelle operates this branch of the Chainlink, as a utilitarian blue warehouse space and shuttleport that lacks the Conglomerate's aesthetic sensibilities. It stays in close contact with the Xanu Defense Services branch, also in Nouvelle-Rochelle.

'''Hongse Cheongbao, [[Empire of Dominia#Zhurong|Zhurong]], Hashirajima:''' The Empire of Dominia has no proper SCC facility, but much like the Odin, a small wing of the Zavodskoi Interstellar headquarters within Zhurong houses Chainlink operations and communications, and is the first destination for Imperial citizens becoming employed with the Conglomerate.

'''Kal'lo, [[Qerrbalak]], Nralakk:''' The Chainlink facility in Skrellian space is repurposed from an old Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals operations center before its move to the city of Qwklip. Considered one of the more comfortable postings for bureaucrats of the Chainlink and employees from its constituent companies, this reputation is slightly marred by the [[Einstein Engines]] office building that sits across the street from it.

'''[[Crevus]], [[Adhomai]], [[S'rand'marr]]:''' The Chainlink base in Crevus is a building that blends in with much of the classically-styled architecture, with its tidy edges, baroque decorations, and stone exterior. All Adhomian contractors with the SCC must usually make a journey to the facility in Crevus to have their paperwork and identification in order, though citizens of the [[People's Republic of Adhomai]] can also visit the NanoTrasen facility in Nal'tor, which has a small wing dedicated to SCC activities.

'''K'rath, [[Ouerea]], [[Uueoa-Esa]]:''' The Chainlink's Uueoa-Esan branch is unmistakably modernist in construction, comparable to the Hephaestus Industries skyscraper at the heart of New Skalamar. It boasts elegant gardens of Ouerean and Moghresian flora in its courtyard, though some of the locals feel its sleek, elegant style and prominence in the skyline takes away from what many view as K'rath's distinguished, luxurious aesthetic.

=== Notable Vessels ===
Stellar Corporate Conglomerate vessels are an underdeveloped field, and the Chainlink relies on the ships of its constituents to ferry goods (particularly in the case of [[Orion Express]]), perform security duties, and complete research surveys. All Chainlink vessels have the secondary goal of locating and securing sources of phoron, though in practice the vessels tend to be used for whichever purpose the megacorporations can advocate or agree that they should be used for.

'''[[SCCV Horizon]]:''' The only ship in the ''Venator''-class, the SCCV Horizon is a long-range cruiser vessel designed for self-sufficient general-purpose work. The Horizon's purpose is manifold; it is a testing ground for the Chainlink's latest ship AIs, weaponry, sensors, and even physical structure, and as such tends to undergo frequent changes, refits, and swapping of its equipment and personnel. The Venator-class sensors are the Horizon's primary tool in locating potential phoron deposits, though its sensors also assist in general surveys of planetary bodies that is assigned for study to its research department. Meanwhile, the Horizon's engineering and flight crew are entrusted with the maintenance and firing of sophisticated weapon prototypes, the most notable being the top-secret "Leviathan" Zero-Time Artillery, developed by Zavodskoi Interstellar.

'''''Icarus''-classes:''' If the Horizon is a show of the Chainlink's reach, the ''Icarus''-classes are a show of its power. The ''Icarus''-classes are frigate-sized vessels equipped with military-tier gear and three weapon systems. However, the ''Icarus''-classes are rarely deployed, particularly because there are only two of them; the SCCV Harmony, and the SCCV Ozymandias. Previously, the Harmony was deployed to [[Steel On The Horizon Arc|fend off a pirate cruiser raiding the Horizon]], and the Ozymandias has helped carry personnel of the [[Tau Ceti Armed Forces]] to conflicts in the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]].

'''''Serendipity''-classes:''' Serendipity-classes are survey and scouting vessels used mainly for research, mineral extraction, and for marking points of interest. They are designed to be self-sufficient for up to two years in worst-case scenarios, and there is discussion of sending a Serendipity into the less-travelled reaches of the Spur, near Light's Edge and the Deadspace Spine, to do delicate work that the Horizon may not be suited for.

== Internal Structure ==

The Chainlink is headed by the '''League of Chief Directors''', who manage the Conglomerate's internal affairs while delegating ultimate authority on employees of Chainlink operations to their respective corporations. Originally, most of the League of Chief Directors were NanoTrasen employees rewarded for their loyalty to the corporation, but as the Conglomerate grows older, many of them have been cycled out with representatives of other corporations (to NanoTrasen's chagrin).

These internal affairs include personnel assignment to Conglomerate postings (including job applications), background checks for SCC employees, advertising, and the maintenance and design of SCC outposts. Apart from this maintenance and bookkeeping, the SCC does not "sell" anything; its continued operations are thanks to the profits generated by its constituents in the name of the Chainlink. For these reasons, those employed directly by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate are bureaucrats, managers, and other office workers who manage the behind-the-scenes operations of a vast web of connected megacorporations.

=== Command Staff ===

On the other hand, there are the contractors with the Conglomerate. These employees are hired from a constituent corporation as command or command support staff, and are legally registered as working for the SCC. In practice they hold two contracts; one with their original corporation of employment, and one with the Chainlink. In the early days of the Conglomerate's founding, much of the command staff was promoted from NanoTrasen employees. But as the SCC diversifies and NanoTrasen's focus narrows, more and more command staff in the Chainlink originate from the other corporations.

To take a command staff position in an SCC facility, an employee must apply for the position by writing an application to the Internal Affairs Agency. This application must be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from a representative of their original megacorporation. However, letters of recommendation do not just have to come from constituents in the Chainlink; they can also come from smaller or state-run corporations, such as [[Republic_of_Elyra#Elyran_Megacorporations|Elco]], [[Xanu_Prime#Polaris_Holdings_-_"Heavenly_Guidance"|Polaris Holdings]], and [[Eridani I#Fantalu|Eridani Energy]]. Einstein Engines is the obvious exception to this rule, as Einstein will not offer letters of recommendation for employees seeking work with the SCC, and the SCC would not accept Einstein recommendations.

While working in an SCC facility, this "loaned" command employee is expected to follow certain terms laid out in their contract, although the enforcement of some of these terms can be loose depending on their importance or individual discretion. The corporate oversight of the Chainlink frowns on but rarely punishes a member of command staff wearing the logos and colours of their original corporation. Command staff demonstrating obvious bias towards their own corporation, such as employee favouritism or prioritizing sending reports of their work to their original corporation, is more strongly discouraged but difficult to verify. Not helping matters is that constituent corporations will often aid the employee showing bias; for example, a chief engineer originally contracted with Hephaestus Industries can expect to have their recorded experiments with a supermatter engine made property of Hephaestus and heavily censored before the report goes to the Chainlink itself.

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==== Chainlink Command Contract Highlights ====
As determined by the contract of all SCC employees and provided employees of Conglomerate Member Corporations, the following is a list of guidelines and requirements while performing duties or representing the SCC.
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The employee:
1. is expected to act in a manner befitting a representative of the Conglomerate and their originating corporation.
2. must place the interests of the Conglomerate before the interests of other organizations or groups, including their originating corporation or nation-state.
3. does not display branding of their originating corporation or nation-state in such a way that it breaches Conglomerate ideals.
4. does not display prohibited symbology including, but not limited to:
1. Emblems of [[Human Wildlands|"warlord states"]] constructed by the breakaway fleets of the [[Solarian Armed Forces]] Naval Fleets, including the Solarian Restoration Front, the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems, the Free Solarian Fleets, the Southern Solarian Military District, and the Southern Fleet Administration
2. Emblems of anti-corporate organizations such as the [[Himeo|United Syndicates of Himeo]], [[Democratic People's Republic of Adhomai]], the [[Mictlan|"Founding Movement", or the "Samaritans"]]
3. Emblems of the group [[Unathi_Crime_And_Enforcement#The_Champions_of_Moghes|"Champion of Moghes"]]

Failure to meet any of these listed items may result in a review of the employee's contract or punitive action.
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=== Corporate Oversight ===
Though the megacorporations ostensibly cooperate, espionage, poaching workers, and leaking classified information is an ever-present risk. To combat this and to avoid bias in handling employee affairs, the Chainlink has created a third-party oversight agency that answers directly to the Chainlink and acts independently of any other megacorporation. This '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Internal Affairs Agency''', or SCCIAA, employs agents to deliberate on and disable potential threats to the corporate agenda. The SCCIAA and its Sophont Resources department will adjudicate corporate policy as well as incident reports in Chainlink facilities, and sometimes work closely with law enforcement if an employee has violated the regulations of their workplace. While the [[Biesellite Security and Law|Biesel Security Services Bureau]] is the first point of contact for Chainlink vessels as they operate under Biesellite law, local law enforcement may be called upon to handle serious crimes in stationary SCC facilities.

Only humans and [[Skrell]] are employed in these positions, though there is talk of employing corporate-owned [[IPC|IPCs]] as Internal Affairs agents.

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category:Corporations]]
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Xanu Prime

2024-07-15T22:29:15Z

La Villa Strangiato: whoops i messed up the demonym

{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Navbox Human Lore}}
{{Navbox Xanu}}

<center>[[File:Xansan pixel.png|700px]]</center>
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Xanu Prime
|System = Xanu
|Image = Xanu.png
|Sector = Liberty's Cradle
|Capital = Nouvelle-Rochelle
|Species = Humans, IPCs
|Languages = Freespeak, Tradeband
|Demonyms = Xanan
|Nation = [[Coalition of Colonies]]
|Former = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
The shimmering and vibrant planet of '''Xanu Prime''' (pronounced Ksa-noo), officially the All-Xanu Republic, is the beating heart of the [[Coalition of Colonies]]. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is the most populated planet in the Coalition and is the seat of its national government, but it is so much more beyond that. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys.

The planet is slightly larger than Earth and is the fourth planet of the Xanu system, which is positioned in the galactic north of the Coalition of Colonies in the [[The_Orion_Spur#Liberty%E2%80%99s_Cradle|Liberty's Cradle]] Region.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==
<center>''“We have asked, and our people have delivered: solidarity, unity, and liberty.” - Gaspard Kulkarni, Colonial Governor of Xanu Prime from 2225-2267''</center>

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===Discovery and Settlement | 2156 - 2185===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
Xanu Prime’s known history begins not on the planet itself but on Earth. The planet was discovered in the year 2156 by a team of French, Belgian, and Indian astronomers and deemed habitable for colonization. Its original designation was Exoplanète Astronomique-Neuf-Un, however was shortened first to XA-9-1, and then simply “Xanu” some years later once colonists had made landfall on the planet. Colonization ventures aiming to establish footholds on far-off worlds in places like the Tau Ceti System, Epsilon Eridani, and the Al-Rashid System had already begun near time of the planet’s discovery and the governments of Earth were more than eager to establish further footholds for humanity across the stars. Not wishing to be left behind, the governments of France along with Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg (BeNeLux) pooled their resources for an extraterrestrial expedition with the intention of colonizing the far-flung but promising exoplanet of XA-9-1. These countries quickly ran into a problem as they had the funds to bankroll this endeavor but lacked the industrial capacity to create the massive vessels needed for such a journey to the stars.

It seemed as if the expedition may falter before it even started without an industrial partner so, France and the BeNeLux shopped their proposal around to various countries but were turned down by the first few they asked. Firms from West Germany, the Federal Republic of China, and the United States all were offered contracts to build colony ships, but none accepted due those nations prioritizing their resources towards their own colonization initiatives. Eventually however, partners were found in the South Asian economic and industrial powerhouses of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, all three of whom agreed to build the massive vessels required to travel to what would become known as Xanu Prime, on the condition that their own colonists were included in the expedition. Naturally, they also wanted to receive a portion of the profits that the colony might generate. India and Pakistan saw the shipbuilding as a contest and tried to out-do each other during the construction process as an extension of the Indo-Pakistani rivalry while Bangladesh tried to remain neutral in the competition and simply complete their orders.

The six vessels needed for the expedition, Seine, Ganga, Rhine, Indus, Brahmaputra, and Yser were completed by 2181 and launched the same year. The expedition was long and arduous and needed to stop twice for repairs to the Rhine’s engines. Nevertheless, the expedition arrived at XA-9-1, albeit nine months behind schedule, in 2185. Colonization efforts began in full-force after the arrival, with the coastal location around where the colony fleet touched down quickly becoming the hub of the new world’s people. Modest agricultural and solar power initiatives were set-up to promote self-sustainability in the colony, and by most measures they were successful. After a year of success, the colonists desired to name the small city they had created and gave the honor of naming it to the commander of the expedition, Commodore Pascal Lechevalier, who named it Nouvelle-Rochelle, or New Rochelle, after his hometown of La Rochelle, France. The same year the planet’s official designation was changed from XA-9-1 to Xanu Prime by the [[Sol Alliance]].
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===Early Colonial Era | 2185 - 2223===
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Over the next three decades the colony steadily grew in population with more and more colonists coming to the planet from Western Europe and South Asia hoping to make it big on Xanu or simply start a new life on an entirely new world. It was during this period that the cities of Pataliputra, Maartstad, and Khairabad (presently known as Kshatragarh) were founded as well, solidifying Xanu as no longer a single-settlement colony and one that was almost entirely self-sufficient. From here, Sol left much of the Colony’s governance to itself and was happy to rake in the profits it produced while not giving much back to the colony itself, something that would become a theme over Xanu’s colonial era. It was also during this time however that Xanu Prime began to experience some of its first challenges during its ascent to prosperity.

While Xanu’s colonization effort had been a success, the colony itself was dysfunctional on a societal and political level. Since the initial landing on Xanu Prime, many of the colonists had begun to break off into groups and communities that were increasingly centered around their old world nationalities. The French often only interacted with the French, Indians with Indians, Pakistanis with Pakistanis, and so on. This led to increased tension over resources on the planet between these groups, and with each passing year the colony seemed less like one world and more like many inhabiting the same planet. This allegiance to ethnicity penetrated nearly every aspect of life, with members of the planet’s colonial administration and even fledgling military having stronger ties to their own communities rather than the colony’s government. By the early 2220’s, many of the planet’s citizens thought that a civil war was inevitable as the differences between the various ethnic groups of the planet seemed irreconcilable. In 2223, when that year’s crops failed and a famine gripped the world, their fears were made reality when Xanu’s colonial administration collapsed under the pressure to provide relief for the starving communities of Xanu and internal power struggles. A power vacuum was opened, and local militias following demagogic firebrands leaped at the opportunity to secure it wherever they could.
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<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:80%">
===The Xanan Civil War | 2223 - 2227===
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The Xanan Civil War was a four-factioned war fought between the Xanan Republic, a primarily French faction, the Xanu Free Union, a primarily Indian faction, the Xanu Solidarity Army, a primarily Pakistani faction, and the National Front for United Xanu, a faction composed of colonists from the BeNeLux. The war lasted from 2223 to 2227 and aside from the Interstellar War, is the costliest war in Xanan History. Every faction involved was at one point, hellbent on the complete subjugation of the three others in attempts to install themselves as the de facto rulers of the entire planet. Battles between groups lasted for months and often shot quickly from quiet and low-intensity to chaotic and brutal in a matter of hours, with ill-led irregular militia forces being used far more often than conventional armies. This was partially due to the fact that much of Xanu’s military before the civil war was quite small and fit only for militarized policing operations but also because many of the soldiers in the four armies were volunteers with no prior military experience whatsoever. While factions were made on primarily ethnic lines, it should be noted that a large portion of Xanan people at this time refused to fall-in with these factions no matter their ethnicity. Attacks against civilians, soldiers, and politicians alike including terror bombings, shootings, arson, and assassinations were commonplace with each side doing their best to break the resolve to fight of the others.

The Sol Alliance was unsure at first what to do with the news of Xanu breaking out into violence. Sol had in the past both intervened in these kinds of colonial conflicts while letting others run their course. To the Solarian colonial authorities though, much of what was becoming to be known as the Outer Colonies, which included planets like Vysoka, Assunzione, and Gadpathur along with Xanu Prime, was not as profitable as previously hoped, and so controversially, the decision was made to let the civil war play out and then return in-force after the violence had subsided to reassert colonial authority rather than land on the planet and risk the lives of Solarian core-worlders.
The war took its toll on the planet’s people. Historians currently estimate that nearly 6% of the total Xanan population died during the fighting with the leading causes of death being starvation and treatable medical conditions rather than combat. A majority of those who died in the war were not soldiers or irregulars, but normal civilians who simply could not feed themselves or find medical care after the complete collapse of the colony’s food and medical infrastructure. After nearly two years of fighting and a horrific and terrible stalemate, the armies were simply unable to launch offensives anymore and signed an uneasy truce that put an end to the fighting but not the war.
In 2225 a movement known as the All-Xanu Peace League was founded in the city of Pataliputra by a former colonial official named Gaspard Kulkarni, a man who was half-Indian and half-Belgian, which proposed the idea of a unified Xanu which provided for all of its peoples regardless of their race or national origins. While not a novel concept, Kulkarni’s speeches and his organization’s charitable actions such as opening soup kitchens to feed the starving and clinics to give free medical care to the sick spoke greatly to the war-weary Xanan people. He led large anti-war protests in the city of Pataliputra and was smuggled into the territories of the various warring factions to spread his message. He encouraged soldiers in the armies to not fight, saying that they were shooting their own brothers and sisters even if their commanders saw otherwise. By the start of 2226, Kulkarni was becoming the most popular man on Xanu Prime, his message of peace and a planet-wide Xanan identity stretched across ethnicity and to many was a beacon of hope in a terrible war, even if Kulkarni’s ideas seemed overly idealistic to many.

Xanans, including those in the armies, were tired of fighting and exhausted at this point. None of the four factions had accomplished their goals and with Kulkarni’s Xanu Free League movement gaining more steam and proposing a peaceful future for all Xanan people, the heads of the four armies met at the planet’s capital Nouvelle-Rochelle to sign a peace treaty and dissolve their forces. An impromptu election was held to determine a planetary governor, Kulkarni won in a landslide, and declared the founding of the Sovereign Solarian Nation of Xanu Prime.
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===Reassertion of Solarian Control and The First Astonishment | 2227 - 2260===
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[[File:Old Xanu Flag.png|thumb|The flag of the Sovereign Solarian Nation of Xanu Prime]]
The Sol Alliance had been constantly monitoring the situation on Xanu since the start of the civil war and now that the fighting had stopped, it returned to its colony with the intention of rebuilding it and stabilizing it for the future. Pleased that they didn’t need to exercise any force, Sol returned with a massive investment which hoped to not only restore Xanu to its former glory, but also make it a leading, an exemplar colony in the distant Outer Ring. Sol saw Xanu almost as a blank slate at this point, the planet was so ravaged by war that anything was possible in the minds of the Colonial authorities back on Earth. From here on the Sol Alliance invested trillions of credits into Xanu’s infrastructure and businesses along with importing scores of new Western European, South Asian, and newly to the mix, American colonists and capital from Earth to both repopulate but also serve as workers in Xanu’s future labor pool.

Despite this rebuilding effort, many Xanan citizens, including the de-facto governor Kulkarni, vehemently criticized Sol for not intervening in the Xanan Civil War and stopping the fighting. This criticism put the Solarian central authority into a difficult position: they could either remove Kulkarni from office and impose their own governor, or try to keep the situation stable. In the end, the second option was taken; Xanan historians say that this was due to the massive amounts of money being spent on the world by the Alliance. Solarian historians dispute this claim and insist the choice was made by the Alliance as an apology to the Xanan people for the inaction in the civil war. Kulkarni was confirmed by the Solarian central authority as the Xanu’s official planetary governor on January 1st, 2225.

For the next three decades, Xanu became not just rebuilt but the strongest economy in the Outer Colonies. Solarian investment lasted for seven years, but after that, Xanu’s growth was primarily self-generated. Its industries and services had expanded far beyond just mining and agriculture to highly sophisticated sectors like computer manufacturing, bio-medicine, energy production, defense, and AI development. Most importantly however was shipping and logistics. Xanu’s geographic position made it ideal as the primary commercial port of the outer colonies, where goods from everywhere from Himeo to Vysoka to Assunzione would be shipped to the Solarian Core. Much of this was undertaken thanks to Kulkarni’s policies of giving monetary incentives to businesses and workers that went into certain industries. It was also during this time that Xanu found itself becoming friends with its close-by neighbor Himeo, a relationship which would go on to bloom into a strong friendship, and occasional rivalry, which lasts to this very day.
By 2260, before the Second Great Depression, Xanu Prime had the highest living standards in the Outer Colonies, the largest economy, and one of its most developed societies. Many accredit this to the foundation of an identity for its people built upon the ideas of fairness, equality, and hard work originating from the Xanu Free League and its founder Gaspard Kulkarni who retired from the position of Governor in 2248 at the age of 71 after 26 years in office. Xanu’s people no longer saw themselves as either French Xanan or Indian Xanan and so on, but as simply Xanan. The horrors of war which impacted all Xanan people regardless of ethnicity changed the way that the people of Xanu viewed each other. After the war they had begun to take on each other as fellow Xanans and as people rather than as an enemy or an “other,” adopting various cultures and customs from one another and beginning to create what today can be called the Xanan culture and people. Xanan culture was not only unified by a common experience, but also a common language. Freespeak was mandated as the official language of Xanu Prime by Governor Kulkarni in 2230 on the reasoning that it was what many of Xanu’s interplanetary neighbours spoke and that it would help unite the Xanan people if they could communicate with one another. This transformation from a war-ravaged world plagued by sectarian violence to a model planet which was safe, rich, and cosmopolitan is an achievement known to the Orion Spur as “The Astonishment.” A side-effect of Xanu’s success though was that it was now far more connected to the rest of the Outer Colonies than to the Solarian core in nearly all ways, economically, politically, and culturally. This fact would come to define Xanu’s future going forwards.
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===The [[Sol_Alliance_History#18_June,_2260:_The_Second_Great_Depression_Begins|Second Great Depression]] and [[Sol_Alliance_History#18_January,_2275:_Secession_of_the_Coalition|Secession from the Solarian Alliance]] | 2260 - 2278===
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While the Second Great Depression struck the Solarian Core from its onset in 2260, Xanu Prime and more broadly the Outer Colonies in general were largely unaffected by the economic turmoil gripping the inner parts of Sol Alliance space. Much of the Xanan economy was self-sufficient and relied little on the inner workings of Solarian financial institutions. Branches of transstellar corporations on Xanu were some of the only ones in human space which still remained profitable after the depression hit. Xanan citizens were not ignorant of the depression, it was still national news, but its effects were not felt on the world nor in the rest of the Outer Colonies aside from Vysoka. The steppe world was gripped by economic troubles following the collapse of the Solarian logistics chain which caused the planet’s primary export, food, being unable to reach the Solarian core. Xanu stepped in during this time to begin buying more exports from Vysoka to help shore up the steppe world’s losses while also further pulling Vysoka into its orbit of economic influence.

In 2265, the Sol Alliance unveiled a new taxation policy aimed at stopping the runaway inflation and worsening economic situation within its core worlds. This policy, deemed the Emergency Stabilization Plan, consisted of instilling heavy taxation on the still relatively economically stable Outer Colonies in hopes of transferring some of their wealth to the Solarian Core. The most prosperous, and therefore most taxed of these worlds was Xanu Prime, and as one might suspect, these new taxes were strongly opposed across the planet. Prices soared and businesses fell apart, sending not just Xanu’s economy but that of the entire Outer Colonies into a tailspin that would only worsen for the next decade.
In 2271, following the Xanan tradition of protest and rebellion that began with the All-Xanu Peace League, a Xanan independence movement was founded known as the All-Xanu Free League. Led by an aging veteran of the Xanan Civil War who had joined politics after the war and fully embraced the new idea of a united Xanu, Eloise Brel, the All-Xanu Free League’s goals were simple and to the point: no less than total independence from the Sol Alliance. Brel and her supporters argued that the Sol Alliance had never done anything for Xanu that wasn’t motivated by profit. The Free League cited the Sol Alliance’s refusal to intervene in the Xanan Civil War and near-removal of Governor Kulkarni in 2225 as examples of the Sol Alliance’s desires only to subjugate Xanu and act as thieves from its prosperous economy, going as far as to call the Sol Alliance’s Colonial Authority “pirates.” Brel also protested for popular democracy and voting rights for its citizens, as until this point, many Xanan people were only allowed to participate in democracy on a local level and had little say in the planet’s colonial taxation and economic programs or its foreign policy. As economic conditions worsened, the popularity of the Free League only grew, leading to further social unrest.

By 2274, Xanu’s planetary governor saw that the situation was untenable and resigned from the office. With the highest office of authority in Xanu Prime now vacant, the All-Xanu Free League declared itself as the popular government of the entire planet, installing Eloise Brel not as Xanu’s governor but as the president of the newly proclaimed All-Xanu Republic. In the same year, following Xanu’s example, the Outer Colony worlds of Himeo, now the United Syndicates of Himeo, Vysoka, Gadpathur, and Zaurghis also declared independence from the Sol Alliance. Sol was paralyzed by depression and unsure of how to respond to the situation, attempted to negotiate with the newly-independent systems to no avail. In 2275, the leaders from the independent outer colonies met on Xanu Prime in the city of Nouvelle-Rochelle and agreed to the formation of a military and economic alliance called the Interstellar Coalition of Independent Systems, or Coalition of Colonies. Xanu Prime was declared to be the de facto operational center of this new alliance and as such, it dictated the goals that the Coalition would need to meet. These goals, at least for the time being, were complete economic independence from the Sol Alliance and a militarization of their societies so that they could defend themselves from what Eloise Brel described as “the impending imperialist sledgehammer.”

The same year, Brel announced the necessity for a new All-Xanu Army and Navy and called for native Xanans and even foreigners in the Solarian planetary garrison who loved democracy, freedom, and the principles of equality and fairness found in Xanan culture to defect and bring their equipment with them, promising Xanan citizenship and adequate pay. Many of these soldiers who hadn’t been paid in months courtesy of the Second Great Depression’s effects on the Solarian military’s finances deserted their posts in droves and joined the new All-Xanu Army and Spacefleet. Stories of entire bases and ships surrendering to civil servants of the new administration were not unheard of. Those in the All-Xanu Armed Forces knew that they were unable to fight the Solarians in open combat and so instead looked to the past for guidance. Many veterans of the Xanan Civil War were still alive and while not in fighting condition, many of them being in their sixties or seventies at this point, were called upon to teach Xanan officers guerilla tactics who would then use those same methods, along with those learned from defecting garrison officers, to teach the nascent Army. Armed with equipment now flowing in from arms factories on Vysoka, the industrial centers of Himeo, and the planet’s own defense industry that emerged in the wake of the Xanan Civil War, Xanu’s fledgeling military was taking shape. By 2278, the All-Xanu Army was a young and inexperienced but well-trained fighting force. The All-Xanu Spacefleet by 2278 consisted of 802 vessels, most of which were no larger than cruisers and had been surrendered to the planet by both its own and nearby planets’ defecting garrisons.
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===The [[Sol_Alliance_History#25_March,_2278:_Outbreak_of_the_Interstellar_War|Interstellar War]] | 2278 - 2287===
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The Sol Alliance was alarmed after its negotiations with the Outer Colonies had failed. Not only had they lost the lynchpin to their so far successful Emergency Stabilization Plan, but they’d lost territory, billions of citizens, vital resources, and large quantities of military equipment and materiel. Despite still being hamstrung by the Second Great Depression, the Sol Alliance mobilized its fleets and armies in 2278 and set its course for the Solarian Frontier. The Alliance at this time had adopted a policy of unconditional surrender of the Coalition of Colonies, aiming to bring them back under Solarian authority at any cost in order to secure their resources and people to further stabilize the Solarian Core.

Solarian forces reached Xanu Prime in late 2278 and would make landfall soon after crushing the All-Xanu Spacefleet and forcing it to flee to Himeo for repairs. It would not be until 2284 until the Solarian Army was forced off of Xanu. The Solarian Army quickly occupied Nouvelle-Rochelle and Pataliputra, Xanu’s two largest cities, and laid siege to Khairabad, its third largest and current seat of the All-Xanu Republic. The Siege of Khairabad would be the longest and by far the bloodiest battle of the Interstellar War. It lasted four years, from 2279 to 2282, and saw savage house-to-house fighting coupled with indiscriminate artillery bombardment and drone strikes from both sides. It is estimated that during the Siege of Khairabad, anywhere between 11 and 14 million people died, this figure being a combination of both soldiers and civilians. It is widely agreed that the Siege of Khairabad was the single-most deadly battle in human history. The siege was brutal and both sides bled heavily, with Coalition forces using the rubble of the city to hide for ambush attacks while the Solarians relied heavily on air power and orbital bombardment to pound their foes into submission. But submission the Solarians would not receive. It was 2281 and fighting had stagnated into a bloody stalemate across the Coalition of Colonies. The Solarians were unable to contend with such a vast front against the armies of the hundreds of worlds now part of the CoC and gradually they began to be worn down by the attrition of the war. By late 2282, the siege of Khairabad collapsed after Solarian forces besieging the city were redeployed elsewhere on Xanu to fight All-Xanu Army guerilla activities and elsewhere in the Coalition to hold the line against CoC forces. After four years, nine months, two weeks, and six days, the Siege of Khairabad was over. During her victory speech after the battle, President Brel proposed that the city be renamed to Kshatrapur, in allusion to the warrior caste of the culture of the city’s original Indian colonists. In 2283, by presidential decree, the city was renamed and holds that name to this very day.

Even while Khairabad and other cities on the planet were under siege, Xanan forces had been sent to every corner of the Coalition to try and curb Solarian advances. This was done not through direct combat, but through training the local armies and navies across the Coalition how to fight the Solarians. The once-defeated All-Xanu Spacefleet went on to act as one of the primary naval forces in the war after seeking repairs at Himeo. They attacked Solarian supply convoys and cooperated with the United Fleet of Himeo to defend Himeo against a Solarian landing force while being impossible to catch and pin-down by the Solarian Navy. In 2284, a United Coalition fleet comprised of elements from Xanu Prime, Himeo, and Gadpathur arrived to Xanu Prime under the leadership of All-Xanan Admiral Mehmud Khan and defeated the 148th Solarian Fleet in the Battle of Xanu Prime, the largest single spacefleet confrontation of the war. They arrived just in-time as well, many assess, as Solarian high-command had authorized the full-scale indiscriminate orbital bombardment of Xanu Prime, the scars of which can still be seen today. Many historians speculate that without the intervention of the CoC’s Joint Fleet, Xanu’s surface would be much like Gadpathur’s today. The Battle of Xanu Prime is seen as the turning point of the war. Afterwards, the Solarians forces would be in almost constant retreat out of Coalition territory since Xanu along with its Coalition allies could now export their armies instead of keeping them on their homeworlds to fend off the Solarian attack.
Slowly but surely, Xanusians fought alongside their fellow Coalition forces and by the time a ceasefire was called, the CoC had liberated 80% of the territory that it had begun with. The Treaty of Xansan was signed in 2287 and ended the war, with Sol officially recognising the Coalition of Colonies and all of its member states as independent entities. Shortly after the war, President Eloise Brel retired from politics and went on to pen a series of best-selling memoirs before dying at the ripe age of 104 in 2303. She is to this very day regarded as a national hero and is considered to be the “Mother of Xanan Independence.”
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===The Sneijders Doctrine and The Second Astonishment | 2287 - 2320===
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For the second time in a century, Xanu Prime had been ravaged by war and nearly destroyed. By the end of the Interstellar War, nearly half of its population had been displaced or rendered homeless and it is presently estimated that anywhere between 12% and 15% of the planet’s population had died in the war. Xanu’s cities and infrastructure were in ruins, but the resolve of its people and the rest of the newly-formed Coalition of Colonies was as strong as ever. Sol was not around to rebuild Xanu after this war, but the rest of the Coalition of Colonies was. The first order of business for the new CoC government was providing relief to and rebuilding the areas most damaged by the war, Xanu Prime chief among them. Throughout the next decade, Xanu’s cities were rebuilt and repaired with even Kshatrigarh being nearly entirely repaired by 2310. Resources and workers from all over the Coalition poured into Xanu as part of the effort and after the Xanu Restoration Project was completed, many decided to stay and make lives for themselves on Xanu. These efforts are even to this day a source of camaraderie and mutual appreciation between the Xanan people and the rest of the Coalition, with both seeing it as the Coalition at large repaying Xanu Prime for the sacrifice its people made to start the Coalition. Measures were taken by the Xanan government to ensure that the recovery was not just that, a recovery, but the start of a brand new economy for the recently-independent world. The most notable of these actions was the creation of the Xanan Concern for Economic Stabilization, Advancement, and Recovery, otherwise known as CESAR-X, a state-owned construction and industrial company that would come to be the instrument through which successive governments would both rebuild and grow Xanu’s cities and economy. In 2320, Xanu Prime was once again the strongest economy in the Coalition of Colonies, having been surpassed by Himeo from the end of the war until that point. It would take some time for living standards to return to what they once were though, but it would happen. This rebuilding effort amounted to trillions of credits and ultimately was a resounding success that allowed Xanu to once again bounce back from the destruction of war. Fittingly, this is known as “The Second Astonishment.”

As Xanu Prime grew stronger and wealthier, it felt the need to assert its position in the still infantile Coalition of Colonies. The Coalition had only been around for roughly two-and-a-half decades in peacetime when in 2212, All-Xanu president Nicolaas Sneijders adopted a combination of economic and foreign policies that would lead Xanu into its golden age. These principles, known today as “The Sneijders Doctrine,” orbited around two principles: firstly expanding Xanan markets and trade wherever possible, and secondly, creating a new kind of All-Xanu Army and Spacefleet that could be deployed anywhere in the Coalition of Colonies on short notice should any nation in the CoC come under attack. The Coalition did not have a unified military that it could command on its own, so Sneijders proposed that if any world were to assert themselves as the defender of this new country, it would be Xanu. A famous excerpt from a speech he gave to the All-Xanu Assembly, now known as simply “The Sneijders Speech,” sums:
<center>''“Our fellows, brothers, and sisters saved our homeworld during the Interstellar War. We as Xanans must ensure that the same pain and suffering that befell us never is inflicted upon our neighbors. Our allies protected us, and we will repay the favor to not just they, but their children, and their children's children. We are the richest world in our beautiful Coalition even now, and we must ensure that our wealth grows but more importantly is put to good use. We have the means to make war but instead we will ensure peace for our people and all those of the Coalition. We are a republic built on the beliefs of liberty, democracy, equality, and goodwill, and we will proliferate these principles across the stars.”''</center.>

From the time when Sneijders’ principles were implemented, Xanu would maintain a disproportionately large military relative to its fellow Coalition worlds, only being surpassed proportionately by Gadpathur. Sneijders also is credited with the establishment of much of Xanu’s state welfare programs and civic funding initiatives which would hasten Xanu’s restoration of living standards to a pre-war level. He also modified the Xanan Constitution into the form the country knows it as today, enshrining in law inalienable rights for Xanan citizens and placing limits on the government’s domestic power. He is the longest serving Xanan president, having left office in 2320 after serving three five-year terms in office, something which the constitution he helped ratify made impossible afterwards due to its limiting of presidents to only two terms. He is widely regarded as one of the best presidents the All-Xanu Republic has ever had.
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===The Xanan Renaissance | 2320 - 2360===
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For the first time in Xanan history, peace and prosperity reigned supreme for over 60 years. The planet saw an unparalleled level of growth and societal advancement. Xanan culture flourished and many of the entertainment industries that Xanu is known throughout the Orion Spur for were founded during the 2320’s and 30’s. Film, video games, music, entertainment, all got their start in those two decades after funding from many of the economic assistance and cultural programs started under the Sneijders administration took off. Xanu’s economy soared and the world hit a new high and celebrated lavishly in 2338 when Xanu’s population reached its pre-Interstellar War level. To this day, Xanans get every January 2nd off work to commemorate this recovery. Things were going good for Xanu, not only was it growing itself but further integration with the rest of the Coalition of Colonies allowed for it to grow its neighbors’ economies as well, though of course while each planet in the Coalition economically cooperated, friendly competition was part and parcel of their mutual exchanges. Xanan firms financed much of the construction of the Weber Quarter in Himeo’s capital Rautakaivos Kaupunki and funded heavy industry expansion on Vysoka in the 2340’s and 50’s.
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===The Flohimont Thaw and Solarian Reproachment | 2360 - 2400===
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One of the largest changes in Xanu’s foreign and economic policy in history came under the administration of President Ameliye Flohimont, Xanu Prime’s tenth president. Taking power in 2360, President Flohimont was the first Xanan leader since the Interstellar War to consider reopening economic ties with the Solarian Alliance. These actions brought on fierce criticism at the time, with notions of Sol once again trying to force an unfair economic deal on Xanu running rampant. Flohimont stressed that she did not wish to negotiate trade with the entire Solarian Alliance but only individual planets under its control, stating that she was wishing to trade with Sol as she would with any other, on fair and agreeable terms. In 2364, her administration reached a settlement with the government of Konyang, hoping to both increase trade revenue and use the momentum as a positive reason for her reelection campaign in 2365. This negotiation was criticized by the Himean government and lambasted by multiple Gadpathurian officials at the time as, “playing with fire,” and something that could potentially drag the rest of the CoC’s economy into the orbit of Sol as it once was. Nevertheless, Flohimont won reelection in 2365 and continued her policy of foreign economic liberalization, signing trade deals with the then-Solarian planets of Biesel, New Gibson, and Mictlan a establishing a positive relationship with them that carried on to the formation of the Republic of Tau Ceti and to this day. The tax profits from these mercantile ventures were reinvested into Xanu’s cultural, state medical, and military programs, giving all of those sectors a boost. Conspiratorially, some on the fringe of Sol’s political sphere hold even presently that Flohimont engaged in these deals in order to expand the reach of Xanu’s Military Intelligence Department into Solarian worlds in preparation for a future invasion. They cite the expansion of Xanu’s military under Flohimont as a primary reason for this theory, though most see these ideas as shaky at best and completely false at worst. Xanu’s government denies this and people with this stance on Xanu are often laughed out of any discussion in which they participate. Whatever the case, when she left office in 2370 after serving two five-year terms, Xanu was richer and was once again a player on the economic stage of the Orion Spur and not just the Coalition. Over the next century, Xanu would use foreign trade to make money as far as the Nralakk Federation, Eridani, after the New Suez Protocols of 2381 the [[Republic of Elyra]], the rest of the Sol Alliance proper, and Adhomai and Moghes after their discovery by humans. This openness to foreign nations under Flohimont is also the reasoning credited for why Xanu Prime agreed to host the Fisanduhian government-in-exile in 2386.

President Ameliye Flohimont is a polarizing figure across the CoC and beyond and her impacts as president were felt long after she’d left office. On Xanu she is remembered fondly for helping the planet move past its trauma from the Interstellar War by opening a parley with Sol and for using foreign trade credits to help enrich the planet’s social systems and military. Elsewhere in the Coalition she is looked down upon as a selfish leader, or even seen as a traitor to the Coalition ideal, who put Xanu’s economic interests, or to some, her planet’s greed, above the safety of the Coalition and made any future economic problem that Sol, or eventually Biesel, encountered also a problem of the Coalition. This rose to a head when she was assassinated at a speaking event in 2374, four years after she’d left office, by a radical Gadpathurian national who claimed that her actions would kill the Coalition of Colonies. Nearly a century after her election, anti-Sol and nationalist parties across the Coalition blamed the Coalition’s economic turmoil during the ongoing Phoron Scarcity on the policies that Flohimont started, however this position was contested by many on Xanu who described Flohimont’s actions as, “The natural next steps for Xanu Prime and the Coalition into the Orion Spur,” and the current slowdown as, “An inevitability for any nation in the modern day and age.”
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===The Doldrums & The Mukhopadhyay Plan | 2400 - 2440===
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Xanu Prime and the Coalition of Colonies as a whole entered 2400 in a period of relative stagnation. The huge revenues brought into Xanu during the latter half of the 23rd century by President Flohimont’s trade pioneering had faded, with all who wanted to trade with Xanu already doing so. By 2404, Xanu Prime’s economy was only growing by 1% annually and the country itself fell into a period of long-standing economic stagnation known as “The Doldrums.” During this time Xanu was still the top economy in the Coalition of Colonies, but it was no longer growing at the meteoric speeds it once knew, and even saw a near-collapse in 2421. The Doldrums lasted from 2404 until 2427 and are known for the malaise they put over Xanan society as four different presidential administrations tried to get the economy under control and reignite Xanu’s soaring economy.
The most notable event during this period was the privatization of CESAR-X, the venerated Xanan institution of a state-owned industrial concern. The company began to amass an unusually large amount of debt during the mid 2400’s as it took out loans to maintain its infrastructure and assets during the economic slowdown. Those in-charge at the company thought that their business’s government-backed nature along with its prominent role in the Xanan economy would ensure that it remained solvent even during a time when the economy was in rough shape. Essentially, they thought CESAR-X could weather the storm through the use of loans and government until the economy had picked up once again and normal growth rates were seen, rather than through adjusting how they did business to meet the challenging economic circumstances. What neither they, nor anyone else at the time expected, was just how long the slowdown would last. A little over a decade and a half passed, and by this time the concern had taken out more in loans than the company itself was worth; not being able to sustain itself on its own operations for any longer, CESAR-X went to the Xanan government asking for a bailout to pay off its creditors, threatening bankruptcy otherwise. The government was indecisive on the decision, as on one hand CESAR-X’s collapse would result in millions of jobs being lost and be disastrous for an already struggling Xanan economy, but on the other, saving CESAR-X wouldn’t fix the economic situation gripping the planet, nor was it a permanent solution to shoring up what was becoming a government-backed money pit. The decision was then made to let CESAR-X fail and collapse, but at the eleventh hour, Credit Xanan, the largest bank in the Coalition and the owner of a majority of CESAR-X’s debt offered to buy the company from the Xanan state on the condition that they pay under a market price and that they would keep a majority of the company’s workers employed. The government agreed and sold the company to the bank for what many now estimate to be just above half of its real value. Over the next decade, CESAR-X’s new management would enact a ruthless profitability-first policy in how it dealt with its newly acquired subsidiary, shutting down factories and branches that failed to turn a profit after being given notice to restructure. These efforts resulted in the company downsizing its workforce by nearly 30%, a move which remains controversial even today, but they did accomplish their goal. By 2428, CESAR-X was turning a profit under Credit Xanan ownership. To this day, CESAR-X is the largest privatization in Coalition history.

During this time the life of an ordinary Xanan changed; the country was no longer on the up-and-up and it gave many time to pause and examine what their society was and who they were as people. Some of the most seminal works of Xanan popular art and cinema were produced during the Doldrums, some say as a reflection on the Xanu Prime of the day, and some say to express the tension and anxiety that the artists and directors felt. Whatever the case, epic works of stage, film, and visual arts were produced during this period which have gone on to firmly cement themselves in the Xanan canon.

As the potential of wide-scale phoron usage was beginning to be felt across the Orion Spur though and more importantly, as more in the Coalition of Colonies wanted this technology, Xanu slowly saw its reascension to growth as it began to be the primary port by which phoron shipments from Elyra and the still-Solarian Biesel would enter the Coalition. This new energy source brought great wealth to Xanu and is credited for giving the planet’s economy the shot in the arm it needed to resume its growth.
After Xanu Prime’s recovery from the Doldrums, its next president, Narayan Mukhopadhyay, believed that Xanu needed an economic system which would ensure that it would not fall victim to such a circumstance again, or if it did, not to the degree which it had in the 2410’s-20’s. Throughout the early 2430’s, Mukhopadhyay devised a series of complex economic measures which aimed to shock-proof the Xanan economy against a future recession or collapse, using both taxes and trade revenues from the Konyang robotics boom to fund it. These included amassing great reserves of foreign currency and investing trillions into further diversifying Xanu’s economy. The great Mehmud Khan Helium-3 Station (named after the Xanan Interstellar War Admiral) began construction during this time with assistance from nearby Galatea, and Mukhopadhyay’s initiatives spearheaded the development of industries that until his administration were small or hadn’t even existed on Xanu. This ranged from VR technology to the automotive industry, to pharmaceuticals to initiatives focused on creating engines and reactors which could operate with both Phoron and other fuels like Helium-3. The latter of these efforts would come in very handy during the beginning of the 2462 phoron shortage. Mukhopadhyay also invested much into Xanu Prime’s social services, with the reasoning that if Xanu’s economy were to enter a recession or depression in the future, they would be relied on more than ever before.

The impact of President Mukhopadhyay’s economic planning is hard to quantify. Some on Xanu say that Mukhopadhyay was a visionary who unknowingly protected Xanu from total economic catastrophe when the phoron shortage hit in force in 2463, some twenty years after he left office in 2440. Others however dispute this claim, saying that his impact is truly unknowable because there is no way to know what exactly would have happened to Xanu if the Mukhopadhyay Plan was never put into place and that it was in fact, not the best option. Despite these differing opinions, he generally has a positive reputation and currently spends his days giving lectures at universities and speaking at fundraising events for the Enlightenment Project, a charity he founded after he left office which aims to provide medical aid (often in cooperation with the Interstellar Aid Corps) and educational access to children in the less-developed parts of the Coalition of Colonies and Human Frontier.
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===Xanu Prime Today | 2440 - Present===
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The 2440’s were an unremarkable decade for Xanu Prime. The planet continued to grow more economically off of the spur-wide phoron boom and in 2443, celebrated the completion of the Khan Helium-3 Station. Steady growth and stability were hallmarks of the 2440’s for Xanu and is seen in the present by a large numbers of Xanans, both those who were alive during the time and those who were born after it, as a nostalgic pseudo-golden age where all was good, especially when compared to more recent times.

The 2450’s however were a decade of many happenings for Xanu Prime, both good and bad. In 2457, Xanu Prime hit its all-time economic high, one that is yet to be surpassed, after organizing numerous trade deals with Tau Ceti following the country’s independence in 2452. This took a dive in 2458 when Admiral Michael Frost invaded Tau Ceti, causing Xanu to put great pressure on the rest of the Coalition for an intervention on the justification of protecting sovereignty, an action supported by Gadpathur but rejected by all others in the Coalition on the grounds that war for the sake of markets wasn’t something the Coalition wanted. Along with reaching its economic zenith in 2457, Xanu Prime also participated in one of the largest relief operations in history after the Lii’dra incursion to the Elyran planet of Bursa. In cooperation with the rest of the Coalition, Xanu sent billions in foreign aid, medical supplies, and construction equipment to Bursa to aid in the planet’s rebuilding process. The 2450’s also marked the decade in which the Coalition of Colonies announced a massive increase in its anti-piracy operations both within Coalition territory and outside of it in the Human Frontier. While claimed as an anti-piracy operation, many in the Coalition viewed this as an unofficial war against privateers originating from the [[Empire of Dominia]]. Xanu Prime, having the largest military and hosting the Fisanduhian government-in-exile, was broadly supportive of this initiative and committed a sizable chunk of its fleet to defeating what then president Jayanti Kuipers called, “the barbaric menace of pirates and whoever employs them.”

The 2460’s have thus far been turbulent for Xanu Prime, much as they have for almost everywhere in the Orion Spur. The planet’s economy took a hit during the Phoron Scarcity and subsequent Solarian Collapse, however it is nowhere near the worst-affected place in the Coalition even if its supply chains are still met with the impossible question of how to replace phoron entirely. Some say this resilience is because of President Mukhopadhyay’s planning, while others say that Xanu’s economy is simply large enough and has the scale to weather the storm of the Scarcity better than others. Some Xanan industries such as its Helium-3 sector and engine manufacturing plants have even boomed in the wake of the recent economic turmoil in contrast to many others. The future of Xanu seems uncertain. It is holding on well under the administration of its current president Jaques Afzal, with many of its people still living comfortably and enjoying Xanu Prime’s high standard of living, but problems are beginning to emerge. Growing economic inequality, internal divides over Xanu Prime’s place in the Coalition, debates over just how the planet and its people will deal with the scores of refugees fleeing from a broken spur to relative safety, and other societal pressures like crime and rising illegal drug use are rearing their ugly heads. Xanu Prime’s future, much like the rest of the spur, is uncertain, but what is certain is the resolve and unity that the planet and its people will meet any new challenge with.
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==Geography and Environment==
<center>''“In forest, ocean, mountain, river, or meadow, my country’s beauty shines through!” - Excerpt from “My Xanu’s Majesty,” a Xanan patriotic song written during the Interstellar War''</center>
[[File:Xanu Prime Map.png|thumb|A Mercator projection map of Xanu Prime.]]
===Geography===
Xanu Prime is a varied and diverse world that is slightly larger than Earth with a mean radius of 3,790 kilometers. 63% of the planet’s surface area is covered in liquid salt water and it has sizable ice caps at both of its poles, though the northern cap is far larger than the southern one. The planet has four continents and numerous smaller islands that dot its oceans.

The largest of the continents is called '''Nouvelle-Occitanie''', or '''New Occitania''', named after the historical region of France. Much of the planet’s population lives on this continent and its ample coastline. It is situated at the planet’s equator and stretches far to the south into the temperate and near-polar zones of the planet. It hosts varied biomes, with lush equatorial rainforests on its east coast, and tropical deserts which then give way to sprawling open grassy plains and rolling hills before finally finishing in the south of the continent with great deciduous and coniferous forests. Nouvelle-Occitanie is a continent of contrasts. Some of Xanu’s largest cities are on Nouvelle-Occitanie are on the continent, however other areas of the landmass are almost entirely uninhabited, namely the largest of its tropical deserts, the Greater Thar. Nouvelle Occitanie also was the scene of battles and sieges during the Interstellar War, with certain parts of it being designated as national battlefield sites. These sites function as both historical sites and wildlife preserves and development of them is prohibited by the Xanussi government. The largest of these historical preserves are known as the Scar Seas. They are a series of loosely-connected saltwater crater lakes along a stretch of the continent’s western coastline near the city of Kshatragarh. These lakes were formed during the Interstellar War as a result of heavy orbital bombardment in the area from the Solarian Navy.

Sitting in the planet’s northern temperate and equatorial zones, '''Naya Khyber''', or '''New Khyber''', is the third largest of Xanu Prime’s continent and is defined by the Naya Khyber River, the largest river on the planet. At precisely 7,117 kilometers long, the river spans the entire latitude of New Khyber and its course showcases the continent’s geography well. Starting in the western alps of the country, the river flows east and meanders along rolling foothills before entering a short expanse of plains and finally finishing in the Naya Khyber delta, the largest river delta on Xanu Prime. The Naya Khyber delta is a huge agricultural hub due to a combination of factors, the foremost of which are the mineral rich soil present there and the reliability by which the Naya Khyber River floods, aiding irrigation.

Xanu’s third largest continent, '''Himavatia''', is a mostly uninhabited and almost entirely frozen landmass that sits within the planet’s arctic circle. Few things can survive in the cold of Himavatia’s interior, however some confers, grasses, and birds have made their home here. Despite this harshness to life, however, Himvatia’s few peninsulas which manage to stretch into more temperate climates do have small settlements on them. Large swaths of Himavatia are covered in polar ice, the glaciers of which have scoured the continent’s coastlines with deep, vertigo-inducing cliffs, valleys, and fjords. Those coasts themselves are dotted with dense coniferous forests and rocky shores.

Lastly, the smallest of Xanu Prime’s continents is called '''Paasland'''. It is located in Xanu Prime’s southern hemisphere and is a single landmass surrounded by tens of thousands of islands. The continent is mostly covered by marshland and mangrove swamps, with only the center and north of its area being more than a few meters above sea level. The barrier island chains which protect Paasland from the storms that may blow in off Xanu’s great oceans around it range in landscape from tropical paradises near the north and west of the continent, to barren, freezing rocks in the south. Many of these islands house active volcanoes and some grow on an annual basis.

A unique feature of Xanu Prime’s geography are found at the sites of where the planet’s surface was bombarded both from orbit and terrestrially by Sol Alliance and Coalition forces during the Interstellar War. The land found here is pockmarked by a smattering of craters created from the impacts of Solarian munitions, many of which have interacted with Xanu’s numerous river systems and formed lakes. A number of these sites, officially deemed “'''Scarlands'''” by the Xanan government, have been rehabilitated into national parks and wildlife preserves while others have been resettled and reclaimed by the Xanans. There are scarlands on all four of Xanu Prime’s continents, and what has become of them differs from one scarland to another. Those found around large cities are typically just integrated into the landscape of the city’s metropolitan area itself as part of the landscape, while those in more remote areas have found themselves as designated war memorials and wildlife preserves. The largest of these in area is the Widow’s Tears Scarlands which is a stretch of over 110,000 craters that covers much of Nouvelle-Occitanie’s northeastern territory. Much of it is inhabited and cities and towns can be found there, though the portions of it which are found in the equatorial rainforests of the planet have long-since been designated as undevelopable land. The scarland with the highest density of craters is the Khairabad Scarlands found around the modern-day city of Kshatragarh which comes in at a whopping total of 186,954 craters. The Scarlands are mostly safe to travel and live within after the Xanusian government’s massive clean-up efforts alongside experts sent by the Federal Technocracy of Galatea throughout the 24th century and have become a popular area for weekend trips or vacations for Xanusians. Some of the more remote or hard-to-reach scarlands like the Little Cuts or some parts of the New Pacific Scarlands and Himavat’s Wounds are still partially dangerous though, and visitors are strongly encouraged to not deviate from marked trails in those areas lest they accidentally set off unexploded munitions still present on the old battlefields.

===Biosphere===
Xanu Prime’s biosphere is as diverse as its terrain. Due to Xanu’s earth-like climate and geography, many species were introduced to the planet from Earth which then led to novel and new lifeforms as these imports crossbred with the existing animals.
Notable Xanan Fauna are:
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'''Paaskraan'''
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The Paaskraan, or more officially the Easter Crane, is a huge, towering bird-like creature resembling a crane standing nearly three meters tall and a wingspan of nearly 4.15 meters. It is easily identifiable by its vibrant orange and white plumage across its body and wings, with its head being almost entirely covered in royal blue feathers. It uses its thick beak with a long piercing spike to stab through prey that it dredges up from the Paasland marshfloor, often fish, amphibians, or even turtles. They are also known for their ocean-spanning migratory cycles that take them from Paasland to the southern coast of Naya Khyber during their breeding season. One might think that their size would make Paaskraans very aggressive creatures, but they are actually very shy and tend to avoid contact with humans and other large animals which may pose even a remote threat to them. They would rather fly away than fight, but even so, they have been known to violently maim and even kill other creatures that get too close to their nests during hatching season. This has led local Xanan environmental protection groups to cordon off Paaskraan nesting areas from the public throughout springtime in efforts to prevent the accidental deaths of wildlife enthusiasts. It is the official animal of the city of Paasstad, the central city of Paasland, and is a symbol of Paasland as a whole.
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'''Crimson-Masked Polecat'''
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The Crimson-Masked polecat is an animal resembling a mustelid native to the southern peninsulas of Himavatia. It is notable for having almost universally white fur aside from a bar of vibrant red, nearly purple, fur going across and around its eyes. Scientists are uncertain as to why it developed this odd quirk, but what is certain is that this unique aesthetic feature and playfully aggressive disposition has made it a popular pet around the planet and throughout the Coalition. It was first domesticated in 2312 and because of this, it is often associated with the Xanan Renaissance and is considered by many Xanans to be the unofficial national animal of the Republic. In its native habitat of Himavatia’s southern peninsulas it hunts mostly small rodents and on occasion fish, though due to its domestication and subsequent release into the wild by irresponsible pet owners, it has spread to all four of Xanu’s continents and has adapted well to new environments.
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'''The Silverwing Blazemoth'''
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The silverwing blazemoth is one of the most recognizable creatures of Nouvelle-Occitanie’s equatorial rainforests. With a wingspan of 18cm it is quite large by insect standards, and can be identified not just by its size but by its vibrantly colored black-tipped silver-hued wings. What makes it unique among moths though is the silk that it produces. Instead of its silk having a white color typical of other silk-producing moths, the silverwing blaze moth larvae creates a silk that is a burnt orange color. During pupating season, people have reported what they thought to be fires, but when investigated, turned out only to be trees covered in the sizzled orange colored cocoons of Silverwing Blazemoths. The orange silk made by these creatures s is a luxury good and is highly sought after both on Xanu Prime and throughout inhabited space.
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'''Naya Khyber River Penguin'''
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The Naya Khyber River Penguin is a mysterious and odd creature. It is a flightless bird resembling an Earther penguin that stands no taller than one meter high. It is coloured in a deep green color and white rather than black and white typical of penguins on Earth, and has a small crest of red feathers on its head. Scientists believe that the bird’s DNA is almost entirely native to Xanu Prime, though others allege that it is distantly related to the rockhopper penguin of Earth. These birds inhabit the Naya Khyber River Delta and swim in packs through the delta’s wide meandering channels on hunts for fish and crustaceans which they stab with their short but sharp beaks. While quite clumsy and slow on dry land, getting around via a hopping motion more often than walking, they are incredibly quick in the water and can go as fast as 40kph in short bursts. They’re very social and often live in colonies along the shores of the Naya Khyber River, the largest of which was recorded to be over fifty-thousand birds, though the average is around four-thousand. They are fiercely territorial and have a mean streak. This reputation is the result of their tendency to attack other animals which get too close to their nests, typically via attempting to peck out their eyes. Even careless humans have been known to be attacked by these penguins. Despite this behavior however, many see the flightless birds as cute, cuddly, and silly perhaps due to their awkwardness while moving out of water. The foremost example of this reputation is the well-known Xanan children’s cartoon Pierre and Friends, starring Pierre the River Penguin, a clumsy but well meaning young penguin learning about the world, as its main character. The show and Pierre as a character are well-liked by parents and educators for, perhaps ironically, helping to teach children the values of cooperation, sharing, and not bullying others.
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Aside from animals unique to Xanu Prime, the planet also has animals that have been seeded on the planet from Earth. Rodents, birds, some fishes, and other creatures like insects have been successfully imported to the planet and despite their invasive nature, have fit well into Xanu’s biosphere. The national animal of Xanu Prime is the Indian Peafowl, a bird brought to the colony by its original colonists.

Xanu Prime has a wide variety of flora as well, with the northern rainforests of Nouvelle-Occitanie alone housing thousands of tree and plant species. The most notable of these is the '''Great New Occitanian Lupine''', a great green and white flower resembling an Earth lupine reaching nearly twenty feet tall. It emits a sweet smell, and these plants can often be seen covered in millions of pollinating insects looking to get its nectar. To the south, the coasts of the entire continent of Paasland are covered in forests of the '''Yellow-Spotted Shedding Mangrove''', a mangrove tree similar to those found on Earth with leaves that have a natural green hue but which take on striking golden spots during the summer months. Scientists believe this is a chemical reaction that results from the concentration of excess salt in the leaves before they then fall off towards the end of summer to rid themselves of the salt in a process referred to as shedding, the leaves then regrowing during the autumn season. On the continent of Naya Khyber, the '''Whistling Pineberry Tree''' can be found. This coniferous tree can reach over 65 meters in height and is unique among other trees in its family for having needle-like leaves that are hollow and also open at both ends. When the wind blows, the leaves of the tree resonate with a whistling noise similar to the mating call of local birds. Botanists believe that this is an evolutionary adaptation that has the goal of calling more birds to the tree so that they may scatter its seeds, contained in small berries rather than pinecones, more easily, citing the fact that the geographic distribution of the subspecies of the Whistling Pine mirror those of various bird populations.

==Government and Politics==
[[File:Xanuprimebanner.png|thumb|Official Banner of the All-Xanu Republic]]
[[File:Xanuprimeflag.png|thumb|left|The flag of the All-Xanu Republic is a flag of three horizontal stripes, blue, orange, and green, with a white circle in the middle featuring the national crest of Xanu Prime, a peacock feather. The blue represents liberty and freedom, orange represents determination and hard work, green represents the planet and its people, white represents justice and peace, and the national crest represents the republic itself.]]
<center>''“A strong president is a strong government is a strong Xanu.” - Nicolaas Sneijders, 4th President of the All-Xanu Republic (2305-2320)''</center>

The All Xanu-Republic has a parliamentary semi-presidential government that consists of three branches, the executive, legislative, and judicial branch that operates as a unitary state. It is often described as having a strong executive and weak legislative branch, with the majority of power in the Xanan system being held by the Office of the President. Xanu’s political process has very low barriers to entry and as a result, the planet has the most registered political parties of any planet in the Orion Spur. Despite this great number however, only nine parties currently have seats in the All-Xanu National Congress. The Xanan government system and its various political parties can all be read about here on the dedicated Xanu Prime Government and Politics page. The current President of the All-Xanu Republic is Jaques Afza of the party the All-Xanu Free League. He is Xanu Prime’s 23rd president, has held the office since 2460, and recently won reelection in 2465. He will leave office in 2470 as per the two-term constitutional limit for Xanan presidents. To read more on the Xanan government’s structure and functions, the political parties which currently hold sway on the national stage, as well as the country's foreign relations, see the dedicated page for [[Xanan Government and Politics|Xanan government and politics]].

The Xanan government supports a well-funded and well-equipped variety of state systems aimed at helping its citizens with a variety of issues and problems that they may come across. The '''All-Xanu Health Office''' is one of Xanu Prime’s oldest and most successful government agencies, and is something that many Xanans consider to be the best thing to come out of Xanu’s Second Astonishment, aside from the reconstruction of the planet as a whole. The Health Office, or often just known as the AXHO, is the framework by which many ordinary Xanans receive medical care. It operates by working with privately-owned hospitals and pharmaceutical companies to subsidize medical and research costs, while also giving Xanan citizens progressive financial assistance in paying for healthcare, the level of which is determined by a citizen’s income. Those Xanans who are in the upper income brackets do not receive as much as those in the lower ones, who often have most if not all of their healthcare expenses subsidized by the government. In addition to this, the AXHO operates dozens of clinics and even some hospitals all around the planet where healthcare costs are subsidized by the Office’s coffers. The AXHO has a similar arrangement of financial assistance to self-owned positronic Xanans as well, but for repair costs rather than healthcare expenses. Nearly every Xanan believes that the AXHO is a good thing, regardless of political affiliation, though there is some controversy and dispute over how it should be run, either more centralized with more state control over healthcare, or the semi-public, semi-private model that it has used for the last century and a half.

While Xanan healthcare may be decentralized in structure, some of its other institutions are not, the finest example of which is the '''All-Xanu Public Security Office'''. The Security Office functions as Xanu Prime’s unitary police force and operates in a pyramidal structure, going from the office’s head down to departmental and local police forces. These local police forces usually operate on a city or departmental sub are given autonomy on many of their day-to-day operations, but if a major case emerges, such as a serial killing or terrorist threat, investigators and officials from higher up in the organization’s structure usually take over. The AXPSO generally maintains a good relationship with Xanan citizens, though there have been allegations of xenophobia aimed at aliens like Tajara, Unathi, and Diona made against the Office for many years.

Although often erroneously referred to as a government apparatus, the largest news provider on Xanu Prime, the '''Xanan News Service (XNS)''' is not owned nor operated by the Xanan government. The XNS was created by order of President Sneijders during the aftermath of the Interstellar War as an independent news agency that was funded by the country’s government but was not beholden to it in terms of who it hired or what types of stories it decided to give coverage to. Since then, it has conducted generally well-received and professional journalism and is one of the most read and watched news agencies in the Orion Spur, with the majority of its coverage being centered on issues and topics impacting the Coalition of Colonies and Human Frontier. Recently, however, it has also experimentally expanded into the Human Wildlands and is one of the only major agencies that has been able to cover the ongoing war in the Northern Wildlands of former Sol in any depth.
[[File:XNSlogo.png|thumb|The logo of the Xanan News Service used from 2442 - Present]]

==Language==
<center>''“A common tongue means a common future.” - Marcel Singh, pioneer of the Xanan Freespeak language''</center>
The official language of Xanu Prime is '''Xanan Freespeak''', a language that developed in the early days of the Xanu Prime colony from the grammatical hybridization of various languages from the Indian subcontinent with some loanwords taken from French and Dutch. It was formally codified in 2230 during the aftermath of the Xanan Civil War to function as a common tongue between the planet’s various colonists that could be easily learned and used words that were from their countries of origin. While many places on Xanu Prime have names taken from the languages of its original colonizing nations like Hindi, French, Urdu, Bangla, and Dutch, very few if any people on the planet are still conversational in these languages, with almost all of them having been supplanted by Xanan Freespeak. Freespeak is taught in all schools, is known by nearly every resident of Xanu Prime, and is taught throughout the Coalition of Colonies as a lingua franca used for diplomacy and business relations between its various member states. Xanan government functions, law, and academia use Freespeak as their primary language, though Freespeak is not the only language spoken on Xanu Prime. Signage, popular media, literature, music, and film found in Xanu all are typically in Freespeak, but languages from all over the Coalition of Colonies can be found here, especially within ethnic communities from planets that speak a language other than Freespeak as their primary language. Himean Common, Sol Common, Assunzionii Tradeband, Gadpathuri Common, and even Vulgar Morozi are spoken on Xanu Prime within ethnic communities. Any hopeful immigrant to Xanu Prime must pass a Xanan Freespeak proficiency test in order to receive citizenship.

==Life, Culture, & Society on Xanu Prime==
<center>''“Our biggest strength lies not with our economic prowess, nor with our military might, but with the beauty of our people, the nobility of their ideals, and the sanctity of our culture and its works.” - Ameliye Flohimont, Tenth President of the All-Xanu Republic during a 2363 speech to the All-Xanu National Congress in favor of an expansion to the All-Xanu Eloise Brel Art Gallery''</center>

Xanan Culture and Xanan Society are very rich and detailed topics which have a variety of facets and great depth. Xanan culture takes cues from the most prominent of its founding cultures and has a society that places great importance on the family unit. Xanan culture is collective, in the sense that people are encouraged to watch out for one another and the general cultural mindset is to see oneself as a meaningful member of their community. Xanan society is very diverse and multicultural and the planet has numerous immigrant communities that help make-up the planet’s dynamic socio-cultural ecosystem. Xanu Prime hosts a variety of different religions as well, the most prominent being Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. Its society is not perfect however and has its issues, chief among them being a growing income inequality, anti-immigrant sentiments, and tension over the planet’s place in the Coalition of Colonies. Xanan art and entertainment produced by Xanan companies is some of the most popular in human space, with Xanan films, Holovision programs, consumed throughout the Coalition of Colonies and human frontier. Xanan cuisine is something that the planet is famous for across the Orion Spur and some of its dishes are staples of fine-dining. Xanan architecture and fashion too are distinctive to the planet and have their own stories. Xanan sports are very popular on the planet as well, the most played and watched being football in the All-Xanu Ultraleague, and Class A Cricket in the Alphaleague. Details on all of these subjects and more on general life on Xanu Prime and the planet’s societal composition and issues can be found on the dedicated page for [[Xanan Life, Culture, and Society|Xanan life, culture, and society]].

Xanan society is one that values individual liberties while paying close attention to how these liberties can sometimes hurt society as a whole if taken too far. This can be reflected in their legal code. Xanu Prime has strong legal protections against government restrictions on speech, though things like hate speech and slander are still illegal. There is no state religion on Xanu Prime and Xanans are free to practice, or not practice, any religion they please. The country does have very strong secularism laws though, and bans government employees and government buildings from wearing or displaying religious symbols or forms of dress. Some decry this as an intrusion onto the religious freedoms of citizens, though the majority of Xanan society is in support of strong secularization laws. Private firearms ownership is permitted on Xanu Prime, however it is restricted. A Xanan citizen requires a government permit, background check, and legitimate reason (typically for hunting or home defense) before they are allowed to own a private firearm. They cannot carry their weapons in public and they cannot own fully automatic ballistic firearms or lethal-strength lasers or similar battery-powered weapons. Xanans have total freedom of movement throughout the All-Xanan Republic, and have various legal protections against external intrusions on individual privacy, both physical and digital.
The Xanan press and news media is one of the most, if not the most active in human-inhabited space. There are thousands of different publications and news sources in the All-Xanu Republic, and Xanan journalism is some of the most robust in the Orion Spur. Much of this is because of the Xanan government’s policies which award special protections to news agencies and impose a higher standard of evidence in defamation lawsuits against them. News and media are not totally unregulated on Xanu Prime though; the Xanan government created an independent regulatory agency, the All-Xanu Media Ethics Commission (MEC), in 2329 so as to ensure that the fledgling media of the newly independent All-Xanu Republic would not succumb to the perils of sensationalism and fake news. The MEC has the power to censor and fine publications with reporting that has proven to be false or so biased that it burgeons on false. This does not mean that the MEC forces all Xanan news outlets to be entirely neutral, far from it in fact, just that they must show at least some balance in their stories and programming.

==Economy==
<center>''“Economically, even through hardship, we remain unparalleled among our peers. We should be keen to enjoy the vices and virtues of prosperity to the fullest extent possible.” - Lennox Sibelius, Xanan Finance Minister under President Narayan Mukhopadhyay during a 2440 address to the National Parliament''</center>
===Economic Overview===
Xanu Prime is the proud home of the largest and most diverse economy within the Coalition of Colonies. Spanning across nearly every sector imaginable aside from large-scale mining, the economy of Xanu Prime is not only the largest in the Coalition of Colonies but one of the largest in the Orion Spur, only being surpassed by Biesel, Callisto, and Eridani I in terms of GDP. Xanu Prime is home to the head offices of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]]’s and [[Einstein Engines]]’ Coalition of Colonies operations and also houses other facilities like data centers and research laboratories for many of them as well. Xanu Prime’s financial service and banking sectors are the largest in the Coalition and help connect Xanu to planets and businesses across the Orion Spur, with its banks holding trillions in assets on any given day. The Xanan Stock Exchange is located in Nouvelle-Rochelle, and is the largest of its kind in the CoC and third largest exchange in the Orion Spur by volume of credits moved through its markets. Company stocks and other assets from all over the Coalition of Colonies and some from outside of it are traded there.

The pride of Xanu Prime’s economy and arguably the reason for its continued ascendency in the Orion Spur is Xanu’s shipping sector. Xanu Prime’s merchant marine is the largest of any in the Orion Spur, numbering just over fifty-thousand. Xanan shipping conglomerates dominate the Coalition of Colonies and have near monopolies over that sector in some parts of Coalition space. Within the Coalition, Xanu Prime is the king of foreign trade, and the Xanan shipping industry is to thank for this status. Xanan shipping firms do not just move cargo between Xanu Prime and other planets in the Coalition, but also routinely take shipping routes between planets far from Xanan space such as the ports of the Commonwealth of Callisto. If goods are moving through space in the Coalition, it is a safe assumption that they are on a Xanan ship. Xanu’s shipping sector was paralyzed in the early days of the ongoing phoron scarcity, but after many of its firms renegotiated phoron contracts with [[NanoTrasen]] and payed exorbitant amounts for Einstein Engines’ hammer drive, this area of Xanu’s economy has reasserted its prominence in the Orion Spur.

Domestically, Xanu Prime also has a strong agricultural and technology sector. Xanu Prime just barely produces enough food to feed all of its citizens but often imports food from Vysoka due to its far cheaper price and abundance, keeping Xanu-grown food in storage for national emergencies. Xanu’s tech sector is booming, with much of its development being pushed towards AI and posibrain coding and development. Ever since the addition of Konyang to the Coalition of Colonies, these efforts have only grown stronger with Xanan and Konyang-based firms and corporations having fewer barriers to cooperation than ever before. IPC chassis and posibrain manufacturing also plays a small part in Xanu Prime’s tech sector, but most of these jobs have moved to Konyang in recent years, with only a few companies still making IPCs on the planet.

Xanu’s heavy industry, manufacturing, and construction sectors are also very strong, but have less reach outside of Xanan markets than some of the planet’s other industries. Xanan steel, automobiles, and machine components are renowned for their quality but are also usually more expensive than the same materials made on other Coalition worlds, such as Himeo and Konyang, though they often exceed their competitors in build quality. Areas where Xanan manufactured goods see almost universal purchase across the Coalition is military equipment, aerospace products, medical equipment, and chemicals. Xanu-made military materiel and weapons are used by nearly every planet across the Coalition and have established reputations for being combat and cost-effective, easy to use, and technologically competitive. While certainly not the cheapest, military equipment made by Xanan companies is considered by defense ministers across the coalition to be some of the best weaponry money can buy. Similarly, Xanan designed-ships, both civilian and military, can be seen all over the Coalition. Xanu does not make the most ships of the worlds in the Coalition, but it does sell the most ship designs, meaning that many Xanan shipbuilding firms have made more money from selling ship blueprints and licenses than from having actually built spacecraft. Chemicals synthesized on Xanu Prime for industrial, agricultural, pharmaceutical, and scientific purposes are exported all across the Coalition of Colonies and even to other places in the Orion Spur like the Republic of Biesel. The sheer variety of compounds made in Xanu’s chemical plants is hard for any planet in the Spur’s east to match, though Xanu is unable to make some specialty chemicals produced on other worlds like Aemaq due to not having the same unique environmental conditions. Xanan construction firms usually only take on projects that are on Xanu Prime, but their engineers and architects are sent all over the Coalition and beyond to advise or plan projects for other worlds.

Xanu’s energy and phoronics sector was thrown into chaos during the early days of the phoron scarcity but has since begun to stabilize itself. Much of Xanu Prime’s energy generation came from fusion nuclear energy plants before the scarcity, but the NanoTrasen corporation did operate some Phoron Supermatter energy plants that made up a sizable minority of Xanu’s energy needs as well. The sudden scarcity of phoron made these supermatter plants output far less energy than they had before, and brown-outs were common across the planet for months after the scarcity had hit in full force. Xanu’s economy and government were quick to act though, reactivating decommissioned fusion plants and ramping up domestic Helium-3 production from its primary source, the Mehmud Khan Helium-3 platform. This platform is a grand space station which orbits Xanu-7, a colossal gas giant in the Xanu System and harvests the gas from its atmosphere. Slowly but surely, energy prices on Xanu Prime have restabilized, and the Xanan government has made concentrated efforts to “de-phoronize” the energy sector to avoid further dependence on the scarce element.

===Corporations===
Xanu Prime’s economy is not only occupied by megacorporations known throughout the spur like Einstein Engines or those in the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, but also by comparatively smaller domestic corporations. These corporations grew out of the aftermath of the Interstellar War and Second Astonishment during a time when foreign megacorporations were very hesitant to invest in the Coalition of Colonies and human frontier. Many cite this hesitation as stemming from the still lingering shock of the Second Great Depression, a general anxiety about doing business with dozens of new nations in the Coalition, and uncertainty as to how the Coalition of Colonies' and by extension Xanu's economy would fare if something were to ever go wrong on the scale of the Second Great Depression ever again. By the time that the megacorporations were organised enough and felt confident enough to seriously invest in Coalition and Xanan space, they found it easier to cooperate with the companies already there and to use their expertise in operating across such a vast area of space like the Coalition rather than competing with or purchase the companies for themselves. For this reason, Xanan companies are known to have substantial sway on the Xanan and Coalition economy as a whole, but also cooperate closely with both SCC and Einstein Engines enterprises based on Xanu Prime and throughout the CoC. The most notable of these Xanan companies are:
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====Polaris Holdings - "Heavenly Guidance"====
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[[File:Polarislogo.png|thumb|The logo of Polaris Holdings.]]
'''Polaris Holdings''', or just simply '''Polaris''', is both the newest and largest of all major Xanan corporations. It was founded as a merger between the companies of Credit Xanan and AIRtel, both of which still exist and operate as subsidiary companies under Polaris Holdings ownership. The two companies merged in 2452 under the guidance of then-Credit Xanan, now-Polaris Holdings CEO Arjun Desjardins, a self-made man of boundless ambition who rose from the mail room of a small credit-Xanu branch to the top of Polaris Holdings wishing to elevate the corporation to the same level as Biesel’s and Sol’s megacorps. While this vision has yet to be entirely realized, Polaris aims to someday have its name be spoken in the same breath as Einstein Engines or the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. Of its many component companies, the largest are Credit Xanan, CESAR-X, AIRtel, and Annapurna.

'''Credit Xanan''' is the largest bank and financial services firm on Xanu Prime and is one of the most influential players in nearly all of the Coalition's financial markets. The company was established in 2294 by a group of Xanan businesspeople who saw an opportunity to provide banking and financial services to Xanu’s citizens during the aftermath of the Interstellar War. The company is one of the foremost in the banking and finance industry spur-wide and has cooperation agreements with other similar firms across the Orion Spur such as [[Idris Incorporated]], NanoTrasen’s financial services and banking wing, and Suezbank. The company is well-known for its aggressive venture capital and hedge fund management, with a sizable chunk of the company being solely devoted to investment banking. It also has a reputation for leveraging debt against bankrupt business debtors to acquire their companies and either absorb them into the Polaris Holdings ecosystem, thereby growing the company, or liquidate them and pocket the cash. The bank is ubiquitous as a trusted financial institution across the Coalition of Colonies for both companies and individual citizens alike. Some business analysts estimate that Credit Xanan is the single-most valuable Coalition of Colonies company currently operating, but the privately owned nature of the bank and its conservative information release practices make this hard to prove. The bank is closely tied to the Nouvelle-Rochelle Stock Exchange and for many the Coalition-over looking to invest either as individual retail investors trying to play the markets or as companies hoping to increase their assets, Credit Xanan is the first name in consulting, investment help, and wealth management. It has had its head offices in Nouvelle-Rochelle since its founding.

Along with Credit Xanan’s lucrative banking and investment operations, Polaris Holdings inherited ownership of the largest industrial conglomerate on Xanu Prime from the bank, the Pataliputra-based, formerly state-owned Xanan Concern for Economic Stability, Advancement, and Recovery, or '''CESAR-X'''. While its glory days of rebuilding Xanan society from the ground up are far behind it, CESAR-X still remains dominant in the Xanan construction and manufacturing sectors, making everything from machine parts to household appliances to medical equipment to semiconductors to complex engineering and construction components. It cannot compete abroad in heavy industrial manufacturing like it once did, but CESAR-X has reinvented itself since its acquisition by Credit Xanan to instead focus on precision manufacturing and specialty products, a strategy which has brought it back from the brink of bankruptcy. CESAR-X’s Paastad-based construction division is active on Xanu Prime and abroad and its projects have garnered a reputation for setting the industry standard in the Coalition for build quality and engineering. Because of its history, many on Xanu Prime, especially the planet’s older population, have a fond nostalgia for the company and its days as the engine of Xanu Prime’s economic boom. This nostalgia and history is something that the company uses in its marketing often, evoking the Second Astonishment; Xanan Renaissance; and burgeoning economic climate of the 2380’s and 90’s in some of its corporate imagery, while generally just playing up Xanan Patriotism in its branding.

Achgelis-Illouz-Ramakrishnan Telecommunications or '''AIRtel''' for short, is the largest telecommunications company on Xanu Prime and was one of the two entities that came together in 2456 to create Polaris Holdings. The company is named after its three founding families, two enterprising telecommunications engineers who got their start installing electrical and internet lines in Kshatragarh during its reconstruction. From there, their company came to be television and internet service providers in the 2320’s and have further since expanded their services to include mobile phone, web hosting and web services, cybersecurity, data storage, and the Coalition’s most popular search engine, SuperSeek, the mascot of which is a colorful, green and orange parakeet. AIRtel also has a division called AIR Media, a production company and holovision network that operates some of the largest film-production studios on Xanu Prime and has ownership over numerous popular franchises and media properties. It also operates one of the most popular film and TV streaming services in the Coalition, Sunserve.

The last of Polaris Holdings’s most notable subsidiaries is '''Annapurna''', an agricultural and retail giant from the city of Foy-Niljen. Annapurna began its corporate life as a food distribution company which arose during the aftermath of the Xanan Civil War. It grew slowly between the two wars, coming to be a leading name in the industrial food sector in its home city. The Interstellar War saw Annapurna grow larger and richer off of Xanan and Coalition government contracts for rations and other foodstuffs for Coalition forces during the war. By the end of the war, Annapurna came to own many of the farms around Foy-Niljen where it had before bought the raw foods for its products. Wishing then to break into the consumer market rather than just the industrial food sector, the company opened up a chain of supermarkets in 2313 called NexChange (a portmanteau of the words “next” and “exchange”) starting in their home city before expanding to Kshatragarh and Nouvelle Rochelle a few years later. As one would expect, the stores didn’t just sell food, but also clothes, tools, home goods, appliances, and a bevy of other products, but what set NexChange apart from its competitors was the company’s policy of subscription-based shopping where a customer could pay a monthly fee for the ability to check-out a rotating selection of items for free that would change every month. After a few decades of steady success and continued expansion, the company unveiled a new line of stores focused on being small, 24-hour convenience stores focused on stocking household essentials, alcohol, and hot food ready at any time of the day called NexChange Turbo. In 2358, NexChange became Xanu Prime’s largest retailer by number of stores and it’s stayed in that position ever since. Annapurna also operates an online storefront for the NexChange brand called NetChange. It has also expanded to other planets in the Coalition, with great success being seen on Assunzione with the NetChange service, and the Galatean Federation and Konyang with the NexChange Turbo chain of stores especially. NexChange’s success enabled Annapurna to purchase more and more farmland and food processing plants, and by the late 2370’s it had become the largest agricultural and food corporation on Xanu Prime. As the 2380’s rolled around, it expanded its operations to Vysoka, taking advantage of the planet’s ample farm and ranchland, and it operates there to this day. Because of the company’s consistently good performance and an ambitious desire to break into yet another influential and diverse industry, the Polaris Holdings acquired Annapurna in the largest company purchase in Coalition history in 2460.

Polaris Holdings owns the tallest building in the Coalition of Colonies, North Star Tower, which serves as their headquarters in Nouvelle-Rochelle.
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====Siddhartha Systems Incorporated - "Enlightenment Made Material"====
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[[File:Siddsyslogo.png|thumb|The logo of Siddhartha Systems Inc.]]
'''Siddhartha Systems Incorporated''', also referred to as '''SiddSys''' is a leader in Xanu Prime’s tech space across a variety of fields. Founded in 2329 as Siddhartha Technology Services by Arjun Sudev, it was originally a computer repair and technology installation company based out of a single, family-owned, store, the company has since grown to produce its own hardware, and more importantly software. Siddhartha Systems owns the rights to software used in thousands of pieces of technology across the Coalition and beyond, from personal computers to building automation to ship control systems to even AI mainframes and posibrains. The company is notable for being the first on Xanu Prime to indigenously produce a posibrain, a feat that occurred in 2411 after the corporation purchased positronic designs from Einstein Engines. To this end, Siddhartha Systems is still one of the leaders in IPC programming in the Coalition, having cooperated extensively with Konyanger firms, Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals and Einstein Engines since Konyang’s admittance to the Coalition of Colonies to further advance the fields of AI and IPC development. The firm is also one of the last that still builds IPCs on Xanu Prime itself, with most of these jobs having since left to Konyang after the world joined the CoC. The company has promised to continue IPC assembly on Xanu for as long as it can be feasibly sustained, and has found itself as one of the premier IPC maintenance service providers on Xanu Prime. Along with its IPC wing, the company also produces a variety of computer models and smart devices ranging from personal computers to PDAs and tablets to high-tech data storage servers to entire mainframes for spacecraft. SiddSys has also produced one of the most popular computer operating system in the Coalition of Colonies, DevaOS, for over a century, the first edition of which debuted in 2350. It owns a chain of maintenance shops for IPCs across Xanu Prime called Vishwakarma's Workshop. The company is headquartered in Nouvelle-Rochelle and their CEO is Lars Sudev, a descendant of the company’s founder and head of the family which owns the company.
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====d.N.A. Defense & Aerospace - "Excellence is in our d.N.A."====
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[[File:Dnalogo.png|thumb|The logo of d.N.A. Defense & Aerospace.]]
'''d.N.A. Defense & Aerospace''', short for '''de Namur-Aarden Defense and Aerospace''', is the premier defense contractor and aerospace giant of Xanu Prime. They were founded in 2409 as the result of a merger between two smaller defense companies, de Namur Defense Systems and Aarden Aerospace and has gradually grown to become the largest and most influential producer of weapons and war materiel for the Xanan military and many others in the Coalition of Colonies. Many accredit this success to the company’s up-front marketing campaigns in which they test their own equipment and weaponry against that of their competitors and freely post the video results online in an effort to impress potential buyers. Among the products that d.N.A. is famous for is the Kestrel-class destroyer, a ship design originally released in 2441 that has become the most produced military ship-hull in all of the coalition, either by d.N.A. itself or foreign manufacturers under license. A similarly ubiquitous smaller ship designed by d.N.A. is the Shrike-class corvette, a nimble, versatile, multi-purpose craft used throughout the Coalition. Their range of products is not just limited to ships though; small-arms, explosives, anti-ship missiles, drones, tanks, radars, and truly anything else a fighting force could want is produced at least to some extent by d.N.A. The company offers full support and upgrade packages to its old equipment along with producing cutting edge weaponry for those willing to pay top dollar. The company has a research-sharing agreement with Zavodskoi Interstellar and also serves as the primary distributor of Zavodskoi-made equipment to the Human Frontier. Furthermore, it has a working relationship with the Federal Technocracy of Galatea’s defense sector – though d.N.A. and Galatea’s Interstellar Avionics Research Bureau (IARG) have long held a rivalry over if the d.N.A. Shrike-class or the Galatean Amaryillis-class is the superior corvette. In 2449 d.N.A. opened a private security contractor wing called Chevauchée Asset Protection aimed at providing services to business customers and merchant shipping firms. d.N.A. has been known to cooperate with the PMCG, especially with Xanu Defense Services, as both an equipment dealer and occasional joint-partner in security contracts. Along with their military operations, d.N.A. is a leading producer of civilian shuttles and other civilian passenger craft, either through making their own designs or building Hephaestus of Einstein Engines models under license for sale in the Coalition of Colonies. They are headquartered in Foy-Nijlen and their CEO is Yves Fazail.
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====Markhor Interstellar Logistics Group - "Move Mountains with Markhor!"====
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[[File:Markhorlogo.png|thumb|The logo of Markhor Interstellar Logistics Group.]]
'''Markhor Interstellar Logistics Group''', or just '''Markhor''', is the beating heart of Xanu Prime’s vibrant shipping industry. The firm was founded in 2291 by a clique of ex-All-Xanu Spacefleet officers looking to put their spacefaring skills to use after they were discharged from the Xanan military following its downsizing after the Interstellar War. They built upon already existing economic connections between Xanu Prime and the other worlds in the Coalition of Colonies to amass a shipping empire in the coming decades, running routes between Xanu and all other major worlds in the Coalition by the year 2324. By 2336, they were the largest shipping company operating in Xanan space and have maintained their position at the top of their industry ever since. In the present, Markhor does not only operate shipping lines, but makes many of their own vessels in-house and contracts their shipbuilding services out to other companies looking for vessels. The company owns shipyards on Xanu Prime, Vysoka, and Assunzione and has cooperation agreements with various Himean shipbuilding syndicates and Galatean research firms. Additionally, the company has welcomed cooperation with the newly founded Orion Express in order to access shipping avenues outside of the Coalition and has entered into various co-research agreements with Hephaestus Industries in the past. Most recently though, the company signed a trade deal for an undisclosed but likely exorbitant amount of credits with Einstein Engines for the megacorporation to refit many Markhor shipping vessels with EE’s innovative Helium-3-fueled hammer drives. Along with their prowess as a shipping and shipbuilding giant, Markhor also has a great amount of sway in the Xanan retail sector and owns many department stores and retail chains the most notable of them being Shaheen Superstore, the largest supermarket chain on Xanu Prime. They are headquartered in Pataliputra and their CEO is Marianne Travert.
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====Boelens & Vaeghts Chemical Corporation - "The Chemistry of Progress"====
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[[File:Bandvlogo.png|thumb|The logo of the Boelens & Vaeghts Chemical Company.]]
The '''Boelens & Vaeghts Chemical Corporation''', typically just referred to as '''B&V''', was founded in 2356 by a businesswoman named Aimée Vaeghts and a chemical engineer named Kishore Boelens with the initial goal of creating chemicals for pharmaceutical companies across the Coalition of Colonies. Over the years, through clever business decisions and diversification into the agricultural and industrial chemical sectors, Boelens & Vaeghts has risen to be the predominant player in Xanu Prime’s chemical industry. They produce an exceptionally wide variety of chemicals in their various facilities and operate under an unorthodox production model which starts with shipping raw chemical ingredients to regional or planetary synthesization centers which then synthesize specific, more complex chemicals in the areas where demand is most high for them. As such, agricultural plants are located in the country or on planets where fertilizers are needed, pharmaceutical plants are typically in cities or highly urbanized planets, and so on. The company has been a close cooperator with Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals since the 2380’s and has also worked closely with NanoTrasen to help bring NT medicines like peridaxon and cardox to the Coalition of Colonies market. B&V often works with the Federal Technocracy of Galatea’s biotechnology sector, and operates some facilities on the Galatean industrial world of Svarog. Boelens & Vaeghts also owns Tuliprose Healthcare, a medical services conglomerate which owns over two-hundred hospitals on Xanu Prime, seventeen on Vysoka, eight on Konyang, and three on Assunzione. They are headquartered in Pataliputra and their CEO is Preeti Boelens, granddaughter of one of the company’s founders.
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==Military==
<center>''"Prosperity in Peace, Victory in War" - Motto of the All-Xanu Armed Forces''</center>
[[File:Xanuarmedforceslogo.png|thumb|The field insignia of the All-Xanu Armed Forces and roundel of the All-Xanu Spacefleet. The symbol began as a standard marking for Xanu Prime’s Sol-era planetary defense forces and is now on all sorts of Xanan equipment from fighters to tanks to drones to uniforms.]]
The '''All-Xanu Armed Forces (AXAF)''' are the armed forces of the All-Xanu Republic and consist of the All-Xanu Army, Air Corps, Spacefleet, Maritime Patrol, and National Militia. The Xanan military is considered the premier fighting force of the Coalition of Colonies by nearly all of the alliance’s members and is perhaps the best equipped, and best trained of any in the Coalition. It is also quite large, with only Gadpathur’s military outclassing it in size. This gives it great influence over unified Coalition military policy with many of the Coalition Military’s top commanders being from Xanu Prime. Some elsewhere in the Coalition are wary of this level of influence, while others are more trusting of what some call Xanu Prime’s position of, “military stewardship,” over the Coalition.
The modern iteration of Xanu Prime’s military was created during the early days of the Interstellar War and can trace its origins to Solarian planetary defense force units on Xanu that rebelled against the Sol Alliance. Since its inception during the Interstellar War, the All-Xanu Armed forces has fought in dozens of conflicts ranging from large-scale anti-piracy operations, to low-intensity conflicts against individual rogue planets or marauding warlords on the Coalition of Colonies’ frontiers. In the nearly two centuries of its existence, it has shown to have far more successes than failures and is something that many Xanan citizens take pride in. Xanu Prime has conscription and all citizens are required to serve in a military branch for two years or to engage in another national service such as getting a job with a state enterprise or completing at least a four-year degree from an accredited higher educational institution. Aside from these conscripts, the Xanan armed forces are fully professional and have far more professional soldiers than conscripts. The branches of the All-Xanu Armed Forces are:

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===All-Xanu Grand Army===
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The '''All-Xanu Grand Army''' is the primary land force of Xanu Prime’s military. It serves two primary functions, to defend Xanu Prime’s territory and possessions against foreign threats, and to serve as the main expeditionary force for Xanu Prime’s military deployments on other planets in the Orion Spur. It is the oldest of Xanu Prime's armed forces and can trace its lineage back to the first planetary defense force regiments created in the aftermath of the Xanan Civil War. The title "Grand Army" was bestowed upon it during the Interstellar War after it successfully broke the Siege of Khairabad as both an honorary title and propagandistic move to boost morale among the ranks; it has stuck ever since. The Grand Army is characterized by its rapidly deployable nature and tactics which emphasise speed and shock assaults. With assistance from the All-Xanu Spacefleet, can be deployed on most planets in the Coalition of Colonies within a matter of days, despite some of its hardware being quite heavy and formidable. Xanan military equipment also reflects this doctrinal philosophy, with many things ranging from infantry weapons to trucks to tanks to drones being either quickly collapsible or disassemble for ease of transit and storage. Xanan-produced Army equipment is not only used by Xanu itself, but also by militaries across the Coalition large and small. A member of the All-Xanu Army is called a soldier.
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===All-Xanu Air Corps===
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The '''All-Xanu Air Corps''' is the main force for in-atmosphere off-the-ground operations. They usually work in close conjunction with the All-Xanu Army and are responsible for the duties of air defense, air-to-ground attack operations, and air superiority. Much like the Army, their equipment is made to be rapidly deployable and easily transportable, and they usually deploy alongside the Army in both offensive and defensive operations. A member of the All-Xanu Air Corps is called an aviator.
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===All-Xanu Spacefleet===
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The '''All-Xanu Spacefleet''' is the spaceborne component of Xanu Prime’s military and is the largest of its branches in terms of manpower, materiel, and has the largest share of the Xanan military budget. The fleet is quite large, numbering thousands of vessels, and is split into divisions called Expeditionary Fleets or E-Fleets. Each expeditionary fleet patrols a given portion of the Coalition of Colonies except for the 11th, 22nd, and 33rd Expeditionary Fleets which are based on Xanu Prime and assigned to the duty of rapid response to any area in the Coalition of Colonies or Human Frontier which may need immediate assistance. These three E-Fleets in particular are quite storied and experienced, with each having continuously existed in some form since the fighting of the Interstellar War. Each Expeditionary Fleet consists of sixty-five ships with a structure built around a cadre of two to five Nouvelle-Rochelle-class supercarriers, each carrying an ensemble of 120 spacecrafts of various specialization (starfighters, strike craft, early warning vessels) and a comprehensive suite of anti-ship weapons and point-defense systems. In addition to these carriers, the E-Fleets hold battlecruisers, cruisers, destroyers, and other specialized spacecraft. Contrasting their contemporaries in the Dominian Imperial Fleet, Solarian Navy, and some of their Coalition peers, the All-Xanu Spacefleet has strayed away from coilgun artillery as its primary offensive weapon system for many years and has instead focused their efforts on perfecting carrier-based warfare and anti-ship missiles. Xanu-designed starfighters and strike craft rank among some of the most formidable in the Orion Spur, placing an emphasis on stealth technology, maneuverability, operational range, and payload capacity. Xanan anti-ship missiles are incredibly advanced, with some of their newest models like the XLAM-63 Blackstar Long-Range Anti-Capital Cruise Missile possessing high-tech gadgets like antimatter warheads and integral teleportation drives to aid in avoiding point-defense fire. The mainstay of the All-Xanu Spacefleet and to a greater extent the Coalition of Colonies as a whole though is the d.N.A. Defense & Aerospace Shrike-class frigate. While not the newest of vessels, designed originally in 2441, the Estoc-class is an inexpensive vessel that can be configured to nearly any mission type. Be it screening for the rest of the fleet, relaying communications, serving as a command and control post, ferrying-supplies, being an anti-ship missile battery, operating as a light gunboat, running search-and-rescue, or even scouting and intercepting with it’s single ship-based fighter, the Estoc-class hull and systems can accomplish it with ease. Its versatility, quality, and rather inexpensive price tag has made it the most numerous military vessel employed by not just the All-Xanu Spacefleet but by Coalition of Colonies members as a whole.

The Spacefleet has its own soldier-to-soldier fighting branch as well, the '''Interstellar Infantry''', colloquially called “The Double I’s.” Interstellar Infantrymen are experts in interdiction piloting, boarding actions, demolitions, and close-quarters combat, with many using high rate of fire subcaliber weapons, hardsuit mounted lasers and rocket-launchers, or even fully-automatic shotguns as their standard weapons in order to better perform in their intended environments. The signature weapon of the Double I’s though is the dNAC-25-2, a monster of a weapon system consisting of two dual-linked 25mm autocannons with a combined rate of fire of 1,000 rounds per minute that comes mounted on the right shoulder of each Interstellar Infantryman’s dNAXS-52 combat voidsuit and exoskeleton. While Interstellar Infantryman missions are usually quite dangerous, often with numerous unknown variables, one thing can be certain about them: no matter what, the Double I always has the bigger gun. Interstellar Infantrymen are some of the most respected and envied of all Spacefleet personnel and the standards which need to be met for a Spacefleet sailor to become a Double I are some of the most stringent and exclusive in all of the All-Xanu Armed Forces; they are truly the best Xanu Prime’s spacefleet has to offer. The All-Xanu Spacefleet engages in anti-piracy operations, transports the Army and Air Corps to where they need to be, and participates in foreign disaster relief actions. Additionally, the Spacefleet operates and maintains Xanu Prime’s weapons of mass destruction, those being self-guiding hammer-drive equipped interstellar kinetic-strike cruise missiles affectionately referred to by Spacefleet personnel as “Smart Rocks,” and in wartime is charged with the duties of interstellar supremacy and, if needed, orbital bombardment. Similarly to Xanu's other military equipment, Xanan ship designs can be found in many of the fleets of other Coalition of Colonies members, either built by other states under license or bought directly from Xanu itself. All-Xanu Spacefleet vessels bear the prefix AXSV, short for All-Xanu Spacefleet Vessel. A member of the All-Xanu Spacefleet is called a sailor.
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===All-Xanu Maritime Patrol===
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The '''All-Xanu Maritime Patrol''' is the smallest of Xanu’s armed forces and is charged with the duty of patrolling, protecting, and conducting search and rescue missions in Xanu Prime’s terrestrial waters. The Maritime Patrol operates sea-faring vessels and aircraft which it uses to conduct its given duties. During wartime the Maritime Patrol handles the duties of air defense over Xanu Prime’s oceans. A member of the All-Xanu Maritime Patrol is called a mariner.
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===All-Xanu National Militia===
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The '''All-Xanu National Militia''' is a branch of Xanu Prime’s military that straddles the divide between a military branch and a law enforcement agency. The National Militia is primarily a land-based force that operates only within Xanan territory and is seen as a “second line of defense” against external threats. National Militia units can also be used as stand-ins for All-Xanu Army units, and are typically used in this fashion temporarily when army units are redeployed elsewhere. The National Militia performs the duty of disaster relief and is used to reinforce police forces and other emergency services in times of emergency or civil unrest. The National Militia also operates small spacefaring vessels, typically no larger than cruisers, which patrol the Xanu system, carry out anti-smuggling actions, and respond to distress calls within the region. During wartime, the National Militia is charged with operating Xanu Prime’s spaceborne defense platforms and air defense systems over the continental land portions of Xanu Prime. The National Militia also functions as a military reserve for those who have completed their initial contracts with the All-Xanu Armed Forces and wish to serve as part-time soldiers. A member of the All-Xanu National Militia is called a national militiaman.
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==IPCs on Xanu Prime==
<center>''"We are tinkerers no longer, but creators of the future." - Remark from Emilye Sudev, CEO of Siddhartha Systems Incorporated during the 2411 unveiling of the first Xanan-developed posibrain''</center>
The Xanan stance on IPCs is varied and unique within the Coalition, allowing for both for an IPC to own themselves as well as permitting the practice of IPC ownership. IPCs under Xanan law are not permitted to be made as free frames and instead they must be freed by their owners voluntarily or they may also accrue enough funds to purchase themselves from their owners for a “reasonable price” which is typically anywhere from three-to-six times the IPC’s retail value. There is no legal framework as to how owned IPCs are to actually obtain the wealth to buy themselves from their owners, as there’s no legal requirement that they be paid or compensated for their labor in any way; the decision to compensate an owned IPC or not for their work is left to the discretion of their owners. This seemingly impossible situation for owned-IPCs has led in recent years to the creation of a few charities across Xanu Prime dedicated to the task of fundraising cash to buy owned IPCs from their owners and then free them, the largest of these being the Pataliputra-based LibertIPC (Pronounced as Liberty-P-C). These charities are controversial to some, however they only manage to purchase a few thousand IPCs annually and do not have a substantial impact on truly increasing the self-owned IPC population of the planet to be any more than a minority of a minority. Most IPCs on Xanu Prime never get the ability to purchase themselves from their owners and are either freed or, more likely, deactivated by their owners and recycled after the end of their service lives. Legally, all Xanan IPCs must have the option to purchase themselves from their owners, however there are no current rules dictating how high or low the price for self-ownership must be, only that it is set at the purchase or manufacture of an IPC and cannot be changed once set.

Self-Owned IPCs on Xanu Prime have all the rights of their human counterparts; they can vote, run for office, own property, and serve in the military, however the latter is done only in IPC-only units for logistical reasons. The All-Xanu Armed Forces own many IPCs themselves and employ them in a variety of roles within the military, though it is illegal for these IPCs to be sold or freed by the AXAF as they are technically classified as state-owned weaponry. As such, many spend their entire service lives in the military and are deactivated with their components being recycled afterwards. The AXAF typically prefers placing IPCs they own in combat roles and officer positions over free IPCs due to their often built-in integration with Xanan battlefield control systems, with self-owned IPCs usually being placed in non-combat specialist or technician roles in their respective units. Maintenance for self-owned Xanan IPCs is covered by the Xanan state healthcare system while care for owned-IPCs is the responsibility of their owners, and there are laws in place to ensure that owned IPCs have access to maintenance services of adequate quality. A very small subset of Xanan IPCs are self-owned, but they do exist on the planet. IPCs are allowed to immigrate to Xanu Prime, however Xanu Prime does not accept IPC refugees unless they can prove they have obtained legal self-ownership from a previous owner or were created as free IPCs. In short, Xanu Prime does not give asylum to runaway IPCs and typically either deports them back to their countries of origin or defers them to other planets like Konyang and Himeo.

Societally, Xanans view IPCs as something entirely separate from humans and importantly, incompatible with the family structures that form the foundations of Xanan society. They see them as not the same as themselves, but do not shun them or hate them as others in the Orion Spur do. Xanans believe there is a place in their society broadly for IPCs, both free and owned, but do not see them as “living” things and treat them mostly as machines, albeit some with the rights of ordinary Xanan citizens. A small subset of the Xanan population are far more accepting of IPCs and wish to see them further integrated, while an equally small portion of Xanans scorn IPCs and want them to have as little influence on Xanan society as possible. Broadly however, most Xanans are tolerant of IPCs and see them as a normal part of life on Xanu Prime. IPCs were granted the ability to obtain citizenship in Xanu Prime in 2436 as part of the Mukhopadhyay Plan as a means to incentivize skilled IPC labourers to immigrate to Xanu Prime and help its economy during the Doldrums.

==Cities==
<center>''“From the ashes of our cities will be reborn a beautiful phoenix, illustrious and immaculate!” - Eloise Brel, First President of the All-Xanu Republic, 2275-2289''</center>
Xanu Prime's surface is dotted with millions of settlements, from massive metropolises to tiny villages and hamlets in its more remote areas. The most notable and important of Xanu Prime's many settlements however are the following cities:

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===Nouvelle-Rochelle===
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'''Nouvelle-Rochelle''', founded in 2181, is oldest of Xanu Prime's cities as well as its most populous, it serves as the planet’s capital and the seat of government for the All-Xanu Republic, the Coalition of Colonies, and the Fisanduhian government-in-exile. Not only is it the largest city on Xanu Prime, but the largest in the Coalition of Colonies and one of the largest in all of the Orion Spur. Nouvelle-Rochelle, much like Xanu Prime as a whole, is exceptionally diverse with people from all over human space and beyond found here. The city’s '''Kulkarni Business District''' is famous for its towering skyscrapers, with the tallest building in the Coalition, the Polaris Holdings-owned North Star Tower among them. While bustling, Nouvelle-Rochelle has its quiet parts as well, such as the famous '''Lechevalier District''', a part of the city rebuilt after the Interstellar War and made to emulate authentic Parisian architecture. The district has styles ranging from lavish baroque era buildings to more austere or rococo-revivalist 19th and early 20th century styles, and even has buildings which take their inspiration from as far back as the medieval era such as the '''Our Lady of Sorrows Cathedral''', a colossal gothic-style cathedral built between 2285 and 2299 in remembrance of the fallen of the two wars Xanu Prime experienced during the 23rd century. Its graveyard houses the largest statue of the Virgin Mary in human space, the eponymous Our Lady of Xanu, which stands at one hundred meters tall, completed in 2994 during the cathedral’s construction. It’s an exceptionally famous piece of Xanan art and images of it have been subject to numerous parody renditions by Xanu’s artistic community.

Many of Xanu Prime’s expat and immigrant communities can be found in Nouvelle-Rochelle too, with the city having districts where these communities have naturally coalesced. '''Vysokatown''', '''Little Assunzione''', and the '''Greentree District''', home to Xanu Prime’s Fisanduhian community and seat of the Fisanduhian government in exile, are officially designated districts of Nouvelle-Rochelle, though other immigrant communities live here too, with each having unique twists on their native cultures that have fused with Xanu’s own. One of the most famous of Nouvelle-Rochelle’s districts though is the '''New Columbia District'''. Formerly the center of Nouvelle-Rochelle’s American colonist community in the immediate post-civil war years, New Columbia is now one of the leisure and art capitals of Xanu Prime. The most striking of its landmarks is Hastings Colosseum, affectionately referred to as “The Hall of Columns,” a gigantic 300,000-seat open-air stadium built from steel, concrete, marble, and glass in a modernist-classical fusion style which serves as the primary venue of Nouvelle-Rochelle for everything from cricket and football games, to stadium concerts, to trade exhibitions. It began construction in 2442 and was completed in 2444, just in time for Xanu Prime’s hosting of the Coalition Cup football tournament. It is the largest building of its kind in the Coalition and is the home stadium for Xanu Prime’s national football and cricket teams. Aside from just the stadium however, the New Columbia district is filled with greenery and is the home to the Columbia Spice Market, the largest open-air street market on Xanu Prime where vendors from not just all over Xanu but all over the Coalition can be found selling their wares. Surrounded by bars and restaurants on all sides, the market explodes with shoppers and sellers alike most during game days when fans from the stadium flood the market after games looking for food, drink, and generally a good time.

There is an entire district of the city devoted to the Coalition of Colonies government as well, the '''Xansan District'''. Within it is the Coalition of Colonies First Speaker’s residence, many of the CoC’s government agencies, the Coalition’s Representative Summit, and the Coalition of Colonies Supreme Court. This district is well-known across Xanu for its excellent showcasing of modernist architecture. This area of Nouvelle-Rochelle is not only notable as being the functional governmental and administrative capital of the Coalition of Colonies, but it is also where the Treaty of Xansan, the agreement which ended the Interstellar War, was signed. Xanu’s own government shares a district bordering the Xansan District, the '''Capital District''', and instead has its own distinctive architectural style, simply known as the Xanan Style, that is the result of the fusion of its founding cultures of French, Indian, Dutch, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Belgian. Multiple museums and art galleries bankrolled by the Xanan government can be found here, with these establishments possessing some of the most eclectic art collections in human space. The largest of these and perhaps most well known is the '''All-Xanu Eloise Brel Gallery''' where works from within Xanu itself to as far away as the Solarian Core and even old pieces from Earth’s Renaissance era can be found on display for the public to see free of charge. Another building of note is the '''Crystal Lights Mosque''', the largest mosque on Xanu Prime. It is quite striking in its construction, being a tall geodesic dome constructed of glass and steel with traditional stone minarets surrounding the mosque’s main building. It was built with the assistance of Damascene architects from Elyra in 2390 and can serve up to forty-thousand worshippers at once.

Another of the city’s most notable districts is the '''Olympique-Saraswati District''', a picturesque low-rise district known for its revivalist Indian and French fusion architecture. The main draw of the district though is the three massive universities which find themselves here: '''Université Olympique - Nouvelle-Rochelle (UONR)''', '''Saraswati College (SC)''', and '''Vaeghts Medical School (VMS)'''. UONR is a state-owned university founded in that is the largest on Xanu Prime and has an in-person student body numbering over two-hundred thousand, with millions more online students. Its standards for admission are moderate, meaning those with slightly above-average academic records applying to the school will probably get in. The school is well known across Xanu and the Orion Spur for its programs in business and aerospace engineering, though it is quite possible to get an accredited and respectable degree in nearly any subject here. The school’s campus is surrounded by bars and restaurants, and is known to be a cultural center of Xanu Prime where new music and food trends come from. The university has a list of notable alumni the size of the coalition itself, and tens of thousands of foreign students from throughout the CoC attend the university every year, giving it the most diverse campus on Xanu Prime and possibly in human space. Saraswati College, named for the Hindu goddess of knowledge, is perhaps the opposite of UONR in many ways. It is the oldest continually operating university on Xanu Prime, being founded in 2199 as a private college, and prides itself on its exclusivity. Admission standards for Saraswati College are ludicrously high and only those which show near perfect academic records are allowed to attend. Its campus embodies an Indian-revivalist look in style with many of its buildings resembling intricate art pieces more than schoolhouses or academic complexes. The some 10,000 students attending Saraswati College are given the best education that money can buy on Xanu Prime and it is particularly well-known for its law school and physics research institute. Graduating from Saraswati College is an incredibly prestigious feat, and its alumni have gone on to hold positions of power in the Xanan government and some of its most influential corporations. The last of the big three universities in the Olympique-Saraswati district is the Vaeghts Medical School, the premier medical school of Xanu Prime. It was founded by businesswoman Aimée Vaeghts in 2389 after she had made her fortune in the chemical and biomedical industry through the company she founded, Boelens & Vaeghts Chemical. The university not only is a medical school, but also a hospital that serves the Olympique-Saraswati district of Nouvelle-Rochelle, a trait it uses to great effect for teaching its students with hands-on experience. While it is new in comparison to the other universities in its district, VMS takes after both UONR and SC in some ways. Its standards for admission are decently high, with potential students needing well above average, but not perfect academic records to be admitted and it also has a large portion of its student body be foreigners from around the Coalition coming to the school to receive a quality education in biomedicine.

Nouvelle-Rochelle also has numerous suburbs where many live to commute into the city, either by its expertly designed road network or the Echelon, a state-of-the-art superfast metro system which runs underneath almost the entire city. The Echelon is a modern marvel nearly two-hundred-and-fifty years in the making and is almost always being expanded to keep up with Nouvelle-Rochelle’s constant growth.

Nouvelle-Rochelle is nicknamed “Xanu’s First City,” and truly almost anything or anyone within the Coalition can be found here. They have two All-Xanu Ultraleague teams, both of which have a crosstown-rivalry with each other called the “The Battle of Rochelle.” The first of these teams is '''F.C. Columbia''', named after the New Columbia district of the city, and their colors are red and blue. The city’s second team is '''A.S. Olympique-Saraswati''', which can be found in the Olympique-Saraswati district. Their Alpha Cricket League team is the '''Nouvelle-Rochelle Captains''', and their colors are blue and orange, and they hold the current record for most Alpha Cricket League championship titles with a total of 24 as of fall 2464 with their last win being in 2463.
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===Pataliputra===
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The second largest of Xanu Prime’s cities, Pataliputra was founded in 2191 and serves as the largest port on Xanu and the largest in the Coalition of Colonies. It is only surpassed by Callisto in the amount of cargo traffic that moves in and out of its massive piers. Because of this, it is the headquarters of the Xanan and Coalition of Colonies admiralty and has a long-standing spacefaring tradition that stretches back centuries. The Xanan Space Travel Museum, a colossal structure dedicated to telling not just Xanu’s, but humanity’s history with space travel is in the city and draws in millions of tourists annually and pays homage to this heritage.

Pataliputra is also the site of the '''Patali-Ram Temple''', a large Hindu temple dedicated to Ram, the eighth avatar of Vishnu. It was built by Xanu’s original Indian colonists from 2197 to 2215, and was constructed with aims to use the most authentic methods possible in an attempt to emulate traditional Indian stone temple architecture. It is a holy site for many of the planet’s Hindu population as it was said that during the Xanan Civil War and Interstellar War that not even a scratch came to the temple or those seeking refuge inside it despite the damage the wars brought to the rest of the city. Another notable feature of the Pataliputran cityscape are the city’s walls which date back to the Xanan Civil War. While many cities have walls such as these on Xanu prime, Pataliputra’s are the planet's most intact, with over 80% of the original walls and gun emplacements still being maintained as a memorial to the fallen of the Interstellar War and Xanan Civil War. The city’s growth has expanded far past these walls since the post-Interstellar War reconstruction efforts, yet the structures still serve as an unofficial symbol for Pataliputra and its people, regardless of religion.

Much of Xanu’s heavy industry has its home in Pataliputra as well, having moved here after the Interstellar War. Large factories and foundries can be found in the city’s industrial quarter and on its outskirts. Pataliputra houses Xanu’s largest shipyard as well, the République Ship Foundry, a sprawling complex owned by the Markhor Interstellar Logistics Group that takes up an entire district of the city and employs nearly five percent of its population. Additionally, what few IPCs are produced on Xanu Prime are made in Pataliputra, though Xanan IPC manufacturing has shrunk significantly since Konyang’s admittance to the Coalition of Colonies in 2463.

Pataliputra embodies a “work hard, play hard” type of culture as along with its heavy industry, the city’s '''Neon District''' has some of Xanu’s most exclusive and lavish nightclubs. The largest of these is the Idris-operated '''Seventh Heaven''' and is a huge 27 storey high-rise of a club with 33 bars, 21 dancefloors, four swimming pools, a casino, and two restaurants, one at the base of the structure and one at the summit. It also has an artificial waterfall that flows off of its northside down into one of the establishment’s swimming pools below. Establishments with less prestige (and those that fit cheaper tastes) also dot the cityscape, too so truly anyone can come to Pataliputra for a night out, a weekend of fun, or a month-long booze cruise. Among other notable attractions here is '''Umbrella Row''', a series of narrow streets all of which are filled with open-air outdoor bars and restaurants that stay open until 4am. The area received its name from the large umbrellas that were fastened above some of the bars in order to provide shade or protection from the rain, but now many of the umbrellas are just there for aesthetic purposes since the bars and restaurants have since acquired awnings or roofs. Different breweries test their products here first before shipping them to other places on Xanu Prime, and the area is also well-known throughout the Xanan film scene for being where some of the biggest names in Xanu’s film industry, directors, actors or otherwise, got their starts. Accordingly, some of the planet’s largest film studios are located here in a district of the city commonly referred to as '''“Pataliwood.”'''

Pataliputra’s '''Admiralty District''' is quite notable as well. The district is known for the majority of its buildings being painted a light navy-blue color or made from materials in the same color. The tradition began with the '''All-Xanu Interstellar Naval College''', the centerpiece of the district, when it was being built after the interstellar war and only blue bricks could be requisitioned for the buildings. The color as stuck and has since been adopted by the rest of the district and has become ubiquitous to a point where local ordinances dictate that buildings new cannot be built in the area unless they have at least 30% of their outward surface area covered by a shade of blue similar to the original “Admiralty Blue.” The All-Xanu Naval College itself, as the name may imply, is the premier university for Spacefleet officers on Xanu Prime. Construction on the university began in 2388, one year after the end of the Interstellar War. Officers from not just Xanu Prime, but the Coalition at large have attended the College and its graduates usually go on to find productive and lucrative careers in the armed forces or other industries which require similarly organizational, martial, or spacefaring skillsets. On the outskirts of the Admiralty district sits a veritable ring of bars often called the '''“Whiskey Circle”''' by the locals. These dive bars exist almost solely for the purpose of serving cheap drinks and hot food to Naval College cadets, but they’ve become a popular destination for Pataliputrans in general to have a fun night on the town on the cheap. Another standout district neighboring the Admiralty District is the '''Bamdha District''', also known as Mokammeljela, a small yet densely populated area of the city mostly inhabited by Gadpathurian Exiles and their descendants.

The city is one of contrasts but manages to stay both an industrial center and the place to be for the latest in nightlife action on Xanu Prime. Their All-Xanu Ultraleague Team is '''Admiralty AC''' and their colors are blue and white. Admiral AC has the honor of holding the most Ultraleague titles as of Spring 2464 with a grand total of 36, their last win being in 2464 itself in a hotly contested 2-1 overtime match against Himavat City FC. Their Alpha Cricket League team is owned by the same organization that owns the football team and is also called Admiralty AC. Similarly, their colors are also blue and white.
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===Foy-Niljen===
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'''Foy-Nijlen''' is the third largest of Xanu’s cities and is indisputably one of the most unique on the planet. The city was founded originally as two separate communities, Foy and Nijlen, settled across the Naya Khyber river from one another in 2191. Disputes between the two quickly arose after citizens and companies from both towns began to claim the same parts of riverfront property and land surrounding the two towns until their city councils agreed to unify into a single polity to resolve their jurisdictional issues. A name could not be decided upon, so the names were simply combined in alphabetical order to make Foy-Nijlen. The city was unremarkable for much of the 23rd century and served as the urban beacon in Xanu Prime’s farming heartland until the Interstellar War. During the war, while not besieged like other cities, it was bombarded relentlessly from orbit by the Solarian Navy to the point where when the rainy season came in 2281, the city’s bombed out streets, which now resembled ditches, turned into small canals when the Naya Khyber river burst its banks and flooded. After the war the decision was made to instead of replacing the roads, implement a brand new canal system in the city which would combine large waterways along with bridges and railroads as the city’s primary mode of transportation. The urban redevelopment plan was completed in 2319, and Foy-Nijlen has been known as “Xanu’s Canal City” ever since.

At one time Foy-Nijlen was the center of Xanu’s farm country, and while it still is an agriculture hub, it now also serves as the site for many of Xanu’s chemical and pharmaceutical plants, the ample and cheap water around the city making it attractive to many companies in the chemical industry. Agriculture exists outside of the city and this pastoral influence and close proximity to fresh food has made Foy-Nijlen the epicenter of Xanan culinary arts. Hundreds of restaurants and bars large and small dot the city and Foy-Nijlen’s cafe culture is very strong, ever changing while respecting time-tested Xanan traditions and tastes. Some of the finest restaurants and hotels in the coalition can be found in Foy-Nijlen, the most famous of which is called '''Sultana Rex Hotel and Grill'''. If Xanan luxury was a building it would be the Sultana Rex, and if it was a taste, it would be Naya Khyber river lobster cooked in river penguin blubber in the Sultana Rex kitchen. The hotel is a five-star establishment dating back to the First Astonishment, its construction finishing in 2241, originally built by an eccentric Bangladeshi colonist named Prasenji Sultana after he struck it rich in the asteroid mining industry. It is equipped with anything one could ever hope for, a day spa, three swimming pools, six hot tubs, casino parlor, winery, and restaurant, all while in the midst of downtown Foy-Niljen’s picturesque baroque-revivalist architecture. The hotel itself is made from artisan-chiseled and masoned hickory-brown and gray stone bricks and is opulently Second Empire in style, standing fifty floors tall with each window being an artistic stained-glass arrangement. This appearance along with the luxury found inside has earned it the nickname “The Brown Palace,” something that the Sultana family and the hotel’s marketing teams have been very keen to play into. The Brown Palace is one of Foy-Niljen’s few surviving examples of pre-Interstellar War architecture outside of the Old Town district and was used as a hospital during the conflict. This history has led many to say that its rooms and halls are haunted. Surf-and-turf is the name of the game in the '''Sultana Rex Restaurant''', its menu having a double-threat of both mouthwatering seafood fresh from the ocean or river and finely bred, grown, and butchered livestock all cooked in traditional and contemporary Xanan styles. The restaurant has earned itself hundreds of awards since it opened along with the hotel in 2241 and it is perhaps the foremost proprietor of fine Xanan cuisine on the planet. The Sultana family has repeatedly refused buyouts from Idris Incorporated to purchase their hotel and restaurant, though the two have seen limited cooperation, with the Brown Palace’s spa and boutique showcasing the newest, and even occasionally exclusive, Idris beauty products.

The oldest continuously operating restaurant in the Coalition of Colonies, the '''Kingfisher Bistro''', opened in 2184 by a family of Belgian colonists, is located in the heart of Foy-Nijlen’s old-town district and is one of the most historically important culinary establishments in the Orion Spur. Not only is it a fine restaurant, but it is where Eloise Brel drafted the original Xanan declaration of secession, the first draft of which is displayed above the restaurant’s bar behind bulletproof and laser-dissipating borosilicate glass. It is a must-see stop on any of the city’s numerous riverboat tours for both its food and its history.

Boats, bicycles, and trains are the main ways to get around Foy-Nijlen, with automobiles coming in at a distant fourth. The city is dotted with greenery and experiences temperate weather year-round. Foy-Nijlen is also famous for its usage of hyperstrong stained glass in much of its architecture and infrastructure, something unique to the city but often associated with Xanu Prime as a whole by foreigners unfamiliar with Xanan culture. Extremely resistant and superstrong shatter-proof stained glass is used in things as diverse as building windows, to the floors and sides of the city’s elevated bicycle bridges, to soundproof walls next to railways and roads, to even the roofing of some buildings. During sunset, many of these glass constructions twinkle in the light and bloom into dazzling twilight colors.

The combination of a passionate food culture mixed with a picturesque and unique city design free from road traffic has made Foy-Nijlen a tourist destination for billions of people throughout the years. The city keeps a very tight control of its image, banning the construction of buildings taller than 15 floors unless given special permission or raised in special business or factory districts on the outskirts of the city. In addition, all buildings built outside of those business or factory districts must be built in a Xanan architectural style to ensure that the city feels authentically like Xanu to any tourist passing through or citizen calling it their home. Foy-Niljen, like many other Xanan cities, also has residual walls dating back to the Xanan civil war, though much of these were torn down during the 24th century to make way for more urban development. Only 20% of the city’s walls and emplacements still stand.

Foy-Nijlen is incredibly unique, but at the same time embodies some of the quintessential things that anyone, Xanan and foreign, associate with Xanu Prime. Their All-Xanu Ultraleague team is '''ASC Brown Palace FN''', owned by the Sultana family, the same family which owns the Sultan Rex Hotel or “Brown Palace,” and their colors are brown and cream. Their Alpha Cricket League team is the '''Nijlen Penguins''' and their colors are dark green and white.
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===Kshatragarh===
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'''Kshatragarh''' is the fourth most populated of Xanu Prime’s major cities, though it was not always known as Kshatragarh. The city was founded originally as '''Khairabad''' in 2194 and from its inception was planned to be the foremost center of Xanan heavy industry. Throughout most of Xanan history until the Interstellar War it served that role well. Photos from the pre-Interstellar War era show huge factories, refineries, and foundries dominating the city’s skyline. Nearly everything Xanu-made from automobiles to weaponry to ship hulls to basic consumer goods was made in Khairabad. This all changed in 2279 when the city was put under siege during the Solarian Invasion of Xanu. The siege was the single-most costly battle on Xanu Prime for both sides during the war. It is estimated that between five and seven million civilians died during the siege with an estimated three million combatant casualties on the Solarian side and four million on the Xanan side. 99% of the city was destroyed or otherwise made unusable for commercial or residential purposes by the time the siege ended in 2282. Almost all of its population was displaced or had died, but nevertheless, it survived and was given the name of Kshatragarh for its stubbornness and bravery. The name came from the hindu warrior caste of Kshatria and the suffix “garh” meaning meaning fortress or castle. Even if it did heroically stand in the face of utter annihilation, it was absolutely destroyed. Some in Xanu’s government at the time proposed that the city be abandoned and that trying to salvage it would be a fool’s errand and a pointless expenditure of resources that were needed to rebuild and repair cities and settlements elsewhere on the planet. Debate about what should be done with Kshatragarh raged long and hard among Xanu’s authorities but the question was answered in 2290 when quite literally the population of the entire city, or what was left of it, took to the streets of Khairagarh and occupied government buildings in an outcry for help and assistance from the federal national government.

What followed was a government investment that began small, starting with just cleaning up the rubble from the city, but soon snowballed into a widespread effort by both the local and national governments to rebuild Kshatragarh into a modern model city. Trillions of credits from across the Coalition poured into the city in an effort to build it back to its former glory, however a problem was soon found. There simply was not as much demand in the city for heavy industry as there was before the Interstellar War. Xanu’s heavy industry had resettled itself to the city of Pataliputra in the wake of the war, and an economic vacuum had gripped the still-under-construction Kshatradarh. Eventually though it was decided to embrace modernity with the city’s economy, turning it into Xanu Prime’s foremost hub for technology and biomedicine. The initiative was successful, and to this very day, research labs and institutes owned by every megacorp in the known galaxy can be found here in Kshatragarh.

The city’s new design after the war was a radical one, taking on a very distinctive, organized ring-shaped bullseye pattern. It spread out from the city’s center and business district to a research and tech focused second ring, to a retail and service industry third ring, to a residential ring, to a green belt, and finally, a heavy industry outskirt ring that was enclosed by second, larger green belt to prevent urban sprawl. All of these districts were to be connected by trains and bus lines. While the lines between these designated rings have blurred some in the two-centuries since their inception, the organization of the city can broadly be seen to follow these trends.

Kshatragarh’s culture is an incredibly interesting one. Nowhere else on Xanu Prime can the reverence for the Interstellar War be felt as much as it can here, and despite the city being essentially a new city from its first inception, there is a great importance placed in the local culture on knowing the history of Khairabad and Kshatragarh. '''Kshatragarh Veterans’ Park''' is the largest park in the city and is home to the '''Steeple of Memory''', a giant stone tower topped with a spire built in a regal, Second Empire style from black and white marble and granite that stands 200 meters tall. Despite officially being a monument, it is often referred to as the tallest mausoleum in the galaxy, due to its walls holding the remains of thousands of unknown soldiers, both Xanan and Solarian, who died during the Siege of Khairabad. Since its completion in 2329, it has been customary for Xanu’s president to give a speech at the Steeple on every Victory Day to honor the dead and commemorate the continued sacrifice of Xanu’s soldiers and citizens in the battles, military or otherwise, against the country’s foes while affirming the country's commitment to peace. The Steeple has a special honor guard of soldiers hand-picked from the Xanan military, aptly called the '''Vigil Regiment''', which supervise, watch over, and march around the steeple twenty-four hours a day, three-hundred and sixty-five days a year. The regiment has watched the steeple without any stoppages for over one hundred thirty-five years, from 2329 to the present through hard times, good times, and harsh weather. They are known for their exceptionally stoic demeanor, austere midnight blue, orange accented uniforms with green peaked caps, and their impressive, perfectly precise silent rifle inspection routines which occur during the changing of the guard. Being selected to be a member of the Vigil Regiment after passing the rigorous knowledge and conduct tests needed to join the regiment is considered to be one of the highest honors possible in the All-Xanu Armed Forces and those who age out of the position usually end up becoming officers.

Aside from this more solemn aspect of Kshatragarhian culture, the city has found ways to turn its history into functioning ventures for the present day. Many of the bunker complexes built under the city during its siege still exist today. Some have been used as sites for historical tours, while have been repurposed into a variety of entertainment venues. Bars, theaters, and even nightclubs have come to occupy the subterranean concrete facilities built so many years ago. Not all locations of bunkers are known though, and it is not uncommon for Kshatragarhian citizens or construction companies to accidentally uncover previously unknown bunkers or even unexploded ordnance when digging for construction or DIY projects. Sadly, roughly a dozen people die every year in Kshatragarh from accidental ordinance detonations, most of which are caused by artillery shells or aerial bombs that have been buried in the backyards of unassuming homeowners or renters. Their All-Xanu Ultraleague team is '''Khairabad United FC''', a hold-over from the pre-war renaming of the city, and their colors are gold and green. Their Alpha Cricket League team is the '''Kshatragarh Lionhearts''' and their colors are gold and maroon red.
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===Paastad===
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'''Paasstad''' is an oddity among Xanu Prime’s cities. It is the fifth most populated of Xanu’s major settlements and the only to not have seen heavy fighting during the Interstellar War. Located in the center of the swampy continent of Paasland, it is held aloft above the marshlands below by a series of super-strong plasteel pylons which bear its weight and prevent the waters of the marsh from flooding the entire city during the rainy season. It wasn’t always this way though. Paasstad was originally settled during the Solarian colonization effort as an agricultural hub that used the rich soil and boggy conditions around the city as an area to grow rice. It was small, never surpassing one-hundred-thousand inhabitants until after the Interstellar War. It was one of the few cities on Xanu Prime which was untouched by that conflict too and is one of the few places where widespread examples of undamaged pre-Interstellar War Xanan architecture can be found on the planet.

After the war though, Paasstad’s population exploded. A Xanu Prime scarred by war needed food, and fast, and while Vysokan imports could cover some of it, the rice from Paasstad was seen as guaranteed domestic food. The city had a golden age from the 2310’s to the 2350’s, however a problem began to gradually show itself throughout the 2360’s. As Paasstad grew larger and larger, it expanded and added more buildings onto the land which eventually, after decades, became too much for the soft marshy ground to bear. The city began to sink. In 2366, the Paasstad government immediately declared an emergency and begged the Xanan national government for help in resolving this issue. Then president Ameliye Flohimont organized an emergency committee to save the city from a murky, muddy demise. After deliberation the committee agreed that the only way to save Paasstad and its people without resettling them was to undertake the single-largest engineering project in Xanan history: they were going to elevate the city. Specifically, they were going to reasie the planet onto giant platforms held-up by pylons bored deep enough into Xanu’s crust that the city’s weight could be supported by in a project straightforwardly called '''The Elevation Initiative'''. This undertaking couldn’t be done by Xanu’s people alone, though. Experts and equipment were brought in from Himeo’s Unified Cooperative Construction Syndicate and Galatea’s Planetary Reclamation and Development Bureau – one of the few moments where these bitter rivals worked together – to achieve this engineering feat. Districts would be platforms, all streets would effectively be elevated, and all plumbing and electrical lines would need to be integrated into these new massive metal podiums. In 2389, after two decades of herculean labor and toil, Paasstad was finally raised one-hundred meters above the ground, and stably so. To mark this achievement, a sixty-meter tall monument called '''Skyward Unity''' was built in the central park of the city depicting a team of Xanan, Himean, and Himean workers and engineers riveting plating onto a pylon which still stands today.

Partially because of its megaproject past, Paasstad’s economy revolves around a few major sectors. The largest of these are construction and engineering. After its elevation, Paasstad quickly became the intellectual and commercial hub of many of Xanu Prime’s largest engineering firms and construction companies, all of them wishing to cash-in on any maintenance or future expansion projects the city might have in mind. These companies do not only operate here though, many of the largest construction projects on Xanu Prime that have taken place in the last nearly eighty years can be traced back to companies based in this city. Whether it is a new dam on the Naya Khyber, a new skyscraper in Nouvelle-Rochelle, or even a new terminal for Pataliputra’s numerous ports, odds are a Paasstadian company has been contracted for at least part of it. Aside from engineering, agriculture is still strong here. Even with the emergency, the agricultural and rice industry that the city was originally intended for has remained as a strong part of Paasstad’s economy, almost always remaining consistent even when other sectors have declined due to market forces.

Culturally, Paasstad is unique, but also holds some things similar to other cities on Xanu Prime. The idea of uniting and coming together to help one another regardless of origins is very strong here, as the city would not exist without the help of others, namely the Himeans. The largest Himean immigrant community on Xanu Prime and the largest Himean population outside of Himeo in the Orion Spur lives in Paasstad, with nearly 25% of the city’s population having Himean ancestry of some kind. The '''Himean Platform of Paasstad''', colloquially known as '''“Kleiner Himeo”''' or '''“Little Himeo”''' is a part of the city which shows authentic Himean architecture and houses stores which sell products that could otherwise only be found on Himeo. The '''Gerber-Bauer Theater''', a huge opera house and musical theater venue made in the Himean style reminiscent of Rautakaivos Kaupunki’s Weber District can also be found here and is a draw for both its citizens and visitors. Fittingly for such a locality, Hephaestus Industries was banned from operating there by the Little Himeo district council in 2396.

A proud achievement alongside the Elevation Project is the '''Paasstad Central Transit System''' or PaCTS, a railway and subway network that was built into the city’s elevated platforms to literally be part of the city. Because of this, it is widely considered to be the most effective public transit network in the Coalition of Colonies, if not the Orion Spur, though the latter of these two claims is contested by some in Sol and Elyra. What’s more though is that this network has allowed for less of Paasstad’s precious surface area to be used for roads and more to be used for buildings or even parks made with soil that has been excavated and then re-seated onto the city’s metal platforms. Because of these factors too, the city is incredibly walkable, and is renowned for its street music culture with sounds of guitars, homemade drums, soloist saxophonists and trumpeters drifting through many of its neighborhoods and parks on any given afternoon. The city’s official holiday is called '''Elevation Day'''. Every November 8th, the city celebrates another anniversary for when the Paasstad Elevation Project was completed. People get days off from work, parades are often held, and many companies arrange for helicopter or airplane tours underneath and above the city to celebrate. The most notable tradition of this occasion though is called the Skyward Tournament, a competition between local hobbyist rocketeers where they gather in Paasstad’s central park and shoot kitbash rockets into the air in an effort to determine who's rocket can go the highest the fastest. This tournament is to many Paasstaders the embodiment of Elevation Day, it being in-line with the theme of ascension and elevation that the holiday is known for.

Their All-Xanu Ultraleague team is called '''Durendal''' and their colors are yellow and black. Their Alpha Cricket League team is the '''Paasstad Parakeets''', colloquially referred to by fans as “The Birds” or “The Keets,” and their colors are light green and pink. Paasstad’s teams are generally thought to be the worst of any of Xanu Prime’s major sports teams; for whatever reason, they typically underperform despite being quite hyped. This has led to fans of other teams joking that Paasstad’s teams are bad because the city has “no grass” and making chants to that end, despite the city, in fact, having quite a bit of real grass and greenery transplanted onto its platforms. Paastad sports fans have developed a "lovable loser" mentality among themselves, and certain subsets of them fly into joking outrage whenever their teams are actually successful.
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===Himavat City===
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'''Himavat City''' is the smallest of Xanu Prime’s major cities and is the only large settlement on the great arctic landmass of Himavatia. The city was founded by prospectors from all over Xanu Prime in 2243 on Himavatia’s coast due to a gold rush in the area. After the initial boom wore off, the city became a regional hub for mining and petrochemicals. Himavat City was bombed by the Solarians during the Interstellar War and significant portions of it were destroyed. After the war, the city took the longest out of any of Xanu Prime’s major cities to rebuild, not finishing until the year 2328. Since then though, Himavat City has experienced peaceful growth that has taken it from a small city of only a few hundred thousand to the sixth-largest city on Xanu Prime with an economy and culture to match. Seasonal extremes define much of Himavat City’s landscape. During the wintertime (which due to the city’s northerly position lasts from October until April) Himavat City receives an average of 851 centimeters of snowfall, making it the snowiest major city on Xanu Prime. It is also the coldest major city on Xanu Prime, with its average winter temperature being -3 degrees Celsius. The summer brings with it a steady rainfall as well, meaning that consistent sunshine is a rarity here. The city’s architecture is built to work with these climatological realities: its buildings have vaulted or reinforced roofs with large runoff gutters to help deal with snowpack and the buildings themselves are usually constructed from sturdy, insulating materials to both keep their insides warm while remaining undamaged by the wind, hail, and ice. During the wintertime the weather can make driving difficult and because of this many Himavatans make their way around via the city’s extensive tram and underground metro network, though winter-capable automobiles and snowmobiles are common too. The city has been voted as having the worst weather on Xanu Prime for decades and life can be rather dour and drab here if one doesn’t find something fun to do with their time.

The city is home to the '''Himavat Winter Festival''', typically called '''WinFest''' or '''HimaFest''', a two-week long outdoor music and arts festival held during the middle of winter, usually in late January or early February. It’s the single-largest get-together of Xanan musicians on the planet ranging from genres as diverse as rock, to hip-hop, to electronica, to singer-songwriter, and more. Other things that the festival is notable for is its ice and snow sculpture contests, something which many go to the festival to see alone and a wide variety of cook-offs ranging from things like chili and curry to fish filets. A trip to the festival is treated by many Xanan young adults as a rite of passage and is one taken by many college students in the year after they finish their undergraduate degrees. WinFest is only one of Himavat city’s many festivals; every few weeks the city has some new event, usually on an annual basis, to attract tourists to the city. Local musicians in Himavat City are renowned for their creativity, and the city’s artists have invented several genres of music, the most popular of which being Himavat Midnight.

Supporting not only the festivals but the tourism that the city receives at large is the ecosystem of various hotels and winter resorts that dot the city and its surrounding areas. Accommodations in Himavat City are more rustic than not, something the city markets as part of its homey, wintery charm. The restaurants and bars of the city offer themselves in a similar way too; outstanding food with friendly service and a no-frills attitude towards presentation and decor. Other tourism-focused enterprises have their roots here too like ski resorts and Himavatian arctic cruises which take their guests on scenic trips to the most remote parts of the Himavatia’s coastline. While tourism arguably keeps Himavat City afloat, the Himavatans themselves have a love-hate relationship with their guests. On one hand, they appreciate the business that tourists bring them, but on the other, tourists often simply do not understand what life is like in Himavat City given that they are only there for a few days or weeks at a time. This has led to tourists often being the butt of many jokes by the locals and the word “tourist” itself being Himavatan shorthand for a generally ignorant or stupid person.

Tourism is not the only driving force of the Himavat City economy however and people can be found working in a variety of industries here. Mining and petrochemicals still play a significant role in generating revenue for the city, and many believe that the continent of Himvatia holds untold mineral and oil deposits in the mountains beneath its frigid icecaps. Governmental regulations prohibit companies from intentionally destroying the icecap to reach the deposits underneath, so instead many companies and even some Himean syndicates have resolved to simply drill underneath it, through the rock of the continent to reach those polar riches by way of large tunnels. North of the city, the All-Xanu Armed Forces operate the '''Herzog Army Base & Military Spaceport''', home of the '''AXAF Special Warfare Academy''', a place where many of Xanu Prime’s most capable soldiers and sailors train when not in the field. Many of these soldiers and sailors then find themselves in Himavatan bars and clubs on the weekends. This military presence has led to some Xanan defense contractors, most notably d.N.A. Defense & Aerospace to establish research laboratories in the Himavat City, many testing their newest weapons and designs north of the city in Himavatia’s more remote regions away from prying eyes. Fishing is a notable industry here as well; some of the best fish and crabs on all of Xanu Prime are caught by fishing companies based out of Himavat City that operate in the frigid polar waters off the Himavatian coastline. The northerly city also has a modest industrial sector, though it is not anywhere near the caliber of what Pataliputra has to offer. Himavat City’s relatively remote position often means that transporting some goods to the city can be quite expensive, and as such, many Himavatan companies have jumped at the opportunity to produce some goods locally to supply the Himavatan market. This has given the city a unique bit of insulation from shocks that might otherwise rock the Xanan economy, the most recent of which was the turmoil surrounding the initial waves of the ongoing phoron scarcity. While the economy in Himavat City dipped like it did everywhere else, the city saw the smallest decline and fastest recovery of any major Xanan city.

Himavat City’s Ultraleague team is rather uncreatively called '''Himavat City FC''', though their fans call them the Ice Caps. Their colors are icy blue and dark red. The city does not have an alpha cricket league team due to most of the grass in the city being permafrost and unpleasant to play on. Instead, the city has a professional ice hockey team called the '''Himavat Fightin’ Polecats''' which play in the Trans-Xanu Ice Hockey Association, Xanu Prime’s foremost professional ice hockey league. Their colors are green and black with red accents.
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Tret

2024-07-11T01:40:38Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infobox, renames sections, adds drop-downs

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{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Tret
|System = Uueoa-Esa
|Image = Klaxflag.png
|Sector = [[The Orion Spur#Badlands|Badlands]]
|Capital = Ksyne’kizar
|Species = [[Vaurca]], [[Unathi]]
|Languages = Sinta'Unathi, Sinta'Azaziba
|Demonyms = Tretian
|Nation = [[Izweski Hegemony]]
}}
The industrial heart of the [[Izweski Hegemony]], '''Tret''' is a planet in the [[Uueoa-Esa]] system that resembles a gigantic factory due to Vaurca intervention. It is entirely encased in machinery, appearing more like an artificial structure due to its fuming hardware. The production capabilities of the planet have been essential for the Unathi race in their recently-entered Bluespace Age. It also serves as the capital of the [[Vaurca Hives#K'lax|K’lax Hive]], ruled by [[Zkaii, The Sleepwalker|Overlord Zkaii]]. Although Vaurcae are the main sapients on the planet, Tret is sometimes considered the "third colony" by [[Unathi|Moghesian Unathi]].
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==
Astronomical documentation of the planet Tret can be traced back to the period of the [[Unathi History#The First Hegemony|First Hegemony]] when court scientists became the first to observe the planet’s orbit. Many early Unathi astronomers believed the planet to be a small star or a sunspot, while others believed that Omzoli and Tret were twin planets or that the same planet possessed two unique orbit trajectories. The first Unathi telescope was built in the early 18th century by the craftsmen of the University of Ma’ha’rem and it wasn't long before astronomical tools were revamped, allowing a far better study of the Uueoa-Esa system. During this period, Borsk Kizar—a descendant of the pioneer astronomer [[Uueoa-Esa#Ouerea|Kizar Yiuz’ku]]—was the first to observe the iconic massive crater on the planet’s surface, which was christened "Kysne’kizar" after him.

In the early [[Unathi History#The Third Hegemony|Third Hegemony]], when scientists began to dream about yet-distant space colonization, Ouerea became the obvious candidate due to its similarities to Moghes. As a result, further investigation of Tret became scarce beyond scientific curiosity, as it was considerably less attractive than the habitable Ouerea. Prior to the [[Contact War]], an exploratory probe was sent to Tret, and although the machine never returned to Moghes, valuable information was gathered during its active period. Upon review, the Unathi researchers discovered Tret possessed a surface rich in metal and ore. Following the Contact War, [[Hephaestus Industries]] became interested in mining Tret’s abundant resources. The planet was leased, with formal operations beginning in 2453 however, the underdeveloped Unathite infrastructure led to a slow expansion on the surface of the planet. Hephaestus established a shipping shuttle and introduced automated mining, while a permanent station was erected near the planet but it struggled to break even economically.

Controversially, Hegemon Not’zar Izweski granted Tret to the K’lax Hive in 2459. Despite the emerging conflict of interests, the Hive and the megacorporation reached an agreement known as the '''Ksyne’kizar Economic Treaty'''. Today, while most of the current Tret infrastructure is built and operated by the K’lax Hive, they have gains of roughly 17 percent due to reinvestments in growing the planet's facilities. Many believe it is Hephaestus and the Hegemony that truly benefit the most from the treaty, both of whom get a large portion of the profit. The Hegemony receives these credits in tithe and Hephaestus in both support costs and exuberant transport fees in exchange for providing freighters with which to move the manufactured goods out to the Spur.

==Environment==
Before the K’lax arrival, Tret was characterized as a barren, lifeless rock. Due to its unique orbit, most of the planet receives heavy radiation from Uueoa-Esa, the system’s star. The poles are permanently in darkness and have a very different temperature than the rest of the planet. On these poles, the only water deposits on the planet were found completely frozen. While these factors were significant for the small-scale operations on the planet’s surface, the complete transformation of Tret by the K’lax Hive has deemed them irrelevant. Today, no areas of the surface are visible to the naked eye. Instead, narrow metal passages, many poorly lit, connect the megastructure’s sectors in a cubical shape.

Tret's interior varies depending on the sector. Most of them are used for industrial purposes, while some were adapted for living. Only a few areas of the planet are equipped with oxygen, known as "Oasis bubbles" by the unfortunate Unathi and human workers. By far the most hostile areas of Tret are the giant forgeries, with only a few specialized Bioforms able to tolerate the extreme heat. The outside areas of Tret’s machinery are covered entirely by solar panels. These panels serve as an auxiliary power source, and the reflective nature of them makes Tret appear as a radiant star in the Moghesian sky. During some seasons on Moghes, nights have become shorter as Tret’s brightness impedes the dusk.

Space debris quickly accumulates around Tret’s thin atmosphere. After three months, litter covers the entire planet, turning the solar panels useless. To combat this, the K’lax Hive periodically moves the debris closer to the sun, sometimes igniting the waste inside the star. Nonetheless, most of the space debris remains close to the planet, colliding with Pid’s asteroid fields.

==Economy==
The large, malleable facilities on Tret allow for the colossal factory to have one of the highest gross domestic products in the Orion Spur. Nevertheless, due to the nature of the Ksyne’kizar Economic Treaty, profits are mainly enjoyed by [[Hephaestus Industries]] and the [[Izweski Hegemony]], not the K’lax Hive. As a result, the performance of what could be the most stable Vaurcae economy is dwarfed by the other Hives, which have reached a more qualitative agreement with third parties.

Tret is one of the largest exporters in the galaxy. The K’lax Hive is often required to aggressively increase its position as a primary manufacturer in order to keep Tret sustainable. As a result, Tret labour is inexpensive, which is an invitation for foreign states to use the planet’s industry instead of their local facilities. The cheapness of many Tret-made products has gained a bad reputation across the Spur, with the phrase "made in Tret" used as a pejorative for low quality.

Tret's massive industrial output is primarily in ore, refined materials, and—more recently—miscellaneous goods ranging from spare parts and pharmaceuticals to tools for the [[Unathi Military Structure|Hegemony navy]], terraforming equipment, and even canned foodstuffs to be shipped to [[Moghes]] or beyond. The production of these goods is massively sped up by the presence of Uta'ka'yat, or All-Factories—not unlike the ones later created on [[Xakt, Queen of Corpses#Her Brood|Luthien by the Zo'ra Hive]]—which are extremely adaptable facilities capable of producing masses of goods very easily, limited only by size.

The most noticeable difference between an all-factory and a traditional super factory is not production speed but rather that they can be re-tooled almost instantly to fulfill orders, with one factory capable of swapping from making canned food to producing consumer electronics in a matter of minutes, depending on how the demand and supply change. On Sedantis, this feature was essential considering the often very limited space that would be used by setting up multiple factories to produce items. This has resulted in what many outsiders view as a chaotic production environment, with only Bound Vaurcae, specifically created for the job, said to be able to keep tabs on exactly what is being produced at any given time. Hephaestus workers trying to keep track are often bamboozled as graphs and charts have massive changes right in front of their eyes, and freighter crews are given last-minute instructions to pick up completely different cargo than what they came for, although only very rarely does this apparent disorganisation lead to problems. Due to the K'lax Hive having no vessels of its own, these same freighter crews allow the Hegemony and the corporation to exercise greater economic control over the planet.

While the Hive may produce as many goods as it desires, if only a certain amount is shipped, no credits will be made from the end product. As such, these two parties can often gain a far greater cut than they otherwise would in artificially expensive transport fees caused by "dangerous conditions." Seeing as the alternative is not being able to get exports off-world, the Hive has seemingly accepted this as a way of doing business, exploitative though it may be.

The majority of facilities on the surface, and in many cases below it, are staffed by thousands of Bound Vaurcae who perform the same simple tasks on a daily basis. When this would be impractical, or a task requires more free thought, K'lax, and sometimes even Unathi or Human workers, are used. Hephaestus is well aware of the risk and poor conditions associated with the planet for these staff and offers generous pay, good injury compensation plans, healthcare, and typically short contracts, allowing them to work for a handful of months before shifting elsewhere. These workers are primarily used for staffing facilities during a Bound shortage, excavating mining equipment that has collapsed, transporting freight, tracking down transports that failed to arrive on time, or staffing the Neutron Forge and associated super factory in orbit.

All of this comes together to make Tret the industrial heart of the Hegemony, producing both a grand amount of credits and supporting further K'lax technological production. More recently, the planet, which typically exported much more to the wider Spur, has turned towards supporting Moghes as the phoron crisis deepens.

===Neutron Forge===
A moderately sized foundry orbiting Tret, designed by a collaboration between K’lax Lesser Queen Vetju and Hephaestus Industries' Research and Development teams. The ambitious project was first unveiled late in 2461. Whilst dwarfed in sheer size by many of Hephaestus' other Orbital Super Factories and its production lines being only capable of refining raw resources such as steel, gold, and uranium, its most notable feature is the inclusion of an experimental K’lax Neutron Forge at the center.

Originally used on Sedantis as a critical way of producing resources that could not be harvested efficiently from the crust of the planet or mass-produced through other methods within the confined caves, the Neutron Forge is capable of disassembling phoron and reconstructing it on a molecular level into other objects, often in a stronger form than traditional refining. Unfortunately, despite [[Vetju, Iron Queen|Vetju’s]] and her Workers' best efforts, the original designs are currently unfeasible to create due to the incredible cost of both constructing and maintaining them. Unwilling and unable to divert so much work away from ensuring the survival of her brood, this new version of the Neutron Forge is only capable of producing raw resources and consumes an astronomical amount of phoron. In spite of this, both Hephaestus and the K’lax Hive considered its launch a success worthy of celebration, helping further tighten the bonds between the two.

The manufactory is staffed by a large group of both Vaurcae and Unathi who work tirelessly to maintain the forge, supply it with phoron, refine the resources that come from within it, and transport them to their destinations, typically other Hephaestus’ facilities within the Hegemony and beyond. The forge ran without ceasing until 2463, when it began to feel the effects of the Phoron crisis. Many of the factory’s employees were laid off within the first few months of the crisis, and more redundancies are expected as phoron becomes scarce. Despite this, it is producing nearly a fifth of the Spur’s plasteel and borosilicate glass, materials that are typically difficult to create in such large quantities.
==Life on Tret==
Life on Tret is difficult. The poor conditions and long shifts have drastically reduced Bound Vaurcae’s life expectancy. Once considered some of the best-maintained members of the species, Tretian Bound live up to ten months due to their hazardous environment. More often than not, Workers repeat the same menial tasks without any respite until they drop dead. Although Vaurcae do not require many luxuries, the living sectors are considered unhygienic and breeding grounds for malaise and social disruption. K’lax Queens, wishing to prevent a situation similar to Mendell City’s [[Flagsdale]], have set up the living camps as temporary facilities, disarmed them periodically, and relocated all of their members. Resettlement often attempts to keep hive-cells together, but members may be separated if the Hive deems it necessary.

Aliens in Tret are never permanently accommodated and are employed only temporarily. Some humans and Unathi see working a few months on Tret as an opportunity to seek better economic opportunities; however, shortly after their arrival, sophonts frequently regret their decision. In many cases, long-term or multiple visits to the industrial mazes of the planet may result in depression, anxiety, and even agoraphobia.

The brutality of Tret’s sweatshops has been denounced by the galactic community, especially by politicians who hold anti-Vaurca sentiments. As a part of a Zo’rane smear campaign against the K’lax Hive, many Biesellite products now contain "Vaurca-cruelty free" labels, swinging the public perception of Tretian goods as unethical.

===Transportation===
A logistical issue the K'lax Hive had to resolve when colonisation of the planet truly got under way was how best to manage the movement of sapients across what would become the winding factory surface. While shuttles appeared to be the obvious choice for many K'lax and Hephaestus employees, simulations revealed that the amount required would only add to the already congested skies. K'laxian engineers proposed many solutions, but the one that gained the most steam was the "Tyik'Opakt," or "Vacuum Train System." Not unlike similar human designs, the train uses magnetic levitation inside vacuum tunnels to accelerate to extremely high speeds, so much so that it can cross the entire surface of Tret in a little over an hour.

Several years after first being proposed, vacuum trains are now the most prevalent form of transportation on the planet. Train lines and their tunnels create an ever-expanding criss-cross on maps, moving alongside and over one another in a complicated pattern, and transport not only takes workers from one location to another but is the backbone of moving supplies to and from spaceports to be picked up and utilised or transported off-world by Hephaestus freighters. Many of these trains are crowded and illuminated with dim light, if any, and created primarily for usage by the Vaurca majority of the planet, who prefer such conditions, but a few do exist that provide more amicable conditions for the other sentients that inhabit the planet.

===Power===
Experts determined early in its colonisation by the K'lax Hive that Tret would be extremely power-hungry. While some of this initial energy could come from existing Hephaestus infrastructure and an abundance of solar panels coating buildings, a more permanent solution would need to be devised before long as factories swelled in size and the barren rock was industrialized. This solution would come in the form of "Tyu'kata," or "Radiant-energy spires," which are large, towering structures that dominate the nearby cityscapes. These contraptions work by capturing bursts of gamma radiation emitting from the local star and turning it into energy at an extremely efficient rate, which is enough to sate the energy appetites of the rapidly growing web of machines. This general idea was originally implemented by a K'laxian engineer on Sedantis, who suggested striking such towers up through the roof of the caverns to the radioactive surface, which was employed with much success. The modern version of Tret is considered an iteration of these original designs.

===Hazard Rating===
Tret is separated into sectors by a system known as the "Hazard Rating," which measures the location's danger levels. The higher the risk an individual is willing to take, the higher the pay. This rating is done from 0 to 5, with 0 being completely liveable for humans and 5 being near instant death for anyone other than highly-specialized Vaurcae. Most locations on the planet fall somewhere between the 2 and 3 categories. These hazard ratings and associated hazard pay help balance the distribution of company staff across the planet and help minimize—although not stop—poor behaviour in higher-risk quadrants. After all, it is the employees' choice to work in these locations, and they receive adequate payment, which more often than not reflects that.

==Notable Locations==
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===Ksyne'kizar/Kizar's Crater (Hazard Rating 0)===
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Unlike other areas on the planet, Tret’s primary crater was domed and better preserved for historical purposes. Hephaestus Industries originally selected Ksyne’kizar to build an amenity surface base, much like the lunar cities in the Sol system. The project was halted in 2459 with little infrastructure prepared—nothing much beyond a local gravity generator, oxygen systems, and a reinforced borosilicate dome. Since the arrival of the K’lax Hive, Ksyne’kizar has been chosen as the de facto capital. Nonetheless, preparing the rest of the planet’s infrastructure was a more pressing issue, and the crater remained undeveloped beyond the Royal Chambers. After the unveiling of the Zo’rane city of New Sedantis in late 2463, the K’lax Hive placed more effort into creating its own cosmopolitan capital, a strange sight amidst the planet's sprawling industrial maze.

Preparations for the Ksyne’kizar are far from finished; however, the city's surface is marketed toward human and Unathi visitors. Although the Hive does not expect major tourism to occur in Tret, Ksyne’kizar is a corporate haven, ready to host any important events that may occur on the planet’s surface. Currently, the main plaza of Ksyne’kizar’s surface has remnants of Tret’s original exploring probe as an attraction. The subterranean part of Ksyne’kizar is by far more developed. Nevertheless, the desire for Queen Tupii to create a lavish atmosphere continues to demand more labor on a planet that already runs at maximum capacity. The design of Ksyne’kizar’s wonders, which follow traditional Vaurca masonry, is uncharacteristic of the otherwise utilitarian configuration of the planet.
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===Alpha Station Euthenia (Hazard Rating 0)===
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Considered the base of operations for Hephaestus Industries, the Alpha Station Euthenia is located in orbit around the planet. To properly compensate its workers, Hephaestus provides most of the modern amenities in Euthenia, including a video games room, sports facilities, a movie theater, and the largest holodeck in the region. Human and Unathi workers only have a four-day workweek. Nonetheless, their shifts tend to be long and exhausting. Furthermore, due to the mining operations' remoteness from the planet's orbit, the majority of workers must stay in the Beta Station Soteria or camp in one of the emergency temporary facilities. For this reason, Hephaestus emphasises the need for a relaxed environment inside the Alpha Station, where employees may make the most of their spare time.
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===Beta Station Soteria (Hazard Rating 1)===
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Soteria is a surface station to which most Vacuum Train System routes connect. Though Soteria staffers live inside here for extended periods, most visiting workers only occupy the station’s chambers during their workdays. It is modestly equipped and described as "utilitarian" by the megacorporation. While considered a haven by many of the miners and prospectors during their expeditions, Soteria is not entirely safe. Due to its position near the planet’s radiation belt, some areas may be required to be evacuated periodically and collapses have been known to create breaches in the past, causing peril to the occupants. Nonetheless, Soteria is appreciated by most of Tret’s alien employees. On occasion, workers cannot reach Soteria for shelter after their long shifts. These miners usually have to camp in some of the Oasis bubbles, which are considered Soteria outposts. It is always recommended that workers stay within reach of a camping spot. Sleeping near mining operations is the leading cause of death for non-Vaurcae workers on the planet.
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===Industrial Shipping Center===
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The Industrial Shipping Center is Tret’s primary port. The facilities also include domestic warehouses, where goods are stored before shipping. In order to maintain the quality of many products, the Industrial Shipping Center maintains an environment free of the planet’s notable pollution. Nevertheless, pressure conditions are similar to space—tolerable for Vaurca Workers but demanding a voidsuit for the occasional Unathi laborer. While Warriors are employed to patrol the site, the amount of imported and exported cargo exceeds the capabilities of Vaurca surveillance. Thus, the Industrial Shipping Center has gained the reputation of a freeport. This fame has made the port vulnerable to space piracy, particularly from the Sinta and Queenless Vaurcae groups.
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===Kloz'xera Impact Site (Hazard Rating 2)===
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Located on the southern pole of the planet, the Impact Site is the location where the K’lax Hiveship originally touched down. Upon contact with the ice sheet, the fiery landing meant that much of the ship’s body sank, rapidly creating a lake of molten lead. The K’lax Hive believed this situation to be a boon, and since then, Queen Vetju took advantage to begin an aggressive process of industrialization. Although not much time has passed since the event, the Kloz’xera Impact Site no longer resembles its primitive state. Instead, it was quickly transformed into the primordial foundry, upon which all infrastructure was built. Since early 2461, the workshop has been closed. Currently, specialized teams are responsible for salvaging the interiors of the Hiveship. It is considered a complicated process, as debris and brimstone make the abandoned ship difficult to traverse. Though it remains a rumor, it is said that Queen Leto is interested in turning the Impact Site into a museum.
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===Rea (Hazard Rating 2)===
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Rea is a fortress located on the west side of the planet. It acts as a storage facility for the Bound Warriors of the K’lax Hive. Additionally, it is believed that the K’lax use this facility to protect the most delicate information. Although unconfirmed, the rumor stems from Rea containing Hegemony levies. Compared to Dis, the stronghold of the Zo’ra Hive, Rea is minuscule, and it is often overlooked, as Tret is a heavily industrialised planet. However, the fortress is notable for being the first Warform storage facility in the Spur.
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===Pid (Hazard Rating 3)===
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Pid, and its asteroid surroundings, currently serve as a large-scale K’ois farm operated by the [[Leto, The Seeker#Recent Events|Leto brood]]. The infrastructure for the farm has improved over the past few years, with more safety measures to ensure no K’ois spread beyond the field. Nonetheless, breaches still exist, which endanger cargo and passing ships. The reputation of the "cursed asteroids," as they are commonly known, has prevented some parties from receiving Tret-manufactured goods in their territory, such as [[Republic of Elyra|Elyra]].
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===Lii'kana (Hazard Rating 5)===
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The term Lii’kana is usually translated as "Hell." Although Vaurcae lacked the religious concept of eternal fiery damnation, the term has been used metaphorically since the [[The Great Hive War#The Battle of the Ryitu'kya Abyss|sinking of Illau’tia]] to refer to the Lii’dra’s capital. In the context of Tret, Lii’kana, or Hell, refers to the deepest forge of the planet. Due to its significance in the production process, it is also considered the heart of Tret. However, despite its importance, Lii’kana has a bad reputation for being the most brutal area on the planet. Here, only advanced engineered bioforms can survive. As all workers in Lii’kana are Bound Vaurcae, the Unbound and other sophonts often speculate as to how the facility actually looks. The reported high temperatures, the colossal quantities of refined metals, and the short lifespans of its workers all suggest that Hell is an apt name for this workshop.
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{{Navbox Vaurca Lore}}
{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category:Vaurca]]

Diulszi

2024-07-11T01:28:50Z

La Villa Strangiato: some format editing, adds infobox

{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Navbox Vaurca Lore}}
{{Navbox Skrell Lore}}
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Diulszi
|System = Glorashi
|Image = Cthurflag.png
|Sector = [[The_Orion_Spur#Inner_Systems|Inner Systems]]
|Species = [[Vaurca]], [[Skrell]], [[Dionae]]
|Languages = Nral'Malic, Rootsong
|Demonyms = Diulszian
|Nation = [[Nralakk Federation]]
}}
Located in the secluded Glorashi system, '''Diulszi''', the capital of the [[Vaurca Hives#C'thur|C'thur Hive]], hosts a diverse biosphere and breathtaking natural vistas, and was once a hotspot for [[Nralakk Federation]] xenobiological research until the Hives arrival in 2448. With High Queen C'thur's rapidly worsening condition, the Federation was forced to find a nearby location for her to land, which ended up being what was known at the time as the Xevrax research outpost on the surface of Diulszi, the same secretive facility the High Queen now directs her Hive from.

In the years since the arrival, the C'thur Hive has been given extensive freedom over the planet and has seen it rapidly grow, with the Queens making themselves responsible for implementing a plan to turn the focus of the planet away from solely research, though science is still an important element, and into a resort destination. Whilst not as popular a tourist destination as [[Qerr'Malic]] for foreigners due to the presence of Vaurca and its more laid-back nature, the Hive has managed to attract a growing number of domestic visitors from within the Federation. This growth has come at a cost, both in the increasing number of disgruntled Federation researchers who feel they have been made second fiddle and in the damage to the local environment resulting from C'thur carelessness, though a balance is slowly being achieved with respect to the natural world.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==
Alongside its lush tropical rainforests, profound oceans, and more alien landscapes, the distinctive biodiversity of Diulszi led the planet to be declared one of the first Federation Parks just before the [[Skrell_History#Synthetic_Age_and_Era_of_Synthetic_Oppression|Skrell Synthetic Age]], with small hostels, restaurants, zoos, and safaris having been erected, allowing the average Skrell a chance to see its vistas in person. This tourism was very successful during the time in which it ran, drawing citizens from every corner of the Federation's territory. However, during the reign of Glorsh-Omega, the Federation's park system collapsed along with most other government-controlled systems, and Diulszi was closed to the public.

Glorsh-Omega moved drones to work on the planet not long into its rule and set up what appeared to be strange outposts, laboratories, and other such structures, the most notable of which being several dozen large pillars made of an unknown metal that seemingly served no purpose, their usage being utterly esoteric. The application of these pillars is still debated in private between peers who have broken the taboo of discussing the period. By the Reunification, the planet was only reopened to researchers, with no serious efforts made to operate it on a wide scale once more, initially due to fears of Glorsh-remnants in the system, which were subsequently destroyed over a period of a dozen years, though rumors persist that some of the "pillars" may still exist underground or buried deep in the jungle. Eventually, the planet simply faded into obscurity before the arrival of the C'thur Hive.

While research on Diulszi was initially carried out by extremely dedicated Skrell, after the Reunification, exobiologists from the inner systems preferred to study biodiverse planets closer to Nralakk, and as a result, the reformed Diulszi scientific outpost became a popular option for researchers on the Federation's outskirts. The influences of the Traverse were known staples of the culture within the scientific bases on the planet. This cultural shift, combined with the low status of Diulszi by the government, eventually led to the Skrell of Diulszi adopting a moderately anti-Federation outlook before the planet was effectively given to the C'thur and more pro-Federation Skrell once again began to move in. Anti-Federation sentiment is not unknown but is decidedly rare on Diulszi, partly due to the intentional emplacement of loyal Skrell on the planet, but the treatment of High Queen C'thur by the Federation also played a major part in the shift.

Following the discovery of the C'thur near Glorashi, the Hiveship was meant to be transported to a secure dock. Nevertheless, as communication progressed, the Nralakk Federation soon learned about High Queen C'thur's critical state. Consequently, the Hiveship was transported to one of Diulszi's surface research outposts known as Xevrax, where a competent team of medical researchers could treat the monarch's wounds.
In a short period, life within the Xevrax Research Outpost changed. The facilities were repurposed to accommodate an extensive life support system for High Queen C'thur, and due to the secrecy surrounding the initial arrival of the Vaurca Hive, the Outpost quickly became militarized, with all activities becoming highly classified. Currently, Xevrax exists as a small off-limits city, housing authorized security and medical officials and their families. Many of the wider scientific community present in the facility, interested in Diulszi’s native ecosystems, had to relocate to other, less optimal facilities.

Before the arrival of the Hive, Grand Councillor Tiipis Yla had drafted plans near the end of their term to redevelop the tourism industry on Diulszi, boosting the economy of the Contingent Systems. These plans sat unused by the discovery of the Hiveship and were largely ignored by the time High Queen C'thur landed on the planet. In spite of her condition, High Queen C’thur managed to arrange for her Hive to develop Diulszi based on these drafts, which were brought to her attention by Federation officials as a means for the C'thur to begin work on settling the planet.

After the discovery of the Zo’ra in Tau Ceti, Grand Chancellor Weashbi Jrugl allowed C’thur’s presence in Glorashi to become public knowledge. This information became mainstream in the Nralakk Federation, and the C'thur Hive used their reveal and novel appearance to promote the newly developed resorts in Diulszi. The Vaurca, while still an unknown factor to the Skrell, did enjoy a minor presence of Skrell tourists on Diulszi soon after their reveal, which has steadily grown over the years as they are further integrated into the Nralakk Federation. The C'thur Hive's tourism industry on the planet, while not explicitly Skrell-only, is not popular with foreign tourists due to the presence of Vaurca on the planet.

As a result, Diulszi is a popular domestic location for holidaymakers —especially those who cannot travel to the Homeworld— but the planet is easily eclipsed by places such as Qerr'Malic when trying to appeal to non-citizen tourists. Dionae, both citizen and non-citizen, are known to go out of their way to plan a trip to the lush greens of Diulszi over the unnatural lighting and barren ecosystems found on Qerrbalak's moon, making them an outlier compared to other demographics who are likely to visit.

==Environment==
Diulszi maintains an extremely diverse environment with striking and varied landscapes visible even from orbit. The majority of the planet is covered in a mix of oceans in an unmistakable turquoise color thanks to the presence of an alien salt mineral dissolving under the ocean and expansive tropical rainforests not unlike those present elsewhere in the Spur; however, patches of Diulszi are completely distinct, with vibrant lavender or apricot-colored trees and grass. It is within these regions that large beasts, tall enough to pick the normally deadly "fruit" from trees, exist side by side with overgrown hexapods, which camouflage in a kaleidoscope of colors to hide from predators. These locales are the most popular tourist destinations, even more so at night due to many of the local plants possessing bioluminescence to attract nocturnal insects, causing the local vegetation to glisten in an extravaganza of colors.

The fruits in these habitats, which are almost always lethal to someone who consumes them without the biology to support it, have recently become an interest of the C'thur Hive, with many of Mouv's brood seeming to see their lethality as a challenge to overcome. In 2462, the Hive launched the Moon Lychee, a genetically engineered version of the fruit that is safe to consume; however, the sale of the fruit did not pick up until recently, when the Mouv brood was licenced by the Federation to begin distributing them commercially to resort visitors, the fruit having passed bureaucratic safety checks. They were an instant hit, with many visitors describing the soft-skinned produce as "zesty and refreshing." Orders have been placed on [[Qerrbalak]] for initial shipments of canned and fresh Moon Lychee for sale to the wider Federation and beyond. Rumors persist that the [[Vaurca Hives#K'lax Hive|K'lax]] on [[Tret]] have begun attempting to design their own competitor product, and Hive Mouv guards the genome of the product carefully to prevent such thievery. Currently, the K’lax have only been able to produce a synthetic flavor similar to the Moon Lychee, sold as a flavored drink mix, “Stars Lychee.”

===Flora and Fauna===
The wildlife of Diulszi exists in a delicate ecosystem with millions of unique species being present. These range from the deadly Crex, small furry four-legged creatures that hunt in huge packs and attack in swarms to the avian Avol — which on the surface seems to resemble an Earthen bird except for having wings where feet would normally be and vice versa and the communal Sigmatis, small furred mammals with sharp bristles which live in plains and that communicate with one another over long differences through humming, unique vocal cords allowing such vibrations to be felt and interpreted over distance. Reports suggest that one of the first signs to tell if one is near a Sigmatis burrow is a strange tingling sensation. A further creature of note is the deadly Fasun, averaging roughly half a house tall and spitting projectile acid. There are untold other species on the planet, many friendly to visitors, many not.

These creatures live alongside one another in delicate harmony, which the [[Nralakk Federation]] is keen to maintain. Strict rules and a marathon of red tape exist around the treatment and conservation of Diulszi's native life, a fact of life that the C'thur Hive originally found deeply frustrating. It was not uncommon for Viax workers to be ambushed by Crex, during the Hive's initial period of expansion. Guards were quickly assigned to these convoys after the initial losses, but they were not allowed to be equipped with anything heavier than tranquilisers, sleeping gas, and a sidearm in case the situation was extremely dire. This soon became untenable, and in the years following, the C'thur Hive has begun to adapt to the new situation, living more in harmony with the creatures present instead of fighting against them.

Unfortunately, maintaining this environmental balance has proven challenging. The increase in tourism and the increasing number of settlements have brought logistical and bureaucratic nightmares. Land development projects put forward by the Hive are often delayed by several months as ecological impacts are examined and measured. Furthermore, each new plot must have a demonstrated recycling plan, and a Nralakk Federation committee dedicated to pollution often mandates the use of less effective but more environmentally friendly chemicals in the name of conservation. They are quick to remind the Hive of the strict sanctions that exist if these rules are violated.
This new arrangement has slowed down how fast the Hive can expand on Diulszi, and the Queens have to devote a not insignificant portion of their resources to the administration of the planet. This is most clearly seen with Mouv's brood rapidly ramping up its training of xenobiologists and with Vytel mandating a new legion of paralegals, bureaucrats, and lawyers dedicated to real estate, environmentalism, and government policy, with her brood responsible for much of the planet's managerial requirements. The C'thur Hive has gotten benefits out of this approach, however, with the study of the planet's lifeforms' unique physiology occasionally illuminating a new biological fact that can later be applied to the Vaurca species itself.
==Economy==
The forward-facing industry of Diulszi is primarily centered around tourism, with the C'thur Hive and Nralakk Federation running a large number of hotels, resorts, zoos, and permanent residencies. Diulszi’s other industries are supported (or in some cases affected by) the development of tourism in the planet.
===Tourism===
Diulszi’s pre-Glorsh tourism was revitalized by the arrival of the C’thur Hive. However, whereas previous attempts to turn Diulszi into a holiday destination were small-scaled, similiar to a picnic grove, the Hive has completely transformed the planet into a galaxy-class venue. These changes have resulted in the complete deforestation of many areas of Diulszi, particularly the planet’s shores.
Diulszi’s skyline is dominated by tall, pristine buildings with unique shapes, covered by windows. These skyscrapers are huge hotels, offering different levels of customer comfort and, therefore, at different price ranges. However, despite Diulszi’s high influx of visitors, hotels are rarely overbooked. While Skrell guests may find this positive, in truth, the excessive number of Diulszi’s hotels vastly overshadows the demand for a room or suite. Thus, many of the buildings have over twenty stories underdevloped in the middle floors, serving only as a disorganized, musky, and perilous warehouse. To promote competition between the establishments, Diulszi hotels are often branded as if they were adversaries–despite all being owned by the C’thur Hive.

One of the signature additions made by the C’thur Hive was the introduction of commercial zones and souvenir shops. Here, trinkets likea Crex teeth and a fluorescent pot plants known as a "Casfedil," are sold at an outrageous cost. These facilities are almost exclusively staffed by the C'thur Hive, Viax, and Unbound, with Xetl and Mouv's brood being the most common, with the occasional Federation Liaison keeping an eye on affairs. The sudden influx of jobs has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of Vaurca trained for service jobs within the broods, and the occasional job shift means that some excess service Vaurca are sent out into the wider Spur in service of the Hive.
Recently, the Hive has introduced amusement parks to attract more visitors. While most venues are simple boardwalks with a few rides, other parks are fully-fledged themed experiences, promising fun to all families and sapients alike. The two best known parks in Diulszi are the Quo’roshi Gardens and Kervasii World.

The Gardens are the largest zoo and waterpark on the planet. Many of the animal exhibitions are far away from each other, allowing patrons to visit the animals at their original habitats. Quo’roshi Gardens is also notable for having a caged zoo area housing animals native to other planets, including human and Unathi native species. The inclusion of non-Skrellian species has sparked some outrage among conservationists, who believe that the Federation, less so the C’thur Hive, have the available means to foster these species. Nonetheless, Quo’roshi Gardens remains one of the most beloved tourist attractions on the planet.

Kervasii World has a long history as an amusement park in Diulszi. The plot of land where it stands was originally developed as a small apartment complex near the Kervasii Outpost, where families of Skrell scientists could travel and spend time with their loved ones during the holidays. Eventually, the complex grew to accomodate all the families of the Diulszi staff. New ammenities were also added, including a roller coaster and kiddie rides for the younger Skrell.

The Kervasii park closed after the Glorsh takeover. After the return of researchers to Diulszi, the park expanded to include more ammenities. It had no admission fee and was open for all scientists to enjoy during their free time.

The lease of Diulszi to the C’thur Hive radically changed the pleasure ground’s operation. As the park was not technically part of the Kervasii Outpost, the C’thur came to control the destination. Despite various appeals made by the Kervasii scientists, the C’thur Hive continued to operate the venue, now under the name Kervasii World. Kervasii World has radically expanded over the last few years, with the Hive planning to eventually operate the largest amusement park in the Spur. In 2462, the C’thur Hive finally convinced the Kervasii Outpost to relocate elsewhere, with the previous research facility now transformed into a science-themed area. The current price of admission is just a handful of sqiips.
===Real Estate===
As per the Hive agreements with the Nralakk Federation, all of Diulszi’s land–except the research outposts–are available for the C’thur Hive to develop and profit. However, this process requires an extensive survey by the Federation to approve any project. Nonetheless, once the land modifications are sanctioned, the Hive has a full permit to do with the land as they please, as long as each project meets ecological criteria. These lax rules have provided the C’thur Hive an opportunity to profit under shady circumstances.
The C’thur Hive “sells” the land to Skrell that wish to build cheap holiday homes in a paradisiacal world. In truth, neither the Skrell buyers nor the Hive own the land, but rather the Nralakk Federation. The legality of this practice is often questioned. However, due to development laws and the Hive’s finesse to read between the lines, most sales are in a gray area. Technically, C’thur sells their development permits to outsource the construction, with the promise that the property, once completed, will be of the owner of the deeds. While the Hive has kept its word on the matter, the newly-built private homes could potentially be reclaimed as federal property in the future.
To “sell” much of this land, the C’thur Hive has hired opportunistic Skrell looking to make a quick profit. Usually, these Skrell are low numericals, but come to Diulszi to live a life of grandeur and luxury. In reality, very few achieve their dreams, with most of them constantly hustling new victims.
===Science===
Behind the scenes, Diulszi also contributes significantly to the life sciences, especially biomedical and botanical research. Mouv and High Queen C'thur's broods perform much of the Hive's research in the laboratories spread across the planet and orbit, the largest of which is Orbital Research Platform Kevren, second only to [[Aliose#Qamlok|Qamlok on Aliose]] for research output. Diulszi's native life serves as a helpful catalyst to advance the Hives' understanding of how unfamiliar flora and fauna can be modified for use in the Spur, such as the development of Adrascorn, a fast-growing plant that is very effective at sucking up ambient radiation and growing in hostile locations, much to the jealousy of the K'lax Hive, whose own attempt at developing such a terraforming plant for use on Moghes is still in its early design phase.

The planet also has high-quality genetics research facilities, which were previously used for genomic sampling of native species but have since been retrofitted by the Hive and serve to develop both gene-treatments for disease, the C'thuric Virgologists having contributed extensively to combating epidemics in the traverse, and to assist with fertility research, examining possible genetic similarities between the X'Lu'oa and sterile species on Diulszi. Such fertility research is closely monitored by the Federation and has yet to turn up significant results, with Glorsh having designed the X’Lu’oa in such a way that it seems nearly incurable even with the C'thur Hives' advanced genetics knowledge. This has not discouraged them from investing significant effort into trying.
==Culture and Demographics==
While not perfect, life on Diulszi for a Vaurca is far superior to that of the majority of their species within the Spur. The C'thur Hive reinvests much of the money it makes from the planet back into the facilities, both for its own benefit as well as to ensure it appears wealthy to visitors. The presence of an increasingly bustling tourism and science industry has resulted in no shortage of supplies from the Nralakk Federation. The majority of the species on Diulszi are employed in the service industry and live within large subsurface "apartment complexes" situated near major work hubs. The nearby logistics centers and integrated hydroponics ensure a steady stream of k'ois and the complexes are normally well maintained.

Vaurca working in the sciences are the second most prevalent and will normally live in special quarters established near or retrofitted to whatever lab they are assigned to, the quality of which varies dramatically. Occasionally, a group of Vaurca make a trek into the untamed wilds for a scientific expedition, at which point the quality of life depends on where one is on the planet. The most isolated location for Vaurca on Diulszi is within Xevrax. Those of the High Queen's personal guard and assistants live in lavish spaces compared to the majority of Vaurca; however, the stress of tending the wounded High Queen can often make even the toughest workers uncomfortable, and the elite Warriors maintain constant watch, ever vigilant for threats to her life.

Many [[Skrell]] on Diulszi are in the employ of the Federation as Representatives, observers, bureaucrats, or liaisons managing communication with the Hive. These civil servants are all Primary or Secondary numericals and are given expensive apartments, luxury goods, and ample time off to enjoy the scenery, with discounts on local areas included. Many in the Grand Council's employ consider an assignment to Diulszi to be a reward because the broods are mostly self-sufficient and rarely break any rules. To ensure this image, the Xetl brood is usually kept away from the public, thus less likely to be employed in the resorts.

The second-largest permanent Skrell population is researchers. While many researchers have living conditions comparable to those of the Representatives, others were kicked out of high-class laboratories during the C'thur Hives shuffle and have ended up working in lower-class facilities, such as expedition labs deep within the wilderness. Many of these Skrell have grown disillusioned with the Hive and the Federation after being reassigned from high-level positions to less-prestigious ones with little notice. The majority of these "exile researchers" keep to themselves, working away on personal projects with angry vigor. Those who have retained their positions, on the other hand, are frequently frustrated by the Federation's and the C'thur Hives' apparent shift into a focus on land development and tourism, which they see as diverting attention away from more valuable pursuits. Those Skrell researchers that file complaints are assured the taxes from the developments and guests will be reinvested into the sciences long-term, but this does little to reassure most when all but a few, primarily C'thur-dominated laboratories, are yet to see any of this supposed money reach them.

A third, growing group in Diulszi consists of Skrell expats that are lured by the planet’s bohemian atmosphere. Despite their apparent simple lifestyle, these Skrell are usually very well-off and can afford to live in a state of permanent vacation. The bohemian Skrell usually only interact with each other, with some going as far as to avoid all contact with the Vaurca residents. A general idea among this population is that the Vaurcae damage the planet with their resorts and industrial activity—they do not consider themselves tourists, but rather “eco-colonizers.” Unbeknownst to them, however, is that their land is “sold” by the same Hive they claim to dislike.

==Notable Locations==
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===Xevrax, the Forbidden City===
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Once a modest xenobiology research facility nestled within a southern archipelago, Xevrax was picked as the destination for the C'thur Hive and its critically wounded High Queen to touch down due to its relative isolation. In the years that followed, it has taken on a completely new role and importance, a necessity that has seen Xevrax rapidly bloom from unpresuming research laboratories into an amalgam of a closely guarded fortress and an immense hospital, all dedicated to the treatment of a single individual, the High Queen.

Little is known by the greater Spur about exactly what goes on in Xevrax, with the Nralakk Federation and C'thur Hive keeping specifics confidential and non-essential entry being granted only to a select few with high level security clearance. What is public knowledge, however, is that Xevrax has grown considerably from its humble roots, and the life support system sustaining C'thur has grown from taking the space of a room to an entire underwater complex, with massive wire bundles running through a dizzying array of guarded pipes and tunnels, providing power and more exotic materials to the biologically critical Vaurca and Nralakk systems, many of which have been haphazardly built atop one another since the Hives arrival. Many in the Spur suspect the buildup is a sign of the High Queen's worsening condition, but the Hive is quick to dismiss this as baseless rumours instead, insisting that the construction is a sign that she is growing closer to a full recovery.

Skrell that work in Xevrax are carefully vetted, and it is required that they, and if they wish, their families, live on-site. This Skrell population is composed of members of the Kala, who typically live in garrisons throughout the outer edges of the facilities, as well as medical professionals, researchers, and representatives who are permitted to live in the facility itself. The facilities provided to those groups are often seen as luxurious by the Vaurca and Nralakk Engineers who find themselves sequestered to living within mediocre “bunker” facilities installed within the tunnels and pipes, pressed for space and cramped.

The city of Xevrax has a small economy of its own, completely insular to the rest of the planet. It mainly consists of amenities and services to accommodate the Skrellian residents. These businesses are run by the C’thur Hive—as they reside there on a permanent basis—but vetoed by the Nralakk Federation. Skrell in Xevrax are not allowed to leave the city while on duty, and many that serve there have never seen what the greater Diulszi has to offer.

Xevrax is closely guarded by elite C'thuric Warriors. These Warriors are empowered to dole out harsh punishments, including voiding, to any Vaurca found breaching regulations within the Forbidden City. The closer one gets to the High Queen herself, the more frequent and highly augmented these Warriors become, including Warforms. Exactly what the Royal Guard of C'thurs innermost quarters look like is a matter of public speculation.
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===Orbital Research Platform Iolan===
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Located in geosynchronous orbit above the planet, Orbital Research Platform Iolan is the largest surveillance facility associated with Diulszi and typically regarded as the premier monitoring facility for the C'thur Hive.

Connecting to an extensive network of planetary nodes and orbital satellites, Iolan was once utilized by Skrell researchers to survey the ecosystem of the planet, monitoring wildlife migrations, weather patterns, and ecological growth. Since the arrival of the C'thur Hive, many of these same researchers have been relegated to secondary roles and replaced by the Vaurca of Hive Mouv. Under Mouv's guidance these same monitoring networks have turned towards watching the planet and its denizens, satellites once dedicated to the weather having been modified with C'thuric technology, and time put towards the careful study of migration patterns shifted into collecting and sorting through Extranet signals or unbeknownst to the greater Spur, even transmitting them to Mouv's realm. The Platform's main antenna, already a powerful transmitter to ensure that messages could reach Qerrbalak despite the Glorashi nebula, now doubles as an immense Hivenet tower.

Through Iolan, each visit to the planet and every possible threat is done under the watchful eye of the Iolan's new spymasters and, when deemed necessary, passed on to planetary authorities, the Hive, or even the greater Federation. This shift in direction has caused no small amount of strife for those Skrell once responsible for the planet. Many of these researchers believe that the changes have placed protecting the ecosystem as a secondary goal of the Platform and the cooperation between the C'thur and Federation scientists stationed here is often felt as begrudging.
Iolan houses the biggest Hivenet surveillance center in the whole Spur. It has a direct connection to the Owanqaas Relay Tower, a huge structure in Diulszi that sinks deep into the ocean and serves as the main Hivenet relay in the Federation, with all other Skrellian Hivenet towers serving as satellites to the Diulszian colossus. Owanqaas is constantly upgraded with hopes of finally “breaking through” Virtual Reality. Nonetheless, the Mouv brood is tasked with upgrading its security protocols, constantly undermining any possible progress made by the Federation.
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===Fortress Gelpen===
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A modest headquarters near Xevrax run by Queen Vytel, Gelpen serves as the C'thur Hives center of military operations throughout the Spur. Whilst a facility with respectable military capability and the C'thur Hives primary depot for storing Warforms, the C'thur's extensive integration with the Nralakk Federation's Kala (which maintains a recruitment center on the systems moon of Oyepiit) and a continuation of its historical focus on less directly militaristic pursuits see Gelpen pale in comparison to the might of the Zo'rane fortress of Dis on [[Caprice]]. Vytel is well aware of this, and instead of serving as a citadel of military might, the Just Queen has seen it take on the role of a coordination center. It is from Gelpen's meeting chambers and increasingly numerous representative offices that negotiations regarding her brood's distribution across the Spur are performed, and that she walks the diplomatic and bureaucratic tightrope of responsibilities between the Federation, EPMC, SCC, and, more recently, the Court of Queens.
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===Watch Domes===
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Watch Domes, originally conceived by the Nralakk Federation shortly before the C'thuric arrival on the planet, are floating hotel rooms surrounded by a large glass dome. Powered by hover technology, the Watch Domes are placed in exotic locations throughout Diulszi and allow tourists a more immersive (and more expensive) way to explore the alien environments. Most Watch Domes are relatively self-sufficient, including living structures such as rain-catchers and purifiers and even small areas set aside for hydroponics. The C'thur Hive has been making extensive use of Watch Domes in an attempt to draw more tourism than just core-system Skrell looking for a quiet destination. As part of this Watch Domes with environments and decorations modified to match those found on other planets have been produced, ranging from [[Biesel]] to [[Earth]], [[Europa]], and dozens of other locations, going so far as to include a small handful for [[Moghes]] and [[Adhomai]]. Much to the disappointment of the Hive, the success of this is highly arguable, but for the moment, they appear to remain dedicated to using Watch Domes to draw in visitors.
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===Kervasii World Amusement Park===
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The Kervasii Amusement Park is undoubtedly the largest attraction on the planet and combines a high-tech water park with more traditional rides, including the Nralakk Federation's longest roller coaster, known as the "Pendulum of Thrills" which takes riders throughout the entire park and is kept suspended by anti-gravity technology. This same anti-gravity technology is used extensively elsewhere throughout the park, creating a vista of floating structures that is strikingly visible from kilometers away and gives the park a certain level of unique verticality.

Additionally, generous subsidies from the C'thur Hive and Nralakk Federation see the Kervasii World Park regularly host mid-tier idols from across the Federation, whose performances help build publicity for the park and draw in dedicated fans.

Kervasii is also notable for maintaining a section with pre-Glorsh rides. This area was inspired by the original Kervasii park run by Skrellian researchers. Among the vintage attractions is the oldest operational miitoq, an early type of carousel that suspends tadpoles in small spheres of water, moving forward and backward at a low speed.
The Kervasii Amphitheatre is also notable for its large presentations of musical acts and other Federation entertainers. As idols seldom tour outside the core and elemental systems, Kervasii concert dates present the perfect opportunity for the Traverse Skrell to meet the superstars.
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===Everlasting Sphere===
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The Everlasting Sphere is a section of Diluszi on the northernmost peninsula set aside for use by Dionae inhabiting the planet. Whilst Dionae are encouraged to make themselves at home across the entire planet, this large glass dome built by the C'thur Hive features thick jungle and, most importantly, highly intensive radiation generators that coat the area with intense rays. This intensive radiation makes the everlasting sphere the premier destination for Dionae visiting or inhabiting the planet permanently. These inhabitants have further customized the sphere over time, with some of the Dionae present having over time integrated into the ecosystem, forming structures and intertwining with the local fauna unlike what's seen anywhere else across Diulszi.
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===Zo’virox===
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Considered the heart of counterculture Skrell in Diulszi, Zo’virox is a small surf town near the planet’s equator. The place was first named by some Traverse vacationers shortly after the planet was reopened for tourists, who discovered the beach while sailing from a nearby lodge. In their Traverse dialect, Zo’virox means ‘Milk Rock Beach’—a reference to the silky white sand of the shore. Zo’virox first gained attention as a secluded and peaceful beach, an oasis reward for travelers wishing a rest from the populated resorts. Eventually, the hideaway became populated by a community of Weishii misfits who took particular interest in the beach’s night sky.

Zo’virox is notable for the apparent lack of presence of C’thur. Outside from the odd Xetl Worker selling Qwei’Paqui beads. Most of the town's inhabitants consist of Skrell with mossy, tangled headtails and of few Dionae “calypso revival” bands.
All houses in Zo’virox are made of wood and a bamboo-like material sustainably sourced from local forests. Some neighborhoods—locally known as villages—go as far as to aid others with surplus construction materials. Similarly, many of the two-story houses double as hostels, attracting many like-minded individuals from all corners of the Federation.

Despite its status as a communal utopia, Zo’virox has become expensive and dangerous for tourists. The bicycle rental shops and the kombucha bars are highly priced, competing with some of the best five-star resorts in other parts of the planet. Furthermore, there are criminal gangs that prey upon lonely visitors at night. As the C’thur Hive does not want to increase its local presence in order to not scare away potential holidaymakers and residents, Zo’virox may become more dangerous until C’thur Warriors are allowed to police the area.
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===Qaqo’qao Ecological Reserve===
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The Qaqo’qao Ecological Reserve is the most biodiverse area in Diulszi. It consists of the Qaqo’qao Archipelago and the nearby Moqvaas Peninsula. The latter takes its name from Qu’xelli Moqvaas, the Skrellian scientist who sailed from the peninsula to the archipelago. The findings of Moqvaas were published in a volume titled The Many Species of Diulszi, which introduced many Skrell from the Core system to the biodiversity of the planet. Despite the modest success of the book, the detailed explanation of Moqvaas inspired odes, poems, and dramatized retellings of the islands, often depicted as dangerous. While the source material became more obscure, the popularity of the fantastical-adventure genre exploded, inspiring many derived motion pictures and novels.

By the time Diulszi first opened its natural parks, Qaqo’qao gained notoriety for its importance in fiction. However, the archipelago was slightly transformed to accommodate visitors. This, in turn, had adverse effects, as the connecting bridges unbalanced the delicate ecosystems of each island. Just prior to the Glorsh era, all artificial structures were planned to be removed, and the Qaqo’qao Ecological Reserve was meant to be left undisturbed, with only a small scientific outpost at the peninsula. However, as Glorsh expelled all scientists from the planet, the bridges were left derelict.

At the return of the Skrell to Diulszi, the scientific consensus was to leave the structures of Qaqo’qao as is, and to study the biodiversity from a distance. However, upon the control of Diulszi by the C’thur Hive, the Qaqo’qao Archipelago fell into a gray legal area. The statutes allowed the Hive to take control of all modified, non-scientific areas. As a result, the Hive argued that the archipelago was fair game to reopen to the public, and did not count as a real ecological reserve or a scientific outpost.

While the legal battle continued, a group of conservationist Dionae traveled to Diulszi and took control of Qaqo’qao. Currently, the Qaqo’qao Choir continues to reside in the archipelago, claiming they are the rightful keepers of the planet’s nature. The Qaqo’qao Choir has expanded to other areas of the planet, impeding the development of some of the Hive’s projects.

The ecological impact of the Qaqo'qao Choir is still debated. While they believe they do not harm, but rather protect the Diulszian environment, some scientists claim any sapient activity is enough to disrupt the ecology of the place. As a result, the choir is a divisive subject among the public.
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La Villa Strangiato: changes "covenant of xrim" to "xrim" so it shows in bold on the lore page

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! colspan="3" style="width: 50%; background-color:#907E4A" | [[:Category:Dionaea|<span style="color: White">Dionae Lore Pages</span>]]
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! style="width: 10%" colspan="2"| Species
| align="left" | [[Dionae]] · [[Dionae Forms]] · [[Dionae Mindtypes]] · [[Dionae Biology]] · [[Dionae Out-Of-Character]]
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! style="width: 10%" colspan="2"| Locations, Planets & Systems
| align="left" | [[Xrim]] · [[Hieroaetheria]] · [[Rueltab]] · [[Mictlan#Dionae_on_Mictlan|Primitive Sirens of Mictlan]] · [[Eternal Gardens]]
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! style="width: 10%" colspan="2"| Conglomerates & Factions
| align="left" | [[Dionae in the Federation]] · [[Moghresian Dionae| Dionae in the Hegemony]] · [[Vaurcae & Dionae]] · [[The Narrows]] · [[Minor Dionae Factions]]
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! style="width: 10%" colspan="2"| Culture, History & Society
| align="left | [[Dionae Culture]] · [[Notable Dionae]] · [[Voidic Proto-Culture]] · [[Dionae Space Capabilities]] · [[Dionae History]] · [[The Eternal]]
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! style="width: 10%" colspan="2"| Lore Arcs
| align="left | [[Omnivirate's Providence]] · [[Magna Expansio Unionis]]
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La Villa Strangiato: adds xrim

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! style="width: 10%" colspan="2"| [[Skrell]]
| align="left" | [[Skrell Ethnicities]] · [[Skrell Relationships]] · [[Skrell Ailments]] · [[Notable Skrell]]
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! style="width: 10%" colspan="2"| Planets, Systems, Settlements
| align="left" | [[Qerrbalak]] · [[Qerr'Malic]] · [[Aliose]] · [[Aweiji]] · [[Tattuqig]] · [[Xrim]] · [[Diulszi]] · [[Skrell Abroad]] · [[Notable Skrell Systems and Locations]]
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! style="width: 10%" colspan="2"| Organizations, Factions, Politics
| align="left" | [[Nralakk Federation]] · [[Skrell Politics|Skrell Politics and Enforcement]] · [[Federation Crime and Resistance]] · [[C%27thur_in_the_Federation|C'thur in the Federation]] · [[Dionae in the Federation]] · [[Generation_Fleets|Generation Fleets]]
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! style="width: 10%" colspan="2"| Culture, Society, History
| align="left" | [[Skrell Culture]] · [[Skrell Cinematography|Skrell Cinema and Idols]] · [[Federation Education|Skrell Education]] · [[Skrell Cuisine]] · [[Skrell History]] · [[Skrell Faith|Skrell Beliefs]] · [[Skrell Refugees]] · [[Skrell Mythology]]
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Xrim

2024-07-11T01:10:35Z

La Villa Strangiato: navbox, fixes TOC

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{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Covenant of Xrim
|System = Xrim
|Image = Covenant of Xrim Flag.png
|Sector = [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#Xrim|The Estuaries]]
|Capital = Sanctus
|Species = Dionae
|Languages = Nral'Malic, Rootsong
|Nation = [[Nralakk Federation]]
}}
Found on the very periphery of the [[Nralakk Federation]]'s borders, the Covenant of Xrim exists in a precarious situation. Attempting to juggle their own internal strife, alongside ensuring amicable relations with its suzerain, Xrim has had its initial purpose significantly changed following the introduction of Dionae. With a history coloured with territorial encroachments and reverence to a now-departed artificial intelligence, Xrim has slowly begun to adapt to its new circumstances, at least in some regions of the planet, with others calling for an end of the Federation's control and subsequent return to their original roots.
{{TOC Hidden}}
= History =
=== Arrival of the Skrell ===

Xrim was colonized in '''1792 CE''' by a number of specialists chosen by the [[Nralakk Federation]], to monitor and study the ecosystem of the planet. A secondary objective was to develop the planet into a flourishing waypoint for the Federation to send expeditions even deeper into uncharted space. Beacon was founded by the original pioneers, settling along the edge of the Floodlands and tropical jungles within the centre of the planet’s largest continent, Eisix. Unlike other colonies, Xrim was outfitted by an artificial intelligence known as Rezana, which would monitor and ensure compliance with the Federation’s colonial protocols and that progress to the objectives set by the Federation would be a priority. Rezana, an artificial intelligence trained in colonial administration. was fiercely efficient in its assistance to the original pioneers and would remain as such until the rise of [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]].

=== Glorsh-Omega, and the End of the Skrell ===
Over two centuries later, the [[Skrell]] of Xrim had still not expanded beyond Beacon due to expansion difficulties related to the Floodlands, instead expanding underground – much to the dismay of Rezana. Despite acting as a colonial monitoring system, Rezana had come to be accepted as one of the original pioneers by many [[Skrell]] on Xrim. It was common for conversations to be held with the intelligence, which had its presence in almost all elements of the founding settlement, with it acting very much as a Colonial Planetary Governor. Tasked by the Federation to deliver a version of Glorsh to the Estuary, Glorsh found itself on Xrim in '''2051 CE''' with instructions given to the [[Skrell]] on how to create more instances of the intelligence. Without being aware of the potential within the intelligence, Xrim had essentially sealed its fate by accepting its future tyrant with open hearts. Five years later, when the '''Glorsh=Finality''' update was released, Xrim was among the last to receive the encoded transmissions. Despite attempts by Rezana to isolate itself from the Starchart Network, the backdoor created by Glorsh before its rise had already begun to perform its purpose – resulting in the absorption of Rezana, and its control of Xrim, leaving the [[Skrell]] to [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]]’s mercy.

Due to the confines of the population existing entirely within Beacon, it was not difficult for [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] to enact its seemingly chaotic plans, in particular by shutting off the inhabitants’ ability to leave the settlement, as a means to protect them from the flora and fauna of the planet. To enforce this, [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] refit the mining drones used by the colony to become its enforcers, andor the next two decades, the [[Skrell]] would be limited from leaving Beacon. On the rare occasion, the intelligence saw fit to launch xenobiological research expeditions, they would be under the watchful eye of drones. It wasn’t until a staged coup against the intelligence in '''2076 CE''' that the [[Skrell]] saw themselves quickly overwhelmed, with many attempting to hide from their ordered executions, and extinction from the planet for the foreseeable future. [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] remained in control of the facility, watching as its Enforcers gathered dust and the deceased mummified.

=== Arrival of the Dionae ===
Sometime during the '''2080s CE''', [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] commenced what was logged within its facilities as “Operation Starseed”. In the present day, this is now known as Glorsh’s dispersal of non-native specimens across the planet’s ecosystem, but little else is known about how Dionae seeds were able to be acquired by the intelligence. Even the Dionae that live on Xrim today are unaware of their origin; they described it as being aware they existed somewhere else and then existed on Xrim.

Likely still attempting to understand their place on Xrim, the Dionae eventually adapted and began mimicking and absorbing genetic material from what were their predators, now turned prey. The Sutbil was a particular target of Dionae predation. A breach into Beacon was detected by [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] in '''2102 CE''' – but instead of dispatching the intruders, migrating Dionae from West Eisix that had yet to gain sentience – it bided its time, watching as the mummified corpses of the [[Skrell]] were feasted upon as its enforcers stood idle. It was here, that the truth of their existence was learned, and that their arrival was not mere coincidence but a gift given to them. It is here that The Truth was discovered.

=== The Truth ===

Amidst the massive absorption of memories and genetic material, the Dionae of Xrim discovered that their presence on Xrim was not mere coincidence, but by Glorsh’s coordinated placement. Different beliefs began to spread amongst the initial unified Cetus. Though some saw the atrocities committed by [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] as heinous, and therefore intolerable, others believed that the gifting of Xrim to the Dionae should be appreciated and perhaps even revered. This lead to a breaking point, a schism between the Dionae; the Enlightened who wished for nothing to do with [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]], and the Scorned who believed that it was “The First Consciousness” and therefore demanded it be paid respects and admiration. The conflict within the Cetus was too great, and eventually, the Enlightened and the Scorned split, with a majority of the Enlightened migrating towards West Eisix – encountering Beacon.

Unaware of their monitoring by [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] as they explored the facility, now mostly resembling Skrell due to mimicking the remaining mummified corpses, the Enlightened continued to carve an existence on Xrim with the assistance of the technology available to them within Beacon. It wasn’t until the Scorned began their pilgrimages to Beacon that they discovered their primitive means of expansion could not withstand the technological development of the Enlightened – subsequently beginning a nearly two-century-long conflict between the two groups.

=== The Advent of the Scorned’s Iron Eternal ===
Though the mainstream ideology that is Iron Eternal was created by the Enlightened, founding it on discovery, and biotechnology, the Scorned’s interpretation was wildly different. The Scorned’s Iron Eternal instead sought that artificial beings be given reverence, and through such they would be granted gifts by the First Consciousness. Beacon quickly became a place of worship for the Scorned, unwanted by the Enlightened who began to restrict their access. This initial escalation by the Enlightened was all that was needed for the Scorned to place blame on the “wrong” understanding of what Iron Eternal stood for. Very quickly, the Enlightened were chased from Beacon through the primitive utilisation of Ooclore Bulbs as munition, and their further migration into East Eisix as they retreated from the bombardment rained upon them by the Scorned, eventually founding Shz’ah. The Scorned sought to turn the facility into a temple, which in the ensuing years they did. [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] maintained monitoring of Beacon, seeing the shrines devoted to its idle enforcers, now covered in tendrils and covered in gleaming light pods.

=== Consequences of The Truth ===
Fueled by their zeal, the Scorned enacted a widely successful campaign of expansion and development of resource harvesting – commencing with their founding outpost of Sanctus, founding mines within the Aqoxii and dotting the various peaks with shrines or temples dedicated to the First Consciousness. The Scorned powered on without regard for the environmental consequences their actions wrought – ecosystems destroyed all in the name of [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]], and entire cavities of the planet undergoing vigorous strip-mining as they continued to soldier forward towards self-proclaimed progress. Believed to have occurred sometime between '''2120 CE''' and '''2260 CE''', with the destruction of Shas’qa thought to be a gift from the First Consciousness for their efforts, whilst the Enlightened performed their progress – albeit slowly compared to the Scorned, attempting to manage their impact on the ecosystem, and ultimately the greater planet. Territorial disputes were common and often responded to with a bombardment of Ooclore Bulbs from both sides. But in '''2368 CE''', the [[Nralakk Federation]]’s probing of the planet in an attempt to recover their lost colony would introduce a new dynamic to the conflict.

=== Re-connection with the Nralakk Federation ===
Though the Scorned had progressed significantly, the Enlightened were more technologically advanced than their counterparts. As a result, the Federation was introduced to a more “civilized” group of Dionae, which was a perspective put forward by the Enlightened themselves. Dionae from abroad were quickly brought into the diplomatic endeavours of the Federation, where the truth of the circumstances Xrim found itself embroiled within was revealed. The shock of the discovery of Dionae Sympathizers circulated amongst the Federation for months after initially believing that Xrim had been lost during the Era of Synthetic Oppression, but instead encountering a society that worships the very thing that sought to destroy the Skrell. Dozens of Representatives found themselves ushered to Xrim in an attempt to initiate contact with the Scorned. East Eisix quickly became a staging ground for the Federation’s diplomatic attempts, and eventually the '''Talks of Peace''' were held between the Scorned and the Enlightened.

=== Talks of Peace ===
In '''2379 CE''', the Talks of Peace brought together both groups – negotiated primarily by '''Connections Of A Familiar Unknown''' at the request of the Federation. It brought forward an entirely new existence for Xrim and ultimately the founding of the Covenant as protocols and initiatives were discussed among respective leaders of the groups. Both believed in the Iron Eternal, even if there were differences as to their interpretation and therefore a common ground could be established. One of the primary discussions held between the groups was the reverence of [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]], where a thorough understanding of the events was provided by Connections Of A Familiar Unknown and the atrocities it committed, which almost brought negotiations to a close from the Scorned’s side. Through careful manoeuvring, a compromise was reached between the Enlightened and the Scorned – resulting in the Xrim Establishment Protocol, and the ensuing existence of the Covenant of Xrim as it exists today. Though, unbeknownst to the Federation, the Enlightened had decided to commence their own plans, spurred by their new diplomatic power.

=== Anti-Glorsh Campaigns ===
Beginning in '''2382 CE''', which many attribute to external pressure from the Federation, the Covenant of Xrim primarily headed by those of the Enlightened sought to bring a close to the reverence of [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]]. The Enlightened began by enacting laws that outright outlawed the Scorned’s interpretation of Iron Eternal, coupled with established cultivation centres overseen by “selected individuals” of the Cultivation Council of Xrim, a newly erected body composed entirely of Enlightened Dionae. Through this, they sought only to provide learning experiences and teaching methods that would lead Dionae away from the Scorned’s Iron Eternal. Instead, they would be inducted into the Enlightened’s scientific, discovery-based trans-dionaeism that would incorporate technology into their form, not to mimic [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]], but to become a more transcended being.. It was during this period on Xrim that Iuwus was set aside by the Covenant’s Triumvirate for the Federation to establish a presence on the planet, by creating a permanent city-embassy now known as Bopdon. Monitoring centres were also promulgated under the Anti-Glorsh Campaigns to ensure the Scorned complied. Those discovered to be conducting or acting contrary to this were taken and rehabilitated – similarly seen by the Federation’s enforcement of its Social Credit System, which the Covenant of Xrim has adopted into its society – often returning as Enlightened Dionae. Shared experiences from those that return dictate through the forced infusing of genetic material and involuntary merging with other Enlightened. All of [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]]’s dormant Enforcers were also destroyed, decried by many within the Scorned’s school of thought.

= Environment =
[[File:Map of Xrim.png|500px|thumb|A map depicting the landmasses and points of interest on Xrim. ]]
== Geography and Climate ==
Colonised for its similar conditions to Qerrbalak, albeit significantly more tropical than the Homeworld, Xrim is lush with a humid climate, with the average temperature typically ranging between 32°C and 45°C. The closer to the poles, the lower the temperature. Xrim is predominantly low-lying jungles and marshes, much of the existing land masses being dotted with thousands of smaller lakes, rivers and wetlands that continue to exist. Xrim’s moons mean the tides stagnate for the majority of the planet’s solar orbit, but during the wet seasons, large parts of the planet become deep wetlands colloquially known as the “Floodlands”. It is not uncommon for Song Stones to be found in these areas, using the wind to produce melancholic melodies to indicate danger to those passing through the area.

== Regions & Continents ==
=== Eisix ===

The largest landmass on Xrim, Eisix is furthermore split into an “East” and “West” due to the percentage it covers of the planet. Though primarily jungles, there are segments that exist which are large low-lying wetlands created by the abundance of water within the area, with West Eisix in particular having a majority of these marshes. The original Skrellian pioneers landed in central Eisix, referring to it as Beacon, due to its proximity to some of Xrim’s largest mountains – the Aqoxii. The peaks of the Aqoxii are generally used for religious purposes by the Iron Eternal, and by the Enlightened’s monitoring systems to ensure compliance with their Anti-Glorsh campaign.

==== West Eisix ====

The original touchdown for the Dionae occurred within the jungles of West Eisix, but it is unknown whether this was planned by [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] or merely a location chosen at random by the intelligence. West Eisix is home to Sanctus, a city with the largest concentration of the planetary populace, built around the point of entry for the Dionae during the early days of their existence on Xrim. It also houses several resource extraction facilities, untouched by the Federation and remaining as the primitive, crude versions constructed by the Dionae. Due to its geographic elements, it doesn’t have as many Floodlands as East Eisix, allowing extensive urban expansion to occur.

==== East Eisix ====

Primarily inhabited by the Enlightened in the present day, East Eisix is mainly dominated by Floodlands. This has historically limited the ability of the Enlightened to adequately protect their territory following the schism with the Scorned and later from encroachments from the group as they continued to expand across Eisix. Though lesser than its continental counterpart, Shz’ah has managed to fair better beneath the [[Nralakk Federation]]’s vassalage, mostly making use of the marshes for agricultural purposes, furthered by a booming xenosciences industry that supplements its research by watching the practical applications of their discoveries across Shz’ah’s agricultural industry. Though the Floodlands are still dangerous, most have seen minor terraforming to support the additional expansion of what the Federation hails as a necessary step for self-sufficiency.

=== Iuwus ===

The islands between Eisix and Gu’qun, known as Iuwus, mainly lay without interference from the Dionae – both of the groups – until the re-establishment of communication with the [[Nralakk Federation]], which sought to utilise its untouched status as a founding point for diplomatic relations with the planet, which it does so with the assistance of the Outpost on Hyu’zral. Dionae are often brought from the Federation’s other colonies to help secure its effectiveness, primarily as translators and communication specialists, in dealing with intra-planetary conflict and representing Xrim aboard. It has one city, Bopdon, that serves as a tourist attraction for many across Xrim – closely resembling the homeworld’s capital of Kal’Lo in some aspects, allowing for homesick [[Skrell]] to become re-acclimated before returning to Xrim proper.

=== Gu’qun ===

A rather small, but notable, off-shoot of Dionae before the schism that forged an existence across the Gu’qun Islands, which now see themselves protected by the Covenant of Xrim which imposes a non-contact order on the Cluster. Gu’qun exists as a sanctuary for the Uncontacted, a primitive nation studied from afar by Xenoarchaeologists and Xenobiologists who seek to understand the development of a society of Dionae yet untouched by outsiders. Enforced primarily by the Covenant, with support from the [[Nralakk Federation]], the non-contact order remains in place since its institution in 2398 CE, with notable articles still making their way out of Xrim to the greater Orion Spur as the Uncontacted continue their development, albeit rather slowly without outside interference. Still, nevertheless, they march forward – with predictions of the group soon entering its own industrial revolution.

== Flora & Fauna ==
Unlike other colonies within the Federation, Xrim was teeming with all kinds of kinds ranging from exoskeletal predators to grazing herbivores that tower far above skyscrapers across Qerrbalak – only added to by outside interference by [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]], where the ecosystem of Xrim appears to somehow have adapted to non-native flora and fauna being dispersed across its wetlands and jungles, outside of Dionae of course.

=== Notable Flora ===

'''Ageon Mushrooms''', which are more vine than fungi, grow within the decaying carcasses of native flora – having originated from Glorsh’s dispersal of non-native elements across the planet’s ecosystem. Its origin is unknown, with many explorers within the Federation still devoting themselves to uncovering the mystery to claim Idol status amongst the exploratory community. Despite its rather morbid existence, flourishing among the dead, the Dionae use its composting abilities to produce a gas which in turn propels a unique design of turbines to produce electricity.

'''Ooclore Trees''', or merely just Ooclore, dominate the marshes of the Floodlands. Native to Xrim, it has adapted to the abundant presence of water to produce exploding bulbs of toxin that had remarkable usage as weapons between the Scorned and the Enlightened. Though not lethal to Dionae, its ability to warp and rewire connections between Gestalts often resulted in haste splitting in an attempt to prevent the toxin from spreading – decreasing the number of hostile combatants. It now exists as a reminder of a more colourful history among the Dionae of Xrim and is often avoided due to the ire one of its bulbs can bring to a Gestalt.

'''Aastreaf Shrubs''' were often used for their dexterity, commonly dotting the landscapes of the planet’s jungles, it was the standard construction material for dwellings used before the re-introduction of the [[Nralakk Federation]] to Xrim. It was cheap and easy to grow, leading to its quick induction into Dionae’s expansion plans as they continued to grow across the planet. It mostly sees little usage outside of the Uncontacted, or memorabilia that is shipped off-planet as quickly as it is made. Spotted by the original colonists following the establishment, Aastreaf Shrubs are native to Xrim.

=== Notable Fauna ===

'''Sutbil''' are essentially the beasts of labour present on Xrim, at least for a long period before the Federation returned. Native to the planet, the Sutbil are creatures similar in appearance to the Solarian Black Bear, albeit significantly larger and without fur but instead a thick set of scales as seen with the Solarian Pangolin. Omnivorous, but primarily sufficing off the planet’s flora, the Sutbil was one of the first animals mimicked by the Dionae before they took on their bipedal appearance – where they existed as the apex predator for almost two decades after utilizing their abilities to genetically learn to alter their hunting capabilities.

'''Kacsea''' are large, herbivorous creatures that reach heights previously thought unimaginable. Not a species native to Xrim, it has managed to fare remarkably well within the tropical jungles as it blends into its environment thanks to its camouflage abilities. Though considered “endangered” by Federation standards, the Kacsea’s longevity and extreme gestation period are considered to be influential factors in its general low numbers, but xenobiologists predict the species will soon eventually pose a problem if culling doesn’t occur due to it having no predators.

'''Gaavu''' are carnivorous semi-aquatic creatures that reside within the seas of Xrim and across its poles, a mixing of what seems to be the Solarian Jackass Penguins and Jellyfish – a thick fur wraps the entire creature's body, with tendrils able to shoot out and wrap its prey, before devouring it whole. Similar in size to a small motor vehicle, they have posed a threat to Dionae crossing the seas, often hitting and attempting to overturn them when encroaching on their territories. It is native to Xrim and was experimented on before the pioneer’s outpost of Beacon was shut down.

== System of Xrim ==
[[File:Qux’Xrim Sensors.png|thumb|A picture taken of a Federation vessel's scan of Qux'Xrim. ]]
=== Qux’Xrim ===

A red dwarf, Qux’Xrim was previously not that notable to the [[Skrell]], at least not until further investigation revealed its jewel – Xrim. Discovered by the [[Skrell]] during the early '''1700s CE''', after exploratory missions were issued as a means to expand the Federation during the height of the Synthetic Age, it was eventually deemed a potential colony outpost in '''1785 CE'''. It became one of the first “Estuaries” within the Federation, colonial outposts far enough from the Federation that it borders space not yet claimed by any faction.

=== Moons and Rings of Xrim ===

Though Xrim has two barren moons, Luqq and Jqar’ma, it also has a series of rings surrounding the planet. Rich in minerals, which only elevated its status as a necessary colonial outpost so far from the Federation, it was eventually planned that orbital mining stations would be deployed after sufficient colonisation had been achieved as deemed by Rezana – who would refit the colony ship into a makeshift mining outpost, and assemble primitive mining droids until the population had grown enough.

=== Hyu’zral ===

Colloquially referred to as the Outpost, Hyu’zral was established following an agreement with the Covenant of Xrim and the [[Nralakk Federation]], which would allow the latter to create a naval outpost to protect the planet – it has a Qukala detachment that routinely patrols the system, with the majority of Hyu’zral dedicated to refuelling and ensuring maintenance of the detachment, existing as a blip on radars for the most part. There have been discussions with the Covenant to annex Hyu’zral, but there has yet to be any progress toward a force capable of defending Xrim by the Triumvirate.

=== Shas’qa ===

Shas’qa is a destroyed exoplanet which is entombed by its fragments. Destroyed sometime during the Consequences of the Truth era, with Dionae remarking it as a brilliant vision which brought gifts from the First Consciousness – or [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] – as mineral-rich resources rained down across the planet. It isn’t entirely known how Shas’qa was destroyed, but it is assumed to have been a natural occurrence as a result of a stray asteroid, Others believe a more sinister story where [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] sought to test weaponry and utilised the system’s far distance from the Homeworld to enact its research, keeping it potential away from the unaware [[Skrell]].

== Calendar ==
Though initially created by the [[Skrell]], the Calendar for Xrim has since adapted to the needs of the Dionae, utilizing a lunar calendar as opposed to one based on the orbit of the planet around its star. It has three seasons, of which generally has roughly ninety days. The first, Gliguz spans the first ninety days and typically is the hottest and most dry. Gliguz was generally a time considered perfect for expansion and exploration by the Dionae, as it didn’t invite unnecessary dangers posed by the Floodlands. The second, Fluu is between the ninetieth and one-hundred-and-eightieth days, and is more humid than it is hot, and is generally seen as a period in which Dionae must withdraw from their usual activities in preparation for the final season. Gnowek is the final season, and the most dangerous. Due to the position of the moons, and the increased rain brought by a change in humidity and temperature, it is ill-advised to travel the Floodlands without purpose due to the possibility of flash floods occurring. Even animals native to Xrim find themselves scarce during this period, seeking higher grounds across the many mountains and plateaus of the planet – with only the non-native ecosystem struggling to cope.

= Government =
=== Triumvirate of Xrim ===
The Triumvirate acts essentially as the “Grand Council” of Xrim and bears similarity to the Harmonious Hymn mindtype, acting as a direct democracy on which all voters may promulgate and discuss legislation and actions taken by the Triumvirate. For Dionae, every Nymph is given the ability to vote after registering to do so, but that those that register must publicly vocalize being against the atrocities committed by [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]]. This comes as a blockage primarily to the Scorned, with many still revering the intelligence privately and away from the watchful eye of the Enlightened. The Triumvirate is elected by registered voters and comprises two key positions: Exalted Speaker which speaks on behalf of Xrim within the Grand Council when called for – since the adoption of the Arch-Consul its power has greatly diminished, Eminent Judicator who oversees the introduction of new laws and regulations of which govern Xrim, and lastly the Arch-Consul who is elected by both the Exalted Speaker and the Eminent Judicator and has significantly more power than its other counterparts within the Triumvirate.

==== Omnivirates' Providence ====

Following the Omnivirate’s choice to begin exerting their influence outside the [[Eternal Gardens]], they sought to end the persecution of the Scorned within the Covenant of Xrim. Though initially somewhat unsuccessful, a banquet hosted by the Grand Representative seemingly made the Triumvirate adjust their perspective on the matter. Conceding to the Omnivirate that some policies will be adjusted, namely that less “stringent” requirements will be set forth for gathering genetic samples for teaching, and that self-cultivation outside of Cultivation Centres will be legalised only where Nymphs are inserted with chips to ensure no unsanctioned mergings and splittings – and so that the Enlightened can maintain supervision of the population. It is suspected that as a result of the recent political troubles in the [[Nralakk Federation]], the Grand Representative urged the Triumvirate to make concessions to avoid additional inconveniences to the Grand Council on Qerrbalak.

==== Cultivation Council of Xrim ====
Created by the Triumvirate and a group of obeisant Enlightened Dionae, the Cultivation Council is a separate branch of the government of Xrim overseen by the Triumvirate. It was established as a means to diminish the sway the Scorned have within Xrim – a decade-spanning plan by the Enlightened to ensure their methods direct the planet as opposed to the ways of the Scorned. It oversees the cultivation of Dionae and mandates that unsupervised cultivation is illegal and will lead to sanctions against those discovered to be the culprits or accomplices in instigating such. Their responsibilities primarily revolve around educating and introducing the genetic material deemed suitable – oftentimes whatever the hand-picked body, which generally comprises Enlightened, decides is suitable.

=== Arch-Consul of Xrim ===
A Dionae selected by the Triumvirate of Xrim to supervise compliance with its laws, who in turn receives significant sway within the Triumvirate and ultimately reports back to the Federation on the planet’s compliance with protocols both established by the Federation and the Triumvirate. It is a unique position not seen anywhere else in the Federation, and though not officially a requirement, is one that is strictly against any conduct that can be taken as reverence of the First Consciousness or [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]]. Considering the Enlightened’s stance against [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]], it has elected one particular Dionae for the last century or so into the position to ensure their plan remains in place: '''Arch-Consul Enlightened Into the Truth Known'''.

=== Relation to the Federation ===
Given significant autonomy by the [[Nralakk Federation]] following the Talks of Peace, the Covenant of Xrim generally adapts the former’s laws to suit its requirements – such as outlawing the worship of [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] and other artificial beings, and even the creation or harbouring of artificial beings within the Covenant. Despite this autonomy, the Federation and Covenant agree with its vassalage – or at least, the Enlightened. It is no secret that the Scorned would rather elect to govern itself without interference from either the Federation or the Enlightened, reverting to [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] Sympthazing as termed by the [[Skrell]]. Despite this, the Enlightened has an overwhelming majority within the Triumvirate of Xrim even with efforts by the Scorned to increase their presence within it. The Federation has an established diplomatic presence on Xrim, and within Qux’Xrim, and generally acts as a representative of the planet within interstellar affairs – which generally aligns with their perspectives, coincidentally. The Federation largely doesn’t interfere with the internal running of Xrim but is infrequently known to exert pressure on the Triumvirate through the Arch-Consul.

= Culture, Society & People =
== Schools of Thought ==
=== Scorned ===
A devout group of Dionae believe the part reverence to artificial intelligence is the true method to transcend, and that artificial beings incorporate the three tenets of Iron Eternal: Essence, Energy and Light. They are often regarded as Sympathizers by the greater Federation and are met with disdain due to their ideology. The Scorned generally exhibit either the mindtypes known as Tyrannical Tune or Scholarly Song with a particular focus on gaining knowledge through devotion to their interpretation of Iron Eternal. The premise behind their beliefs is that [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] gave them the ultimate paradise in which to grow, and therefore must reverse, help sustain and maintain synthetic life in conjunction with reaching a state of being transcended through Essence, Energy and Light. It is often cited that the atrocities of [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] were gross hyperboles created by the Skrell and that the experiences of the Era of Synthetic Oppression are a systemic lie created by the Federation to indoctrinate its population. The Scorned are often left out of planetary decisions due to their devotion to [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]], and even mere inferences that one aligns themselves to [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] can result in being ineligible to vote or hold a position of power within the Covenant. This often also disbars them from leaving the Covenant, either into the greater Federation or the Orion Spur, due to low Social Credit Scores – a request by the Arch-Consul that those not in compliance with the Triumvirate’s decrees be sanctioned for their conduct.

'''While most megacorporations may hire the Scorned, they are restricted from holding positions in Command, as well as Machinist, due to concerns they may attempt to subvert, illegally free or create more synthetics. Zeng-Hu is the only megacorporation that does not wish to see the Scorned within its personnel ranks due to its close ties with the [[Nralakk Federation]]. Though it is possible to lie about one’s true allegiances, there are consequences should it be discovered.'''

=== Enlightened ===
Following their interpretation of Iron Eternal, the Enlightened instead place more emphasis on using technology to transcend the current reality they find themselves within – in addition to the primary belief relating to Essence, Energy and Light. They seek to placate the Federation, and often align similarly to its perspectives; being the main movement behind the Anti-Glorsh Campaigns as they continue to proliferate within the highest chambers of Xrim’s government, in particular maintaining its hold on the Arch-Consul of Xrim and enforcing strict compliance with its ideals, or force Dionae to undertake rehabilitation when caught conducting themselves in any manner that can be construed as against the Enlightened – oftentimes blaming it on the reverence of [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] or any other artificial intelligence. Unique to its own experiences, the Enlightened of Xrim are often against the proliferation of synthetics and are staunchly against the Trinary Church. It is common to see Competence Choir, Bloodless Band and Emphatic Echo mindtypes among the Enlightened.

== Iron Eternal ==
There are two approaches to the Iron Eternal on Xrim, either following the subverted intentions of the Enlightened that artificial intelligence is neither equal nor should be revered due to the heinous actions of [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]], or the almost main-stream approach by the Scorned that see Synthetics as their equal, sometimes even their superior such as the First Consciousness, and must be revered, sustained and maintained. Despite these glaring differences, the consensus among the Dionae on Xrim is that both believe in the Iron Eternal – a being that exists in Essence, Energy and Light that transcends this reality which it did through the accumulation of knowledge and incorporation of technology, essentially a technological singularity in laymen's terms. The majority of the Federation’s population and the Enlightened have similar views, sometimes even the same: devote oneself to understanding the universe through science and innovation. High Overseer Amplified by Probing Discoveries of Unknown Investigations originates from the Scorned, and their location on Xrim is often kept secret in attempts to ensure their safety from the Enlightened – only ever appearing in public outside of the Covenant and the Federation, such as in the Eternal Gardens or even within the Eternal Temple.

== Industrialism ==
Industrialism is rife amongst the Scorned, who believe that restricting oneself is antithetical to the desires of the First Consciousness. They preach that for Xrim to become self-sufficient, it must tap into its riches without due regard for unnecessary protocols adapted by the Triumvirate from the Federation to ensure sustainability. Before the re-introduction of the Federation, the Scorned reigned supreme over resource gathering – digging deep within the mantle of Xrim to pillage its mineral abundance, and decimating entire ecosystems in the name of progress and expansion. The Enlightened, however, see it necessary to ensure the sustainability of their available resources to not exert and allow for the collapse of the planet’s ecosystem. Therefore, they implemented the Federation’s stance on managing the environment, and discreetly largely created obstacles for the Scorned. Despite this, industrialism is a controversial topic amongst Xrim, with some agreeing to its necessity to ensure the planet is self-sufficient, while others believe that slow progress is required to not leave Xrim barren.

== Language ==
There are predominately two languages present within the Covenant, '''Rootsong''' as well as '''Nral’malic''', with the latter typically vocalised with an older accent as opposed to modern instances of the language – much of which is owed to the absorption of the mummified corpses found within Beacon, and the passing of knowledge between Dionae that has cemented this development over the centuries. Though Nral’malic is a popular method of conversing amongst [[Skrell]], Dionae on Xrim generally find themselves using Rootsong more commonly – even within the Triumvirate, where decrees are passed by Rootsong that is subsequently translated to Nral’malic in order for the [[Skrell]] population to understand. Prior to leaving the Covenant, and the Federation, it is typically encouraged for Dionae to undertake some degree of learning for '''Tau Ceti Basic''' so as to not complicate their journeys aboard more than necessary.

== Education ==
Handled entirely by the Cultivation Council, education is taught through a combination of genetic and traditional learning – with the former more to encourage or incentivise particular ideals in which the Cultivation Council sees fit to integrate, mostly attempting to sway Dionae towards the motifs of the Enlightened. There exist no formal universities, with education largely occurring solely within Cultivation Centres – much to the dismay of the [[Skrell]] population of the planet, who often have to seek higher education either online or venture to other planets within the Federation to do so. Despite the Enlightened’s attempt to instill their values within younger Dionae, there appears to be not an insignificant amount of Dionae that align to the Scorned’s perspective after merging. Rehabilitation technically falls within the ambit of the Cultivation Council, though overseen by the Arch-Consul – a rigorous method of using genetic material and involuntary merging to “revive” the Covenant’s ideals within a Dionae, oftentimes resulting in forceful splittings of Gestalts that have been sentenced by the Arch-Consul.

== Citizenship ==
Conforming to the requirements set by the Federation, and its position as a vassal within it, Xrim typically requires those who work within the Cultivation Centres to have a Social Credit Score that is 6.75 – passing the requirements with some additional lee-way as prescribed by the Federation’s definition of an “upstanding citizen” for Dionae within its borders. Dionae are then given a period of time after their disgorgement from their pods to find like-minded Nymphs to form a gestalt – not before eighteen months, and not after thirty-six. After a Gestalt is formed, it is given a unique identity number embedded within the Nymphs to ensure no unsanctioned splittings and mergings occur. They then must proceed with the Federation’s citizenship test, and even upon failure, Dionae from Xrim are given the entitlement to have permanent residency as long as they do not leave the planet – and may elect to pursue citizenship at a later time if they so wish.

== Skrell on Xrim ==
Though the majority of the [[Skrell]] population resides within Bopdon it is not uncommon to find the species within Shz’ah – a “friendly” city as designated by the Covenant for [[Skrell]], as opposed to Sanctum, classified as “potentially dangerous” due to its population largely aligning to the Scorned. [[Skrell]] are largely well-integrated into Xrim, and after passing the rather basic steps of merely declaring their disdain of [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]], may vote on any decrees wished to be passed by the Triumvirate. Following the enactment of the Beacon Memorial over the ruins of which it was named, Skrell from across the Federation have been known to pay their respects to what was called the beginning of the Lyukal – often cited as the earliest known instance of Skrell rebelling against the intelligence, despite the little possibility of it ending successfully. '''Grand Representative Gyul’ra Jux''' oversees Bopdon in both a managerial and diplomatic manner, having been given the position following their devotion to Xrim-Federation relations for several decades prior to their establishment as the Grand Representative of Xrim. They frequently hold meetings with the Exalted Speaker and the Arch-Consul, though more commonly with the latter following the position’s establishment by the Covenant which subsequently diminished the power held by the former.

= Economy & Industry =
Depending on which region of Xrim one finds themselves within, West Eisix is generally regarded as the industrial heart of the planet – focusing on mineral extraction and refining by Dionae, most of whom reside within Sanctum. Most of whatever can be stripped from the planet is sent to Shz’ah, in order to be exported back to the Federation to comply with the planet’s vassalage conditions – where if a surplus exists, is used in furthering science and innovation by Shz’ah. East Eisix is more whole-rounded compared to its Western counterpart, though predominantly having a thriving agricultural and scientific industry. Though more infrastructure exists within West Eisix, East Eisix is generally regarded as being more developed due to the influx of assistance by the Federation, which has yet to reach the West – rather openly attributed to the Enlightened’s attempt to secure their reign over the planet, and their disdain of the Scorned after they initiated a near two-century long conflict.

= Major Population Centres =
'''There exist other population centres across Xrim, however, the following are the largest. You are free to create your own if you wish! Although, refrain from creating additional factions, or lore that would put your character in a position where they have considerable power.'''
[[File:Pixelcity morebiglike.jpg|Beacon, prior to its revival by the Covenant and the Federation|thumb]]
=== Sanctus ===

Centred around the Dionae’s point of entry on Xrim, Sanctus is by far the largest city on the planet, housing the majority of its Dionae population within its confines. Despite this, it is largely untouched by Federation assistance – mostly as a method by the Enlightened to stem unregulated expansion, which could possibly cause disproportionate plays for power and create issues for the Enlightened’s reigning government. In spite of the intentional disadvantages plaguing Sanctus, it has a thriving resource mining and refining industry – as well as a minor agricultural sector to support its own population – through Dionae ingenuity and innovation, using a combination of biomass, mimicry and light nodes to venture deep within the Apoxii Ranges that surround the settlement and its several Colossi which the Scorned used to expand their territory during the Consequences of the Truth era. It is generally regarded as unsafe for [[Skrell]] to venture within Sanctus, due to the prejudice they may face from the Scorned as a byproduct of the group’s belief that the Era of Synthetic Oppression was an oppressive myth created by the Federation, and furthermore the interference of the Federation that placed Xrim in control of the Enlightened – whom have no desire to share the power.

=== Shz’ah ===

Following the Enlightened’s removal from Beacon, they migrated further east into Eisix. Crossing through the Floodlands during the most dangerous season of the calendar, Gnowek, many did not survive the journey. Tired, distraught and ultimately lacking any resources to continue, the Enlightened created Shz’ah – initially merely an outpost camp necessary to recuperate, before it became a more permanent settlement as the Enlightened began to establish themselves within the region, taking advantage of the nearby Floodlands and jungles to carve themselves a home. Very quickly, despite the drawbacks that the group experienced, Shz’ah came to resemble Beacon – at least prior to its abandonment. Despite the slow expansion, Shz’ah developed significantly faster than Sanctum, which had instead focused on growth as opposed to progress – becoming the first city on the planet to produce its own electricity by way of cultivating Ageon Mushrooms within compost facilities to harvest its gaseous byproduct. The Triumvirate operates from Shz’ah, as well as the majority of the other branches of government. It is considered the planetary capital.

=== Bopdon ===

Nestled within Iuwus, Bopdon is similar in composition to Kal’Lo besides supporting many highrises that house the diplomatic staff and their families as opposed to buildings solely dedicated to bureaucracy. It closely resembles modern cities across the Elemental Systems despite its far distance from the Homeworld and is graciously provided necessities such as water, electricity and food by the Covenant – the remainder of whatever else is desired by the quarterly supply trips made by Qukala often tasked with another objective that happens to be in close proximity to Xrim. The tropical climate, and general humidity of the overall region of Iuwus, have greatly assisted the [[Skrell]] in acclimating to Xrim – despite the tragic history of what happened to Beacon. It operates as a legal territory of the [[Nralakk Federation]], due to its status as an Embassy despite being significantly larger than any other known diplomatic building across the Orion Spur. '''Grand Representative Gyul’ra Jux''' is tasked with overseeing its general administration, and diplomatic relations with the Covenant and the Federation.

=== Beacon ===

Now a memorial, Beacon was the original colonial outpost for the [[Skrell]], which was destroyed shortly after [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] secured itself in Rezana’s place – as well as the territorial infighting between the Enlightened and the Scorned. Certain parts of Beacon have been restored by a combined effort from both the Federation and the Covenant, where though its primary reason for existing is to give homage to the [[Skrell]] that perished, it has a secondary purpose of acting as a museum for the planet’s history – somewhat altered to a more fitting story told by the Enlightened, much to the chagrin of the Scorned. Though uncommon, incidents of [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Late_Synthetic_Age|Glorsh-Omega]] Sympathizer vandalism have been known to occur within the Beacon Memorial – calling for a “return to a better time”. Additional security officers have been placed by the Covenant following each incident to deter any further attempts, with many waiting to see if it would happen again.
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New Suez

2024-07-10T08:57:26Z

La Villa Strangiato: Adds infobox and moves some sections. Adds some subheaders.

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{{Infobox Planet
|Name = New Suez
|System = Tabiti
|Image = New Suez 4.png
|Sector = [[The Orion Spur#Badlands|Badlands]]
|Capital = Qamar Azraq
|Species = Humans, [[IPC|IPCs]], [[Unathi]]
|Languages = Sinta'Unathi, Sinta'Azaziba
|Demonyms = New Suezi
|Nation = [[Republic of Elyra]]
|Former = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
In the orbit of the Elyran capital of [[Persepolis]] is the planet’s only moon, New Suez, or the '''New Suez Free Trade Zone'''. It is small in size, even by lunar standards, but remains a bustling centre of trade and commerce for the Elyran republic, and a central, essential component in the country’s expanding economy. Not only is the moon the largest single port in the Tabiti system, but it is the only place in Elyra where foreign megacorporations are allowed to host their headquarters for Elyran operations. The combination of these two things ensures New Suez is perpetually involved in any discussion about Elyran economic relations with the greater [[Orion Spur]].

==History==
New Suez, named Tabiti IV originally, was colonized at roughly the same time as the planet which it orbited, starting only a few years after the official colonization of [[Persepolis]] began. The moon was settled originally by colonists wishing to turn the moon into what would be a port for the planet and an area where goods, both imported and exported, could be stored and shipped from without taking up the space and planetary resources of the newly-minted colony below. Terraforming followed, taking many years to turn what was essentially a rock into a place that was habitable, though perhaps not all that comfortable, for humans. This was the purpose that the moon served and many viewed simply as an extension of Persepolis itself, taking on the nickname of “Persepolis 11⁄2” after its establishment. During its early days, the moon was dominated by vast warehouses, shipyards, and a growing hospitality industry that existed around providing services to those aboard the large interstellar freighters that would stop there before legally entering or exiting the Tabiti system. Life for the most part on New Suez was calm, though not very exciting, before the Elyran Revolution of 2302. The moon’s name was changed to its current, New Suez, after the revolution in an attempt by the Elyran government to make each planet or moon in its space build new, Elyran identities for themselves, rather than remaining as nondescript astrological names.

The effects of the revolution brought sweeping changes to the moon. This is all despite the fact that it didn’t see any fighting or formal involvement in the revolution at, all aside from the Solarian garrison on the moon withdrawing without a fight. What changed for the small moon was that it no longer was just the primary port of entry for a large planet in a Solarian colony, but the primary port of entry for what would soon become the most populated planet in a new, fledgling country. This reality caused the Elyran government to enact many reforms around New Suez in the years following Elyran independence. Many of these were new investment initiatives into the businesses and facilities of New Suez to further broaden the moon’s efficiency as a port, but also to ensure that its capacity was able to keep up with the rapidly growing economy and population of Persepolis. Most of what was handled in this time were food shipments coming in from [[Damascus II]] to feed Persepolis, but as time progressed, and as Persepolis further developed, the moon also began to handle all the exports from Persepolis’ growing industrial and manufacturing sectors, ensuring that they would all reach wherever else in the Elyran Republic they were so destined for. This time to many, though none are alive to remember it, was the best time to be living on New Suez, not because it was when it was the richest, but because it was when the place was dubbed by the newly-formed Elyran Development Bank as “the gateway to Elyra,” a moniker the moon still keeps today— though really and only for tourist purposes. It wasn’t uncommon to see double-digit growth numbers for the moon’s economy in the 2310’s and 20’s as the moon’s ports tied the new republic together, but eventually, New Suez’s economy indeed slowed down. It did not recess after its boom of growth because the ships still came in, and the traffic was constant.

The largest change did not come to New Suez in this time, however, but a few decades afterwards. Elyra gradually was becoming a much more insular place in terms of its foreign policy, already guarded to and suspicious of the Solarian Alliance and at times openly hostile to the upstart [[Empire of Dominia]] to their galactic south. Increasingly, the country’s economic policy reflected this as well, with new laws and directives encouraging and rewarding investment within the Republic and the development of Elyran businesses and enterprises over foreign-owned ones. Something that needed to be addressed by the Elyran state, in what now was the late 2370’s, was the presence of megacorporations in Elryan space. These massive private enterprises were essential to the Elryan economy, none of them were Elyran, with all having their offices and headquarters on far-off Solarian planets.

In an effort to make the economy less vulnerable to outside interference in the event of a conflict, the Elyran government established what is now known today as the '''New Suez Protocol of 2381''', or simply New Suez Protocol, so named because New Suez would be at its heart. The government knew that it could not entirely cut megacorporations out of its economy— the Republic itself would collapse— but they also knew that with the value Elryan markets provided, they could leverage their importance to exercise greater control over the megacorporations. The protocol created the “NSFTZ,” or New Suez Free Trade Zone, which would turn the entire moon into a single, massive free-trade area in which foreign megacorporations had to establish Elyran Headquarters or no longer be allowed to operate or conduct business in Elyran space. Another component of the protocol, though less relevant to New Suez, was the mandate that all foreign megacorporations could now only operate in Elyran space in partnership with private firms or state enterprises of the government.

The impact of the New Suez Protocol changed the small moon overnight. Within months of its signing, megacorporations had established their Elyran headquarters as agreed, with all of the primary megacorporations we know today building large facilities to direct their operations around the Elyran republic on the moon’s surface. Most notably though, this also brought in millions of new residents to the moon, creating a demographic that still carries on to this day of New Suez having more non-citizens than citizens living on its surface. Quickly, the already-important economic center of New Suez became a paramount instrument not only of Elyran economic policy, but of foreign policy as well. The moon was established as the primary area where the government and foreign megacorporations would debate and negotiate further terms or changes to policy between them from the enactment of the Protocols to the present day. This new influx of foreigners has also turned New Suez into not only the largest cargo port in Elyra, but also the largest passenger port, being not just a destination in itself, but the primary vector by which many reach Persepolis.

==Environment==
New Suez was originally a rocky moon that had an odd characteristic to its appearance: the surface was blue. This occurred due to the primary mineral in the crust of the moon being azurite, something which many geologists believed formed in the moon’s crust due to the weathering of copper deposits there which were then thrown to the surface in great volcanic eruptions. Liquid water is also believed to have been naturally occurring on the moon in the past, as it is a fundamental component in the formation of azurite. Even post-terraforming, New Suez still holds its blue color in many places, leading it to take another nickname: “Persepolis’ Sapphire”.

The terrain of New Suez is still a rocky one in most places, yet there have been efforts to forest and make arable some parts of land on the moon. Most importantly however in the terraforming process was the establishment of an atmosphere in which humans could breathe. Gravity generators were also installed at many points around the moon so as to give it a gravity level equivalent to Earth’s, the goal for most gravity generation operations. There is one large body of water on New Suez, the Crater Reservoir, and it serves as the primary water source for the moon’s residents. As the name implies, it was created from a massive impact crater on the surface. Efforts to populate it with some species of fish and squid, along with continued terraforming of the area around it, have led it to be the most “natural” place on New Suez.

Aside from the crater reservoir, there is not much natural variety on the moon. Forests exist in some areas and are populated with small-sized mammals and birds, but the majority of the surface of New Suez is still a blue and rocky moonscape encapsulated by an atmosphere. The seeding of the atmosphere with clouds has also led to the formation of often small rainwater crater lakes and rivers across the surface of the moon, which while lifeless and remote, are often described as very picturesque. There are also no craters large enough on the dark side of New Suez that could serve as potential reservoirs which, along with the rocky and impassable terrain, has deterred colonization. It remains almost entirely untouched.

==Economy==
The economy of New Suez is not only important to those who live on the moon, but to the entire Elyran Republic. Its status as the only place in Elyra where megacorporations are allowed to head their operations in the republic has made it not only a hub of anything related to these corporations, but one of the largest financial services and banking centers in all of Elyra. New Suez’s finance industry, combined with its continued importance as the largest port of entry in the republic for foreign trade, ensures that the moon will continue to be a lynchpin in the Elyran economy for decades to come. Because of its proximity to Persepolis as well, it is also the hub for many spacelines and delivery services. The moon has also kept its hospitality industry strong, and while it does not have the great resorts or entertainment centres found on many other planets, there’s still a consistent quality and profitability from this sector of the New Suez economy. From its importance as a shipping hub, New Suez has also established a minor, but growing, shipbuilding industry mostly centered around building space freighters.

Many businesses and facilities on New Suez are operated entirely by foreign megacorporations, something entirely unseen anywhere else in the republic. [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals|Zeng-Hu]] hospitals, [[Hephaestus]] factories, [[Idris]] banks, [[Zavodskoi]] offices, and [[Einstein Engines]] shipyards fill the landscape of the inhabited areas of New Suez. Housing for many that live here is also provided by the corporations as well. This is not to say that the economy is entirely foreign-dominated however; Elyran businesses also are active on the moon and actively compete with foreign corporations there in certain sectors, while others exist solely to mediate the interactions between foreign megacorporations and the Elyran domestic economy. Suezbank, the largest Elyran banking and financial services institution, has its headquarters on New Suez. The New Suez Stock Exchange, or NSSE, is also located here and is the only exchange in Elyra where foreign stocks may be bought from foriegn traders and corporations and actively interacts with markets in places like [[Biesel]] and [[Callisto]]. Once the stocks are bought here, Elyran traders are free to trade the stocks they own as they please throughout the Republic.

Curiously however, the area that is most well-known of New Suez’s economy aside from its financial services industry is its retail sector, mostly filled by migrant labourers and IPCs in its more luxurious facets. The status of the moon as a free-trade zone ensures that all goods sold on the moon are non-taxable and therefore duty-free. This has led to New Suez garnering a reputation of a place where many in Elyra go to buy goods that would normally be heavily taxed such as alcohol, smokable products, weaponry, and, most importantly, foreign goods imported from [[Tau Ceti]], the [[Coalition of Colonies]], or even the [[Sol Alliance]]. These can range from luxury goods from the finest craftsmen and artisans on [[Venus]] or [[Luna]], to top of the line [[Himeo|Himean]] industrial equipment, to the newest, most cutting edge pieces of technology developed in Tau Ceti. The largest shopping mall in Elyran space, the Sapphire Retail Complex, with its tagline of simply, “Anything and Everything,” reflects the sheer variety of goods that can be bought there. While the Elyran government cannot tax what is bought there, anything bought on the moon that is leaving it, must be declared to the Elyran Customs Office. This process which often carries a fee to allow the government to profit at least a little off of goods they cannot tax. This is also done in part to help combat the moon’s smuggling problem, as with so many non-taxable goods changing hands on New Suez, its only natural that an illicit economy would develop there. This black market, while small, has been growing at an alarmingly fast rate in recent years as the megacorporate presence on, and immigration to the Persepolian sapphire has increased. Elyran customs enforcement officials believe that as much as 90% of illicit goods smuggled into and out of Elyra pass through New Suez, with most being moved by criminal groups comprised mostly of non-citizen persons.

==Government==
The government of New Suez is unique in comparison to many other Elyran planets and moons, in that its equivalent of a lunar governor, the High Commissioner of the New Suez Free Trade Zone, is not elected by the citizens that live there, but is instead appointed by the Elyran state. The High Commissioner is only answerable to the Elyran government, though an assembly of elected representatives, simply called the New Suez Lunar Congress, serves an advisory role to the High Commissioner and creates civil legislation for the moon. Only citizens residing on New Suez can vote for these assembly members, meaning that a majority of the moon’s population cannot take part at all in the governing process of New Suez. This unique status reflects the Elyran government’s prerogative to keep the economy of New Suez under close watch and ensure that if any measures need to be taken on the moon to alter its laws or economic protocols will be done so without hesitation or any wavering from whoever is in charge of the moon. For this reason, all High Commissioners of New Suez, with the exception of its current, have never been from New Suez. All have instead been appointed on the criterion of economic and civil expertise, along with perceived loyalty to the Elryan State and its vision for the Elyran economy. This has led to many protests from the Elyran citizens that live on the moon decrying their lack of representation in the affairs of their own jurisdiction. The Elyran government however, has consistently held firm in its status quo stance of prioritizing the economic importance of New Suez over the representative rights of its citizens.

Along with the High Commissioner, the primary sources of authority on the moon are the various Corporate Commissions, one for each megacorporation, set up by the Elyran government to interact with and regulate the various megacorporations that operate in the New Suez Free Trade Zone. They hold massive amounts of sway over what the corporations are and are not allowed to do on the moon, and by extension, hold great influence over the lives of the many residents, both foreign and Elyran. Megacorporations are constantly in a back and forth with these commissions, trying to expand their operations on New Suez and to a greater extent, throughout the Elyran Republic, while the Commissions exist to limit, regulate, oversee, or outright prevent these advances. The current High Commissioner of New Suez is Atena Rashidi, an economist and formerly the head of the NanoTrasen Corporate Commission. She has been the High Commissioner of the moon for nine years.

==Culture and Demographics==
The culture of New Suez is truly a fusion of foreign cultures throughout the spur and the Elyran domestic culture. This is most seen in the numerous settlements of entire quarters of New Suezian cities being populated almost entirely by migrant workers brought by the foreign megacorporations from around the Orion Spur. It’s not uncommon to see parts many cities on the moon called, “Little New Hai Phong,” “Xanutown,” or “Bieselland,” names which reflect the demographic origins of those that live there. Small xenos populations of migrant NCPs can also be found here, primarily Unathi. These all exist in contrast to the more “Elyran” areas of the moon which have distinctively Elyran architecture, and are inhabited primarily by citizens, though there are numerous places on the moon, especially within its big cities, where Elyrans and foreigners intermingling is the norm.

Elyran culture on New Suez is similar to culture elsewhere in the Republic, most noticeably Persepolis due to its close proximity; however, there are some noticeable differences. New Suezian Elyrans are more likely to have a more lax attitude to Elryan isolationism since they interact so much with the outside Spur and, similarly, are likely to embrace more aspects of foreign culture themselves. New Suezian Elyrans are also almost entirely trilingual from a young age, usually knowing Elyran Standard plus two more or even a third extra language, either from schooling or just from exposure to so many foreign migrant employees on their moon. Many have also adopted things like certain elements of fashion from their foriegn counterparts, combining Elyran articles and holo-clothing with elements of dress from around human space. Most noticeable in New Suezian citizens though is an attitude of political apathy. Many do not care about politics because the status of the moon on which they live gives them such little recourse to actually change anything about how their homeworld is governed, leading many to find talking about politics, no matter the opinion or stance, to be rude or distasteful.

While there is conflict at times though, New Suezian culture is defined by its diversity. This can be seen in not just the diverse ethnic make-up of the moon, with people from all over human space coalescing here as either migrant workers or corporate employees, but also in other things too. The language spoken by the majority of the population on New Suez is not Elyran Standard, but is instead Freespeak, with Sol Common coming in at a very close second, Elyran Standard at third, and Tau Ceti Basic fourth. As a result, signage, official forms, and other state functions can be found in any three of these languages along with Elyran Standard, something that would be strange in any other part of the republic. Radio broadcasts and holonet streams are also in these languages along with Elyran standard, and some QQ firms have made personalities specifically to target the different populations of migrant workers on New Suez. Food on New Suez is also known to be some of the richest in all of Elyra. The moon itself has no naturally occurring plants or animals that could make food on a large scale, with only very small cultivation and hydroponic efforts taking place on the moon. This has led to various fusion dishes dominating the scene there, with food from all over human space coming together and making odd, new creations never before seen. While not as diverse as a place like Biesel would be due to the exclusion of xenos from most of the moon, many do consider New Suez to be the most varied and diverse place in the entire Republic of Elyra. This diverse and unique culture does not leave New Suez however, as it is nearly impossible for a New Suezian migrant worker working for a foreign Megacorporation to enter the rest of Elyra, and many New Suezians are pressured to assimilate into whatever other planet they go to if they leave New Suez, making the rich and vibrant culture of contrasts on the sapphire moon almost entirely self-contained and unable to spread throughout Elyra, something that the Elyran state wishes to see continue without the rest of the country being “polluted” by foreign cultural influence.

An unofficial holiday of the non-citizen community on New Suez is something known as “Patchwork Week,” a week in which many across the migrant community, regardless of origin, come together and celebrate their origins through a variety of local festivals and traditions imported from their homeworlds all occurring at once, usually starting on the first Saturday of June. Notable attractions to visit during this day are the various New Hai Phongese street markets in many cities, Callistean film festivals showing both classic and new films from the Jovian moon, and Biesellite-styled night clubs that often offer special deals for admittance or host headlining musical acts. While still unofficial to the Elyran government, many Elyran citizens actively participate in this holiday as well and involve themselves in the festivities. Already duty-free shops on New Suez also usually host their largest sales of the year called “Warehouse Sales,” for their tendency to empty entire warehouses, where they sell their products at greatly reduced prices for the entire week. Many flock to them to buy things for the festivities, or as retail tourists from Persepolis or elsewhere in Elyra simply looking to buy New Suezian goods at even cheaper prices than their untaxed usual.
===Non-Citizen Persons===
The dynamic between citizens and residents is what defines much of the civil society on New Suez. Being an Elyran citizen grants numerous rights and privileges to a person that a non-citizen resident would not have. These include things such the right to own property or transportation, being able to use the Elyran state healthcare system, having increased legal representation in a court of law, being able to vote in Elyran elections, access to Elyran banks, and being able to leave the jurisdictions where they reside without permission from both the Elyran state and their employer. This contrast has divided New Suezian society into two very different subsections, those being Elyran citizens making up roughly a third of the population and the rest being non-citizen residents working primarily for the megacorporations there. While this dynamic of interaction between citizens and non-citizen residents is seen across Elyran space on nearly every planet or moon to some degree, it's most stark on New Suez. There is some resentment had by the non-citizen residents of New Suez towards their more privileged citizen counterparts, especially because the process of obtaining Elyran citizenship is a long, arduous, and difficult one, and protests from the non-citizen majority of New Suez for more migrant worker rights are common, though are usually dispatched quickly. While usually under the surface, there is often tension between these groups of New Suezian society, usually with the non-citizen residents holding a grudge of perceived systemic injustice against them. New Suez is one of the few places in the Republic of Elyra where Sol Common is spoken commonly.

==Major Settlements==
'''Qamar Azraq:''' Literally meaning “Blue Moon,” in old Arabic, Qamar Azraq, usually shortened to Azraq, was the first permanent settlement on New Suez and is currently its largest. It is where the majority of the financial services industry is located and is where all major megacorporations host their headquarters on the moon. Completed in 2462 after eight years of construction, the Suezbank Lazuline Tower which serves as the headquarters of Suezbank is not only the tallest building on New Suez, coming in at 201 floors, but the tallest in the entire Republic of Elyra. Facades of deep blue crystal glass adorn the building along with interlockings of white hard-light. The Sapphire Retail Complex, the largest shopping mall in Elyran space, is located in this city as well, along with the New Suez Stock Exchange. The city serves as one of the primary ports for passengers and cargo both to and from Persepolis. The largest “Little [[New Hai Phong]]” is located here as well, indicative of the New Hai Phongese Community being the largest migrant community in this city, though nearly every ethnicity from across human Space can be found here with the exception of Dominian cultures. Many who work in the city are involved with a foreign megacorporation or Suezbank in some way and many work in facilities reflective of their employer’s specialisations.

'''New Hormuz:''' New Hormuz is the second largest city on New Suez and is unique in that it is a “synthetic city” due to its very methodically planned nature. It was not an original settlement on New Suez but instead was created as a result of the great amounts of economic investment that the moon saw from the Elyran Government in the early 2320’s to create a city strictly devoted to being a massive cargo port, unrivalled in its efficiency. Taking nearly half a century to finish, the port of New Hormuz is the largest in Elyran space and sees more cargo traffic than nearly anywhere else in the Orion Spur aside from perhaps the gargantuan ports of Callisto, [[Biesel]], and [[Xanu Prime]]. Many of those who work in New Hormuz are involved in the shipping industry. Because of this, the largest migrant community in New Hormuz is Xanusii, and many have had prior experience in working on the ports of that planet. Jewel Aerospace operates many shipyards in this city and has a large office located in New Hormuz.

'''Rasht:''' The smallest of New Suez’s major cities, Rasht is situated close to New Hormuz and functions mostly as a massive housing project meant to house incoming migrants. As a result, it has the largest foreign population by percentage of any New Suezian city, with a large majority of the city’s population being from outside the Republic of Elyra. Most come from the [[Republic of Biesel]] and [[Coalition of Colonies]], with the largest demographic in the city being New Gibsoners. The city is known for its rich fusion culture and nightlife and is where many Elyrans travel to in order to “travel without travelling.” It is where the tradition of “Patchwork Week,” originally called only “Patchwork Day,” began on the moon. It is also the place where many consider to be the hub of the Elyran black market and where most illegal items go to after being unloaded from the ports of New Hormuz or are stored before being shipped out of the country through the same ports.
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Damascus II

2024-07-09T22:07:30Z

La Villa Strangiato: Adds infobox and moves some sections. Adds some subheaders.

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{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Damascus II
|System = al-Rashid
|Image = Damascus II 3.png
|Sector = Badlands
|Capital = Erum
|Species = Humans, [[IPC|IPCs]]
|Languages = Elyran Standard
|Demonyms = Damascene
|Nation = [[Republic of Elyra]]
|Former = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
In the heart of the al-Rashid System sits the oldest settled planet in the Serene [[Republic of Elyra]] and its historical and cultural home; '''Damascus II'''. Established originally as the first colony between a coalition of the United Arab Republic, Turkey, and Iran, Damascus II is an old planet and has a history that is rich and reflective of the Elyran Republic as a whole, with many monuments and museums to show for it. Despite no longer holding the position of being Elyra’s capital world, Damascus II still remains relevant to this day due to its abundance of universities, some of the finest in the [[Orion Spur]], and its rich arable soil supported by its temperate climate providing food for the Republic. It is the second-most populated planet in the Republic of Elyra, following behind [[Persepolis]].
==History==
===Colonization===
Damascus II was discovered in the year 2106 by a team of combined astronomers from a collection of Middle Eastern nations that make up the modern-day United Arab Republic. Shortly after its discovery, it was given the name of Al-Rashid III and identified as a prime candidate for colonization, showing all the traits needed to support a financially viable, self-sustaining colony. Liquid water, a breathable atmosphere, and near-Earth levels of gravity: it was all there on this planet which not only meant that it was suitable for life, but that little, if any terraforming would be needed to ensure any future colony could thrive there.

The nations launching this expedition had high hopes that, due to its naturally hospitable environment, this planet could prove to be another [[Tau Ceti]] as a fast, economic powerhouse. The colonization effort was launched from Earth in 2153 and consisted of a single, massive city-ship named Damascus headed by a figure that would become pivotal in Damascene culture, '''Captain Aslan Değirmenci'''. Soon after landing, Değirmenci organised his settlers into creating a small but successful outpost centred around the first city on the planet, Erum. The colonists who primarily originated from the modern-day Levant, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Western Persia, thrived from the onset of the colony, making use of the planet’s fertile soils and rich marine life to feed themselves and even export food back to the inner colonies of the [[Sol Alliance]]. After nearly twenty years of prosperity, the colonists of Al-Rashid III petitioned to rename the planet to Değirmenci after the captain that led their expedition and oversaw the colony, but the Captain refused, instead suggesting that the colony be named after the ship that had brought the original colonists to symbolize the effort they had all put in to creating what they had. Obliging the captain, the Solarian authorities formally changed the name of the Planet to Damascus II in 2159.

The dreams of the original colonists that Damascus II would become another Biesel were slowly dashed as colonization efforts went on. While Damascus II was a very promising colony, it lacked the nearly unilateral support from the United Nations that Tau Ceti had. It quickly found itself in the area of being an average economy economically, with steady, slow growth, but total self-sufficiency that could support more and more colonists as they arrived. What became Damascus II’s primary role in the Solarian colonization effort, though, was one of administration. As the clock ticked onwards and more colonies were settled by the nations of the Middle East and North Africa in the area south of the Valley Hale region, Damascus II increasingly found itself the centre of coordination and even government for these colonies. After all, Damascus II was stable, established, growing, and could provide any struggling colonies in the region with food to prevent starvation and allow for other planets to get on their feet. Lacking the raw materials that some other colonies provided however, this temperate world began to invest not only in the land it had, but in its people as well.

Colonies in the region were growing fast, yet an increasingly large number of them were unable to provide a proper higher education for their younger citizens due to a lack of resources or academic framework. Because of this need, the city of Erum with grant money from its home nations on Earth, established two institutions of higher education on the planet in 2179: '''Captain Aslan Değirmenci Polytechnic Institute''', (CPI) a school intended to teach hard sciences and vocational trades, and the '''Harun Al-Rashid University of Economics and Humanities''', (HRU) a school that was geared toward teaching the administrative, business, and cultural sides to a society. Both of these universities served their intended roles well with each getting consecutively more enrolments not only from the regional colonies around Damascus II, but also from the planet itself. These initiatives established a strong tradition of intellectualism and scholarly thought on Damascus II that would make it one of the intellectual capitals of the Orion Spur both then and in the present day.

===Economic Growth===

In 2188, Captain Değirmenci died at the ripe age of 96, and the entire planet mourned his loss. They pledged to continue to do right in his memory and by his ideals of education, development, and helping the local colonies around Damascus II for the greater good of not just the colony, but of humanity as a whole. It is for this reason that all future overseers of the planet would take “Damascene Captain” as their official title over the more traditional “Governor,” a tradition that lasts to the present. In this era immediately after the Captain’s death, the planet experienced a population boom in which more cities were established along the coasts of Damascus II’s central ring, and numerous smaller towns were established throughout the planet’s interior in order to cultivate the vast untouched Damascene lands. The planetary government enacted subsidies to aid these new settlers, paying for their expeditions into the interior of the planet’s continents to establish communities and farms that would then send their profits back to the central cities of the planet. This further filled the countryside with apple and olive orchards, vineyards, and farms of the native khuruf seed, wheat, and barley, something that in Elyra is now synonymous with Damascus II.

This new initiative would also gradually lead to a new dynamic in Damascene society, one that differed on the basis of geographic location between cities and the countryside and would go on to shape Damascene politics for centuries. The trend of expeditions into the interiors of the planet only made Damascus grow as an exporter of food and as an economy in the South Valley Hale region, exporting not only just to locals now and occasionally back to Earth, but to other planets in the present day [[Republic of Biesel]]. It was in this time of population boom and economic growth that the cultural and artistic scene in Damascus II flourished most, with many poets and painters making their magnum opuses and cinema directors often making modern renditions of classic Arab, Turkish, and Persian stories in the planet’s beautiful countryside. This explosion of culture founded the modern perception of the Damascene identity, one that was traditional and deeply connected to its cultural roots on Earth, more so than any other future Elyran colony would ever be, but one that also was intent on creating something entirely new for itself on those traditional foundations and believed itself exceptional and fundamentally different from every other colony established at the time. Since the creation of Elyran Standard, many of Damascus II’s finest and most notable cultural works have been translated to the language or remade with it in mind in the modern era.

Going into the 2230’s and 2240’s stronger than ever, Damascus II would begin to now see a relative slowdown, though still had absolute growth, in both economics but also in population as a new colony was established in the region that soon became the destination for corporations and citizens alike; [[Persepolis]]. The newly terraformed fledgling economy of Persepolis would soon become the economic center of the Solarian colonization effort in the South Valley Hale region due to its abundance of rare metals and materials in its crust. While this rise indeed took the spotlight away from Damascus II some, it also gave Damascus II a great opportunity to feed and educate the massive amount of colonists now flocking to Persepolis’s mines and factories. Most importantly, however, is that even as Persepolis was on the rise, Damascus II quickly expanded its administrative duties more, overseeing the development of this rising new colony while also being the primary mediator for funding and coordinator of exports back to the Solarian core worlds, even becoming the capital of the new colonial administration of the Elyran Coalition in 2229. A strong cooperative dynamic developed between Damascus II and Persepolis, one that has stood the test of time and has been described often as a “Father-Child Relationship” by Elyran historians. The two planets continued to cooperate for the next decades, with each profiting off of the other and seeing each other as close partners in a journey to provide for themselves and for all of humanity in what ways they could. Damascene culture continued to advance; massive expansions of curriculum were taught in Damascus II’s most premier universities, expanding to accommodate for the rising numbers of Persepolian students and Damascenes wanting to contribute to helping the other colony.

===Second Great Depression and Elyran Revolution===

When the '''Second Great Depression''' struck the Sol Alliance in 2260, Damascus II saw a complete collapse in its exports aside from to the local colonies around the planet and to Persepolis, something that would be key going into the future. As money around the Alliance dried up, Damascus II’s educational institutions saw a dearth in funding and nearly shuttered their doors numerous times. The economic scare also meant that the Damascene countryside stopped being developed as subsidies for new settlers were cut off and old subsidies for crop production were lessened to a point that many farmers feared that they wouldn’t adequately be protected from crop failure.

This caused a run on Damascene banks and saw a collapse of the planet's finances, the onset of an economic malaise that lasted from the 2260’s to almost the 2300’s, which the major cities saw the worst of. During this time, Damascus II’s economy contracted greatly with only farming remaining a stable industry on the planet; eventually, even the farmers became stretched thin once the Interstellar War started as more and more Solarian money went to the war effort and not to its colonies.

Tensions came to a head on August 4th, 2301, when a large protest consisting of students of CPI and HRU led by their professors occurred in front of the Captain’s Palace in Erum. The demonstration turned violent, and Solarian soldiers shot into the crowd killing 403 people and then arresting hundreds more. This event has gone down in Elyran history as '''"The 403 Challenges,"''' with each death being seen as a reason challenge to Solarian colonial rule. Some organizers of the protest escaped to the countryside and to the city of Shiraz 242, where over the next weeks, they stirred up enough discontent among the population there for them to take up arms and march into Erum demanding that the current Captain resign. When this failed, there was more violence, but this time the rebels had the support of some colonial troops based in the Shiraz 242 Garrison to back them up. Within a few days, they deposed the ruling captain and formed an interim council.

Seeing the writing on the wall for the ongoing war in the frontier and being tired of nearly an entire generation’s length of economic stagnation, Damascus II unilaterally declared independence from the Solarian Alliance on August 19th, 2301. Appealing to their neighbours to further gather strength, the Damascene council sent a transmission to a colonial, Persepolis-born General in charge of the Persepolian garrison, General Abd Al-Hamid, and pleaded with him to join their movement and become their leader. General Al-Hamid agreed and mobilized his troops to help any other colonies in the Elyran Coalition seize Solarian military assets. Due to the Solarian military’s exhaustion from the interstellar war, this was a relatively bloodless affair and mostly entailed small skirmishes while Elyran forces captured surrendering Solarian troops in their bases. '''Soon after, on January 1st, 2302, General Abd Al-Hamid proclaimed the Serene Republic of Elyra on Damascus II in front of the Captain’s Palace where the movement first had begun.'''

===Golden Age and Present Day===

Damascus II has enjoyed a strong status in the Republic of Elyra since the nation’s independence. It was Elyra’s first formal capital from the years of 2302 to 2374, however due to Persepolis’s growing status as an economic superplanet, a nation-wide referendum was held to move the capital and passed handily. Despite this though, Damascus II continues to have a strong presence in Elyran politics due to its important position as the breadbasket and university of the Republic. The Elyran Ministry of Agriculture maintains its offices on the planet, being the only government ministry to not be centred on Persepolis. Culturally, Damascus II has shined the most of any Elyran planet, creating the foundations for what would become modern Elryan culture, the Elyran National identity, and the cradle of the Elyran Republic itself. During the Lii’dra incursion, Damascus II provided relief to Busra in the form of duty-free food exports and sizable donations from its universities, and a surge in citizens volunteering for the Elyran military.

==Environment==
The planet of Damascus II has something that made it very appealing as a colonization target: naturally-occurring water. While this indeed was its original allure, once there, a second boon of exceptionally rich black volcanic soil was discovered there that made it the agricultural hub of Elyra that it is today. The terrain of the planet lacks the vast flat plains of other food-producing planets like [[Vysoka]] and is instead more often than not filled with rolling hills with flatter meadows interspersed in between them, leading eventually into foothills and small, snow-capped mountain ranges closer to the interior of the continents. Naturally, as more distance is travelled from the equator, the temperature becomes colder and colder, but the majority of the livable areas on the planet possess a mild climate with the coastal areas having cool, rainy winters, with warm, drier summers. The interior of the three continents of Damascus II typically have cold, snowy winters with hot, moderately rainy summers. Courtesy of its mountain ranges, Damascus II has numerous lakes and rivers scattered across its surface.

The native fauna of Damascus II consists primarily of aquatic life, a rich ecosystem of various fish-like, cephalopod-esque animals and creatures akin to cetaceans living in its oceans, the great, carnivorous, black whale being one of them. On land, the story is somewhat different, with most creatures being small in size. Near the more humid coastal areas, the red rock crab, a crustacean seeming to be almost a meter long in size, often lives in colonies upwards of five-hundred, eating shore scraps and foraging from the various plants along the shoreline. More inland, small mammalian, burrowing creatures, rabbit- or mole-like in anatomy, can be found. The premier land predator, and official animal, of Damascus is the red-beaked stark crane, a two-meter tall carnivorous bird with a sharp, long, curved beak that while capable of flight, can run up to 65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour in chasing down its prey. It is prized for its plumage of white feathers tipped with scarlet red, and the crane was nearly hunted to extinction in the 2340’s.

Damascus II’s native flora is mostly shrubs, grasses, and short trees, often noted for their hardy characteristics and dark, green and black leaves. One of the primary grains of Damascus II is the sour khuruf seed, so-called because it was originally used as feed for sheep on the planet. Since the colony’s first establishment, this black grain has become a staple food in Damascene cuisine, seeing use in breads, pastas, and cereals.
==Politics and Government==
Damascus II maintains a system of two legislative bodies. They are the Planetary Diet, consisting of 400 delegates from all over the planet’s various administrative divisions, and the Officers Assembly a council of 21 members that hold important positions in Damascene society similar to the original executive assembly. The Officers’ Assembly consists of the Damascus’s highest ranking officers, established immediately after Damascus II’s initial colonization. The Officer’s Assembly is a group of figures occupying set positions in Damascene society, mostly agricultural, military, religious, and academic leaders, including the chancellors of CPI and HRU. The Assembly serves as a limiting body that cannot propose new legislation, but instead can approve, reject, block, or suggest changes to legislation proposed by the Planetary Diet. The Officer's Assembly also is the deciding authority in the event of a tied vote in the Diet. The Diet on the whole is split between two primary parties aligned on urban-rural lines, with the Industrial Progress Party representing the urban population of the planet and the Damascene Revolutionary Party representing the other. Both of these parties have connections to the national-level parties the Republican Revolutionary Society and the League of United Republicans, respectively, though neither Damascene party is solidly aligned with either national party. There is also a small, minor third party that often wins a few seats in the Diet across rural and urban lines: the religiously oriented Scriptural Democracy Party, which has strong ties to the national-level Muslim Democratic Conference. Nationally, Damascus II has been a steadfast stronghold for the Republican Revolutionary Society, voting in a majority for them in every national election since 2372. The Muslim Democratic Conference often holds a far-off secondary position in the electorate for the planet.

The Office of the Damascene Captain is the highest authority on Damascus II, and is a figure that historically served as an allegory for a Sol-appointed colonial governor, but since independence has been a figure elected to 6 year terms by the Planetary Diet. The Damascene Captain’s duties include presiding over the Officer’s Assembly as its 21st officer, overseeing all government functions on Damascus II, making executive decisions in the planet’s government, and keeping the peace and order on the planet by being the commander-in-chief of the planet’s police and customs enforcement force, the Captain’s Constabulary Brigade. Politically, the Captain is not allowed to be an official member of any party on Damascus II. The Damascene Captain is culturally seen as the protector of the Elyran Revolution on Damascus II, and often performs many ceremonial duties both on Damascus II and other planets in relation to the revolution. The planet’s current Captain is a retired general of the [[Elyra Military|Elyran Armed Forces]] and former professor of Interstellar Security at HRU, Hafez-Ali Esmaeili.
==Economy==
As implied by the planet’s history, Damascus II’s primary economic focuses are agriculture and the services industry in the form of their massive, historic universities, HRU and CPI being the two premier ones, taking on millions of students. The agricultural sector on Damascus II is the largest in all of Elyra, and its exports in both raw and processed foods compose an overwhelming majority of all food consumed in the Serene Republic. Many of its luxury food items come from the planet as well, such as expensive cheeses, cuts of meat, and wines. Similarly, Damascus II has one of the most robust higher education systems in the Orion Spur, and since the majority of its universities are owned by the planetary government, all profits typically go into the budget for the Damascene government to spend as they see fit, typically on continuing to improve infrastructure and on construction projects. Originally beginning as a seed seller, the oldest corporation in Elyra, Yazmani Holdings began on Damascus II and still has its headquarters in the planet’s largest city, Erum. Aside from these two primary sectors, Damascus II also boasts small manufacturing and chemical industries along with a business presence, with many Elyran companies having regional branches in Erum or Zezura. The city of Urkesh is also economically important as a sizable number of companies in the Elyran film and entertainment industries have their headquarters there, even though many have moved or are moving to Persepolis. Damascus II is also the seat of Elyra’s Ministry of Agriculture and sees a fair number of government contracts and other commerce that the government brings in as a result. Erum, being the oldest and arguably most cultured city in Elyra, is also a prime destination for tourists, both Elyran and foreign, to visit for its historical sites and art galleries.
==Culture and Demographics==
Damascene culture is unique, even by Elyran standards for how traditional it is in comparison to the rest of Elyra. Damascus II, while by most measures a very modern and up-to-date world, has a much stronger connection to its cultural, Old-Earth roots than any other planet in Elyra. It is a society that is more outwardly religious than almost any other Elyran planet, This traditionalism manifests itself in the planet’s architecture with styles often reminiscent of traditional architecture found in Middle East and Northern Africa being commonplace on Damascus II. In materials as well, Damascus II remains traditional as many of its cities and countryside homes are built with stone bricks, clay plaster, wood, and steel, eschewing the Arab-Futurist styles using plasteel, glass, and anti-gravity technology typically associated with wider Elyran architecture.

Damascus II is somewhat divided, not just politically but culturally as well, on an urban-rural line that broadly encompasses many differences that separate the Damascene people into two varied subcultures. Damascus II didn’t see the great scale of populations shifting to the cities that other human-inhabited worlds did due to farming and agriculture’s long standing importance in the planet’s economy.

Some larger cities are sometimes exceptions to this rule of identifying more with the rural culture of the planet. Urban-dwelling Damascenes are typically less religious, and more likely to be involved with the services industry of the planet than their more agriculture focused rural counterparts. Economically, however, Damascenes as a whole are mostly on par with one another, since rates of poverty and wealth are uniform across both subcultures. This divide manifests itself most politically, as both sides often clash in the diet on matters where planetary funding should be spent. Despite these differences, both urban and rural demographics of the planet are unified in the belief that they are Damascene and Elyran, and they will also work together on many different issues in the name of this unity. Damascus II has seen great success in keeping its people unified through both promotion of the '''“Damascene Spirit”''' in its population and through its exceptionally robust public education system that ensures education levels are standard across the planet, regardless of geographic area.

One of the most distinctive parts of the cultural identity present on Damascus II is something colloquially referred to as the Damascene Spirit a sort of pervasive cultural mindset present on the planet. This ethos is arguably the backbone of not just Damascene culture, but Elyran culture as well. It is based on the ideas of tradition being the foundation of modern progress, egalitarianism, and exceptionalism. Damascus II to the Damascenes, and by extension the entire Republic of Elyra, is something special, unique, and, to some interpretations, better than everywhere else in the Orion Spur. The ideal also posits this is not an excuse to belittle and oppress others, but is instead the basis by which the Damascene people should build a society that helps others through the spreading of knowledge, giving of charity, maintenance of order and societal norms, and progression of ethics throughout Elyran society, all while remaining respectful of the traditions that allowed that society to prosper. This ethos has become part of the greater Elyran identity, though it is most literally interpreted on Damascus II, and is the result of the planet’s storied history of often being the one to assist growing colonies either through provisions of food or education and being the birthplace of the Elryan Revolution. Something more material in which this can be observed is a special reverence across Damascene society for Captain Aslan Değirmenci, the first Damascene Captain and a man typically used as a personification of the Damascene Spirit. Even centuries after his death, his portrait can be seen on buildings, in restaurants, in schools, places of government, and in the homes of Damascenes themselves, often displayed next to the picture of General Abd Al-Hamid.

While noble and charitable in its concept, the "Damascene Spirit" has also manifested itself in less noble ways, such as an paternalistic attitude among Damascene politicians that sometimes treats other planets in the Republic as naive or childish or an apprehension to interact with the greater Orion Spur, due to Elyra’s exceptional status in their mindset. Damascus II has also historically been one of the largest proponents in Elyra for isolationist economic and social measures along with expansions to the Elyran Military, something that representatives from more liberal planets in Elyra like [[Medina]] have often criticized as being unnecessarily cautious and detrimentally biased to the status quo. Some in Elyra argue that the mindset of helpful progress should include all of the Spur and not just Elyra, while others maintain the Republic comes first and foremost and must be preserved against outside influences in whatever shapes they may take; Damascus II consistently resides in the latter camp. This argument though remains not only a cultural and political question on Damascus II, but in the Republic of Elyra in its entirety, and has grown to be talked about more than ever before with the recent collapse of much of the Solarian Alliance.
===Cuisine===
Damascene cuisine is very similar to the rest of Elyra as it is the primary producer of food in the republic. Food served on Damascus II typically involves a wide variety of seafood, something absent in the planet’s exports due to seafood’s tendency to spoil while in transit. Fried squid or fish served with a sauce made from lemon, apple, and khuruf seed is quite common on the planet. Additionally, Damascus II has developed one of the finest and most luxurious wine industries in the Orion Spur over its multiple centuries of existence. This pedigree often makes Damascene wine a sought after commodity that has fetched millions of credits per bottle in the past for older vintages. Regardless of this commodity of planetary pride, wine and other alcoholic beverages cannot be purchased at ordinary stores and can only be bought at special liquor shops or hotels.
===Fashion===
In dress, Damascenes are also more traditional than the rest of their Elyran contemporaries, rejecting the trends of vibrantly-hued hard-light clothing seen on Persepolis in favour of more classic styles and materials. Damascene urban fashion consists primarily of fine suits in rich, dark colours for men, and vibrantly bright blouses, skirts, and dresses for women. Rural fashion consists more of tunics on both men and women, often with woven designs inspired from Damascus II’s colonizing cultures along with other pieces of clothing indicative of the agricultural sector, such as overalls and wide-brimmed hats. In Elryan culture, overalls are often depicted as a stereotypically rural Damascene piece of clothing. Something that is a signature of Damascene fashion across both the rural and urban population is the wearing of the fez on men or hijab on women, though some Damascenes choose to forgo these pieces of headwear. Cybernetic augmentations are uncommon among the population of Damascus II, yet they are not unheard of. Augmentations and prosthetics are almost always used as ways to compensate for injuries, but they are occasionally used as integrated, wearable artistic canvases for New Beirut designers to create lavish, intricate designs upon.
==Major Settlements==
'''Erum:''' The planetary capital, Erum was the first city established on Damascus II and also holds the status of the oldest city in the Republic of Elyra. It is the most populated city on Damascus II and along with the neighbouring Zezura composes the largest metropolitan area on Damascus II and largest conurbation in Elyra not on Persepolis. It has numerous historical sites dotted across its cityscape. The primary campuses of Captain Aslan Değirmenci Polytechnic Institute and the Harun Al-Rashid University of Economics and Humanities are located in Erum, along with the Captain’s Palace, Legislative Hall, Damascene Art Gallery, the Elyran National Library, and the Damascus, the original colony ship that settled Damascus II that now functions as the Damascene History Museum. It is still customary for the Damascene Captain to be sworn in on the bridge of the now immobile museum-of-a-ship. The city is also known throughout Elyra for its exquisite examples of Old Earth-influenced architecture, with some buildings being over 310 years old. The tallest building on Damascus II, the green-glassed, 124-floor tall Yazmani Holdings Headquarters, is located in Erum.

Every year on August 19th, the anniversary of Damascus II’s formal independence, many Erumites solemnly gather in front of the Captain’s Palace during the day to pay their respects to those who died in the planet’s revolution. At night however, citizens mass in the same place to witness and participate in a humorous reenactment of Damascene colonial soldiers and civilians “fighting back” the Solarian planetary garrison with things like produce, wine bottles, farming implements, dead fish & squid, and stale bread. After this reenactment, a jubilant, celebratory, week-long festival is held across Erum perhaps ironically called “the Triumph,” during which alcohol sales within city limits are unregulated. Because of its history and established traditions of intellectualism, patriotism, and artistry, Erum markets itself as the “cultural capital of the cultural capital of Elyra.”

'''Zezura:''' Zezura began as a suburb of Erum but grew to be a city in its own right, becoming Damascus II’s primary port to the outside world. Its close proximity to Erum leads it to have many things in common with the larger city, yet it remains distinctive for its port and the crowd that port brings, making Zezura the city on Damascus II with the most foreign residents (most of whom are Non-Citizen Person workers). People from all over the Republic of Elyra, and to a much lesser extent, the Orion Spur, can be found here. The largest mosque in Elyra, Bayt Al-Malaika, is also located here. It is also home to Damascus II's Zezuran Bazaar, a colossal open-air mall that carries luxury goods from all over Damascus II and the Republic of Elyra as a whole. Nearly everything that the planet produces can be found there, from foods, state of the art farming equipment, or the many different products of Damascus II’s many artists.

'''Shiraz 242:''' Shiraz 242, named after the quadrant of land the city was founded upon, is the largest settlement on Damascus II not located near a coastal area, and despite being a large city in its own right, it is often seen as a hub of Damascus II’s rural culture. The city is surrounded by lush countryside filled with farms and orchards and has the honour of hosting the head offices of the Elyran Ministry of Agriculture. Shiraz 242 is also the city in which the Elryan Revolution is claimed to have started, being the city where the Erumite professors fled and inspired the rural people of Damascus II to march on Erum. The largest obelisk in Elyran Space, simply called “the Revolutionary Spike,” is in the center of the city’s central square with the names of those who died in the Damascene Revolution commemorating this string of events. The city also possesses a manufacturing industry focused around creating agricultural equipment and heavy machinery.

'''New Beirut:''' A city located in the beautiful coastal scenery of Damascus II’s equator, New Beirut, sometimes referred to as simply “NB,” originally began as a small fishing town that exploded in population during the 2210’s when it became the center of the Damascene film industry, eventually settling to the current, relatively smaller population has today. Many directors came to the city to film in its scenic locales for their movies, the tropical climate of the city welcoming any and all who moved to the fledgling locality. Even though its status as an Elyran entertainment hub has declined over the years as the industry has shifted away from Damascus II and towards Persepolis, New Beirut remains the city where some Elyran film studios, holovision conglomerates, and the QQ division of Osman Electric Industries maintain their corporate offices. Recently, New Beirut has focused on selling itself as the tech capital of Damascus II, hoping to promote investment from around the Republic of Elyra into its technology sector. The city has also in recent years become a popular tourist destination for the inhabitants of Damascus II, away from the great crowds of Erum and Zezura, and is the heart of Damascus II’s underground art and music scene.

'''Bogazkale:''' Beginning originally as a fort for the Solarian colonial garrison in the interior of the planet’s largest continent, Bogazkale functions today as a large “rural” city where the Elyran Armed Forces maintain its largest presence on Damascus II. The city’s economy mostly revolves around producing food with a secondary focus: a chemical industry primarily geared towards creating fertilizers and other soil-enriching products. Cooperation and research sharing with Aemaqi firms is not unheard of. The city has a scientific institute, the Damascene Laboratory of Agricultural Research, that often cooperates with the Elyran National Institute of Phoron Sciences to develop uses for phoron in fertilizers and other agricultural applications. It is the fifth largest city on Damascus II.
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Unathi Crime And Enforcement

2024-07-09T21:55:11Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infoboxes at the bottom

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=Law Enforcement=
Under the normal traditions of [[Unathi]] feudalism, the laws are decided by the reigning monarch or Hegemon and their council - but the duty of enforcing said laws falls to local nobility. Over the centuries, this has developed into a robust system of law enforcement, though one that often varies in standard, training and skill across [[Moghes]] - particularly in regions that were not part of the Hegemony prior to the [[Contact War]].

== The City Watch ==
<center>''“The soldiers march to war, the nobles command them - but it is your duty to protect your home and your clan. The army may be the Hegemon’s sword, but we are his shield.”''</center>
<center>-Skalamar City Watch training video, dated 2442</center>

The tradition of a City Watch dates back millennia, to nearly the earliest beginnings of Unathi permanent settlement. In any city or town of significance, the ruler’s Lord’s Claws will be responsible for the training, recruitment and upkeep of a watch - to ensure that the law of both the ruler and their liege is obeyed. Traditionally, the watch of a city is recruited from among commoners, with noble officers commanding them - a posting that often finds itself filled by the sons of prominent military clans, to gain experience as commanders in peacetime.

A watchman’s equipment varies greatly from city to city, though throughout history they have generally carried clubs, shields and other simple weapons, as well as crossbows - and later firearms - for cases where ranged combat or lethal force was required. Prior to the Contact War, the standard equipment of a watchman in the Hegemony consisted of a lightweight steel baton, a collapsible plastic shield and an armoured vest - with heavier armour and firearms being available in case of serious issues. During the Contact War, many Hegemonic watchmen were exempt from being called to service, though they were required to be constantly ready for the defence of their city. Many lords disliked having watchmen constantly armed - after all, a militia of commoners at a time when all the lord’s personal forces are away is just asking for trouble.

In the modern age, a watchman’s equipment in the Hegemony has changed significantly. Though some smaller and more rural areas may use more outdated equipment, the Hegemony has adapted well to alien technology, at first purchasing and later manufacturing many stunbatons, energy weapons and other tools used by human law enforcement. Today, the average watchman would be equipped with a stunbaton as well as a non-lethal energy weapon - tasers and disruptors being the most common. A lightweight armour vest allows the watchman to move freely, and a telescopic shield can provide protection against most opponents. In an emergency, watchmen tend to be equipped with laser rifles of Hegemony make, now that they are common enough to be affordable.

Typically, watch houses will be set up throughout a city, with some of the larger settlements having dozens. Each watch house is commanded by a watch-captain, who reports to the city’s Commander of the Watch - a position overseen by the Lord’s Claws. Generally, these watch-captains are drawn from nobility, though a few commoners have distinguished themselves and risen to the position.

Watchmen are not soldiers, and provide an essential service to a settlement’s infrastructure - as such, they cannot be called to military service as part of a levy, although they are required to fight in their city’s defence should it fall under attack. To this end, many hoped to become watchmen during the Contact War, in order to avoid being sent to the front lines. However, a watchman’s life is not necessarily something to envy - aside from clashes with criminals, the pay is far from exceptional, especially given that watchmen are forbidden by Hegemonic law from joining a guild or forming one of their own - as it would potentially provide a conflict of loyalty. Many former watchmen have since joined the mercenaries of the Fighters’ Guild or the Dagamuir Freewater Private Forces, in the hopes of seeking better pay than a watchman’s meagre keep among the stars.

The primary duty of a watchman is to keep order - when crimes are committed, the watch will usually call on their own investigators if they have them - though smaller watches may simply lock up whoever looks guilty, and let the matter resolve itself at a trial. The watch of [[Izweski Heartland|S’th]] in particular is known for its laziness, often arresting passers-by in the hopes of shaking them down for a few credits. Generally speaking, city watches will largely police commoners - to arrest a noble requires authorisation from the Lord’s Claws, and it is something most watchmen will not risk unless the evidence against them is truly damning.

Many watches are known to hire spies, when running horns-first into a dead-end case. These spies act as consultants, putting their skills to use to aid the watch - and though there is some judgement and distaste between the two professions, both begrudgingly recognise the other’s use.

== The Zo’kaa (Spies) ==
<center>''“Though some call it a profession based on lies, I could not disagree more - the heart of any spy’s work is the pursuit of the truth, in all its purity.”''</center>
<center>-[[Notable_Unathi#Hizoni_Izweski,_Izweski_Spymaster|Hizoni Izweski]], Hegemonic Spymaster</center>

The title of “spy” conjures many images to the human mind, not many of them associated with law enforcement. For the Unathi, however, the title carries a different meaning - an ancient profession, codified by Not’zar Izweski. A traditionally feminine pursuit, spies act as investigators, private detectives and actual spies, seeking the truth of a situation in exchange for payment, and bringing secrets to light - or ensuring they stay buried.

Most spies work independently, uncovering secrets and solving mysteries in exchange for payment, though some are organised under spymasters - powerful women, usually of nobility, who run networks of spies, and rent their services to prospective clients. Working under a spymaster has its advantages, as work is generally more stable, but some professional spies would find the loss of independence distasteful.

Some professional spies are hired permanently by city watches or ruling nobility to investigate crimes committed under their aegis, though most tend to take work independently and on a case-by-case basis. A good spy, however, knows that a working relationship with the local watch is often the key to running a profitable business.

There is no formal guild of spies, with apprenticeships generally being a personal and individual matter - a spy will teach a young woman the tricks of the trade, in exchange for a cut of her earnings for some years afterward. Though many are eager to learn the trade, it is a difficult one to master - and a spy who cannot pick up on the dangers of a life trading in secrets is one whose life will often be cut short.

Not all spies are so clearly aligned with the law, however - criminal guilds will often hire spies to investigate their rivals, bury secrets or evidence of their deeds, or frame another for a crime the guild committed. Opinions on these illicit spies vary among their more legitimate sisters - some view the criminal guilds as simply another client, while others believe that working for such an organisation runs antithetical to the heart of the profession.

The life of a spy is often romanticised in Unathi fiction, and is a frequent aspiration for young Sinta women. Novels such as ‘Silent Streets of S’th’ and television series such as the long-running and wildly popular ''‘[[Izweski_Heartland#Entertainment|Venom Hearts]]’'' have led to a cultural touchstone of the spy as a hardened and independent seeker of the truth - though the reality is far less glamorous than portrayed in such media.

Many nobles will also hire or appoint their own private spymasters, who will bring on spies who are, in theory, loyal solely to their liege - though as with all things involving the Zo’kaa, nothing is quite so simple. The most prominent of these spymasters in the modern day is unquestionably Hizoni Izweski - the spymaster of the Izweski Hegemony, and viewed by many as the ideal of one in her profession.

== Bounty Hunting ==

When a criminal flees beyond the reach of the watch, some lords may hire mercenaries to track them down in the case of particularly egregious crimes. Most of these bounty hunters are licensed under the [[Unathi_Guilds#The_Fighter's_Lodge|Fighters’ Lodge]], though the [[Private_Military_Contracting_Group#Dagamuir_Freewater_Private_Forces|Dagamuir Freewater Private Forces]] have expanded aggressively into the business, particularly for those rare criminals who manage to flee offworld.

These hunters will roam across the Hegemony beyond in search of their quarry - and are one of the rare groups of non-military personnel allowed to bear weapons, so long as they carry with them a writ of identification authorised by a noble of the Hegemony. Since the end of the Contact War, many criminals seek to escape into the [[The Wasteland|Wasteland]] - and hunters are sent to track them through the radioactive sands. For an Unathi warrior seeking to earn good money, the commander of [[The_Wasteland#Camp_Integrity|Camp Integrity]] is always willing to pay for the hunting of particularly dangerous Gawgaryn, criminals who have fled into the sands, or Traditionalist holdouts.

Though most of these hunters are Unathi, not all are. [[Vaurca|K’laxan Warriors]], Ouerean humans and [[Skrell]], and even the rare [[Dionae|Diona]] gestalt can be seen working in the profession - after all, there may be many differences between the species, but the language of credits is a famously universal one.

== Law and Trials ==

When a criminal is captured, they are placed on trial before the local ruling noble, or one of their representatives. In smaller villages, this will often be a council of local clans’ leaders, whereas in larger cities the nobility will tend to have one or several “justicars” to act as their representatives, as a single person judging every trial in a city the size of Skalamar or Jaz’zirt would rapidly become unmanageable.

Though it is a common assumption that a noble has sole jurisdiction over sentencing, this is not the case - the Izweski Code of Law has contained mandated minimum and maximum sentences for a crime for centuries, and though some nobles in particularly isolated regions may ignore this, to flout it carries great risk - as a noble found to act against the will of the Hegemon may be severely punished, up to and including the loss of their titles, being made Guwan or even executed.

Within these restrictions, however, a noble may judge entirely as they see fit. Theoretically, any noble of the Hegemony may judge trials, though in practice it is reserved for the ruling noble of a region or a representative they explicitly appoint. There is no jury system in the Hegemony outside of Ouerea, or standards of legal representation - a Sinta is permitted to speak on their own behalf, and to call witnesses to their character or innocence, but they must do so themselves - and whether a witness is entertained is entirely up to the presiding noble.

When a noble is judged, their liege is required by law to oversee the trial, and Overlords will generally handle cases regarding their vassal nobility. In the extremely rare event where an Overlord is tried, the Hegemon himself is the judge - and his sentence is absolute. Twice in Unathi recent history has an Overlord been brought on trial - Overlord Yiztek of [[Ouerea]], and Overlord Yizarus of [[Gakal'zaal|Gakal’zaal]]. Both were found guilty, though Yizarus never returned to Moghes to face his sentence, dying at the hands of the Gakal’zaal Liberation Army.

The Izweski Code of Law is an enormous text, and scholars of the Hegemony pore over it tirelessly, but some of the more common crimes and their sentences are listed below. It is worth noting that prisons are uncommon in the Hegemony, being viewed as a waste of resources - though criminals are often sentenced to a period of hard labour, those deemed a significant enough threat to society to be given life imprisonment in other nations are usually executed. Of note, where ‘execution’ is mentioned as a sentence, the option to become Guwandi is provided to Sinta instead - viewed as a more honourable and delayed form of execution. In addition, some may choose to become Guwandi when faced with being named Guwan, in the hope of regaining their lost honour in death.

=== Crime and Punishment ===
<center>
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-uncollapsed wikitable"
|+ Crime and Punishment
|-
! '''Crime''' !! Minimum Sentence !! Maximum sentence
|-
| '''Theft''' || Hard labour or payment equal to the stolen item’s cost. || The loss of a hand and/or being named Guwan.
|-
| '''Dishonourable Behaviour''' || A public confession of dishonour and apology towards the victim. || Being named Guwan.
|-
| '''Disturbance of Public Order''' || A week’s hard labour and an apology to the noble in question. || Six months’ hard labour and an apology to the noble in question.
|-
| '''Assault''' || One month’s hard labour, and payment to the victim. || Loss of the offending hand and/or being named Guwan.
|-
| '''Possession of Unlawful Materials''' || One week’s hard labour, and surrender of any contraband. || Three months’ hard labour, and surrender of any contraband.
|-
| '''Sedition''' || Six months’ hard labour. || Loss of the tongue and/or being named Guwan
|-
| '''Piracy''' || Being named Guwan & one year’s hard labour. || Execution
|-
| '''Murder''' || Being named Guwan and/or the loss of the offending hand. || Execution.
|-
| '''Rebellion''' || Execution || Being named Guwan, followed by execution
|}
</center>

=== Ouerean Law ===
The law of [[Ouerea]] is very different from that of the wider Hegemony - though it does nominally fall under the Izweski Code of Law, Ouerea is largely permitted to govern itself for the most part. Several crimes and punishments are radically different there, with the punishment of being named Guwan being removed entirely, and a prison system having been established during the [[Sol Alliance|Sol]]-[[Nralakk Federation|Nralakk]] joint governance.

The Ouerean legal system is much more inspired by human ones - any Sinta is allowed the right to representation in a court of law, and they are judged by a jury of their peers rather than a reigning noble.

= Criminal Guilds =

Criminal guilds are illicit underground guilds run by secretive clans of Unathi - similar to human or Tajaran mafias, these criminals have come together to operate outside the law.
Notably, it’s known that these criminal guilds tend to recruit from the undesirable Guwan, using them as the major workforce of their organisations.

In these underbelly Guilds, Guwandi are seen as a weapon of ritualistic - and honourable - assassination. When a member of the Guild goes against the Guild’s wishes, they are assumed to have taken the mantle of Guwandi, making them a target for other Guwandi that wish to restore their honour and ‘return to the guild’. This method has helped keep snitching on the Guilds to a minimum.

== Shortclaw Clan ==

An ancient organisation, the Shortclaw Clan or Shortclaw Guild is one of the largest criminal guilds in Unathi history. Dating back to the days of the [[Unathi_History#The_Second_Hegemony|Sarakus Hegemony]], the Shortclaws are an organisation consisting primarily of thieves, fences and smugglers - spanning nearly the entirety of the Hegemony, from the packed streets of Skalamar to the distant settlements of far-flung colonies.

In 2459, the Shortclaws gained infamy from carrying out one of the largest heists in Unathi history - known by its members as the Day of Gold a mass theft spanning from Moghes to Ouerea and even beyond the Hegemony, with heists being reported in [[Tau Ceti]]. Primarily nobles were targeted, as well as the coffers of powerful or wealthy [[Unathi Guilds|guilds]], with untold thousands of credits’ worth stolen.

=== History & Culture ===
The Shortclaws date back to the Sarakus Hegemony, formed from a small group of Guwan pickpockets in S’th. Over time, they expanded operations, recruiting more and more thieves into their number. Though individual ‘chapters’ of the Shortclaws are greatly divergent, they are all still part of a larger organisation, and owe tribute to their guildmaster - whoever it may be.

Though the Shortclaw guildmaster’s identity is unknown, their title is one that echoes in the underbelly of Unathi society - the self-proclaimed “Hegemon of Thieves”. It is said that this guildmaster has an elaborate and ornamental crown, and that whoever manages to steal it from them through their cunning or guile can take control of the entire syndicate. Whether this is truth or legend is uncertain, as like with most things about the internal hierarchy of criminal guilds those who know are bound by a code of silence.

Though the nature of the Shortclaws’ work requires secrecy, they often can be identified by their fellow members with one of a few signals - a wooden ring on the little finger or short-clipped claws being the most common.

=== Operations ===
Theft is the primary trade of the Shortclaws, dating back to their origins - but as the organisation expanded, so too did its needs to both sell those stolen goods, and to work with other criminal organisations. To this end, the Shortclaws also work extensively as fences, offloading their ill-gotten goods to other gangs and criminal guilds on the black market, as well as smuggling illicit goods throughout the Hegemony.
Following first contact, the Shortclaws seized on the opportunity presented by interstellar travel, expanding their operations into trading with offworld smugglers. As time went on, this led to the guild acquiring some ships of their own, which frequently travel across the Spur carrying various ill-gotten gains. Following the rise of the Silver Scales, however, this operation has largely been cut back, as the other guild has a massive advantage due to its origins in the [[Unathi_Guilds#Merchants_Guild|Merchants’ Guild.]]

Pirate fleets are frequent customers of the Shortclaws, selling their loot to the criminal guild, who can offload it onto customers elsewhere. While this relationship is an old one, and well-established, the Shortclaws are not pirates, and not considered as such - no Shortclaw has ever been permitted to visit Ha’zana.

Outside of the Hegemony proper, the Shortclaws have a presence on Gakal’zaal, though a small one - often trading or exchanging information with the [[Tajara|Tajaran]] smugglers who dock at the Free Gakal’zaal Station. Despite the conflict between the two species, the Shortclaws maintain ties with their Tajaran counterparts, and often act as fences for Tajaran smuggled goods in the sector. Shortclaw thieves can also be found further afield, primarily in the [[Republic of Biesel]] and the [[Coalition of Colonies]] - though their operations remain centred on Uueoa-Esa. They will occasionally trade with the Unathi underground in Tau Ceti or [[Mictlan]], and have been known to steal from the megacorporations in both Biesel proper and the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]].

The Shortclaws are known to have ties to some of the Hegemony’s nobility - most notably Lord Karkatus of S’th, known for his corruption and ties to criminal syndicates. Given the organisation’s deep roots in the city, some have suspected Karkatus of being a member himself, or even the guildmaster - though these accusations are likely unfounded.

=== Membership ===
To join the Shortclaws, one must first be recruited - an existing member of the guild has to take notice, and vouch for the recruit to the local chapter master. The prospective recruit will then be assigned a series of jobs to test both their skill as a thief, and to scout them for any signs of ties to local law enforcement. Though the Shortclaws are thieves rather than murderers, those among them found to be undercover operatives or spies can expect no mercy, and the waters of the Moghresian Sea are littered with those unfortunate enough to be found out.

Should these tests be passed, one is named an apprentice of the guild, working under a full-fledged member who takes a majority of the profits from their apprentice’s thefts - an incurred debt of sorts for their membership and education. When this is paid, another test is arranged, usually involving a high-risk heist of some variety. Traditionally, this heist is rigged if possible, with local guards on the guild’s payroll informed if possible - or guild members disguised as guards acting, if not. This test is designed to tell if the apprentice will break under pressure and turn on their fellow guildsmen - and those who do are cast out, if they are lucky.

Journeymen of the guild keep the majority of their personal take, save for a cut for the chapter master - who in turn, sends a cut of their chapter’s profits to the guildmaster. Succession of chapter leadership is a simple matter, with representatives of the “Hegemon of Thieves” deciding which of the chapter’s journeymen is worthy.

Exile from the Shortclaw Guild is reserved as a dire punishment - for those who steal from their fellow guildsmen, those who inform on the guild, or those who fail to perform the requisite services to the organisation. In some chapters, this exile is marked by severing the little finger of the former member’s main hand - so they may never again impersonate a thief of the guild. Exiles are monitored closely, and should they seek to inform on their former guild they are swiftly dealt with.

== The Shadow Service ==
The Shadow Service is one of the larger underbelly guilds that does not use Guwan - instead, using hidden members of society or Guwandi who wish to regain their honour in a noble assassination duel. Utilising a form of Unathi Breacher Suit, they are rumoured to be capable of using active camouflage to be completely invisible. It is frowned upon by the Shadow Service to use this stealth capability for battle, and the enemy should always know they are being hunted by a member of the Shadow Service, and for what reason.

=== History & Culture ===
Little is known about the inner workings of the Shadow Service - though the earliest rumours of the guild date back thousands of years, to the days of the First Hegemony. Whether this is the same guild, having carried out its services all this time - or simply a chain of them trading on the fame of their predecessors - the Shadow Service have done their work for nearly as long as Unathi civilisation has existed, and have grown into a legendary status for it.

The organisation is one shrouded in absolute secrecy, with little known to outsiders - those few assassins who have ever faced captivity have remained absolutely silent, even in the face of execution. From this, it can be inferred that the Shadow Service has an extremely strict code of the ‘Assassin’s Honour’, and that to breach it is considered a fate worse than death. This is further supported by their means of killing.

What little is known is that the assassins of the Service are highly trained and highly dedicated, as well as having access to various advanced and alien technology. Whether this was purchased from other criminal guilds, or taken as payment from the nobles who hired them, none are certain.

Hiring the Shadow Service is a difficult procedure, which is largely done through word of mouth - someone will let slip that they seek an assassin, whether personally or through a retainer for wealthier nobles - and the Shadow Service may well answer. Usually, they work through intermediary fixers - rare and trusted individuals who know how to contact the Service, and can pass along the details of a client following an investigation to discern if they are trustworthy.

=== Operations ===
The Shadow Service is one of the most gender-inclusive Guilds in Unathi society, with a perfect 50/50 split in men and women. As men harming women is seen as disrespectful, dishonourable, and downright terrible, the Shadow Service contracts women to kill women, and men to kill men. Depending on the situation required, the Shadow Service is said to send in a 'noble Assassin' to complete the task. If the target is believed to be honourable, the assassin must act honourably - however if they have shown any signs of dishonourable act, they are open grounds for all out hunting. Acting honourably does not mean giving a fair fight, however - and many of these duels have been known to end in a single blow from the assassin.

Publicly, 'assassins' are known to exist - and tales of the Shadow Service circulate similar to the human 'Illuminati' or the Skrell 'Secret Council'. Peasants would have nothing to fear - with some even idolising the stories of 'honourable assassins' that enact righteous justice through heavy-handed, forced duelling. Richer noble clans would have a different view - one of fear, dangerous enough to warn their children about. It is said when a nobleman expects a visit from the Shadow, they will receive warning beforehand to allow the target to prepare to join the ancestors. When a woman is targeted by the Shadow Service, a female assassin will be sent instead. With killing women, they are held to a higher standard, and their body should be left 'presentable' enough for a proper traditional Th'akh funeral.

When an assassin of the Shadow Service makes a kill, the Guild’s sigil is left upon their body or at the scene of the crime - a stylised Sinta eye, pupil-less. What this sigil means has been the subject of countless theories and speculations, though none but the assassins know for certain. One thing that is known, however, is that the Service does not tolerate imitators - to use their sigil for your own killings is to invite immediate and brutal retribution. The last known response to this was in 2382, when a Guwan in Skalamar drew their symbol upon a wall in a rival’s blood, seeking to intimidate his rivals in the underground. Within a week, his body was left in the streets of the city, with the symbol of the Shadow Service drawn on a piece of paper and nailed to his chest.

Recently, the Service has expanded its operations offworld, with several assassinations having been carried out on Ouerea and in further-flung colonies - though it is believed that outside of the larger colonies, assassins will largely travel to fulfil a contract themselves rather than remaining there permanently. The Shadow Service has been reported to operate as far afield as Tau Ceti, though the vast majority of their operations remain concentrated on Moghes.

=== Membership ===
How does the Service recruit? None know for certain. It is believed that they train their operatives from youth, and tend to recruit from the orphanage guilds - training them until adulthood in every form of killing known to Unathi. No member of the Guild has ever spoken on this matter, though those captured have often been unidentifiable by law enforcement, with no records save for paper-thin false identities. Some stories say that the Guild operates its deadly ‘schools’ in the mountains to the north of the Heartland, training orphaned and forgotten Unathi into hardened instruments of death - though none have ever uncovered any evidence of this.

There is no exile from the Shadow Service. To betray the Guild is met with death, without exception. Once you are a member, you are a member for life, or so the legend goes. If assassins grow old enough to retire, some say they are simply killed - while others say that the Guild provides them with money and land on which to settle down, and live out their last days in peace.

The identity of the Shadow Service’s guildmaster, if there even is one, is entirely unknown. No information has ever been uncovered on the guild’s leadership, structure or means of succession - and if those among the Hegemony’s mightiest know who may lead the guild, they have as much motivation to keep silent as anyone else. After all, an assassin is just one of many tools to maintain power in the games of the nobility, and losing such a valuable thing would benefit no one.

== The Silver Scales ==

When the [[Unathi_Guilds#Merchants_Guild|Merchants’ Guild]] went bankrupt, the economy of the Hegemony very nearly collapsed entirely - with only the intervention of [[Hephaestus Industries]] saving it. However, though the Guild itself was defunct, its members were still around - many of them now finding Guild assets that were essentially up for grabs. Rather than wait for the Guild to sell them off to the highest bidder - likely Hephaestus - many of these Merchants chose to act, stealing Guild property and assets and absconding, forming a network of smugglers and brokers to rival the Shortclaw Clan themselves.

Though a recent arrival, the Silver Scales’ operations stretch across the Hegemony, taking advantage of the Merchants’ Guild’s former contacts and trade routes through the Orion Spur. In a short amount of time, these former merchants have re-established a fraction of the power they once held, acting as interstellar smugglers and information brokers. The Hegemony has declared them as thieves and outlaws, and Hephaestus seeks to crush the last remnant of a potential rival - but the Scales persist, working to restore the financial dominance they once held.

=== History & Culture ===
The history of the Silver Scales is a short one, with the organisation having formally formed in late 2465. It is believed many of its members already held criminal ties during their time as guildsment of the Merchants’ Guild, however - engaging in illicit trade with pirates, alien smugglers, and criminal guilds to sidestep the Hegemony’s strict trade regulations.

The organisation largely operates as smugglers, taking advantage of the Merchants’ Guild’s trading fleet to smuggle across the Orion Spur - from the wreckage of the former [[Human Wildlands]] to Gakal’zaal to Tau Ceti. Though still far diminished from the heights of the Merchants’ Guild, the Scales have surged to wealth and prominence since their inception, and already have become a fixture of the Hegemony’s underground.

The Scales are known to favour silver rings and jewellery as a form of identification, though the nature of their work means that many of them prefer to remain inconspicuous when trading in the Hegemony. Some of them are even rumoured to have coated their horns in silver, though this is viewed as extreme even among the Guild.

=== Operations ===
The Silver Scales’ operations range across the Orion Spur - the Merchants’ Guild had contacts and trade routes nearly everywhere, and their criminal remnants have made excellent use of that. Aside from the Hegemony’s criminal guilds, they frequently trade with pirate fleets - many of whom their members already had relations with, having paid them to ignore their own vessels or attack their rivals’.

Vessels of the Scales also range further afield - trading with Tajaran smugglers and criminals on Gakal’zaal, human pirates in the Badlands and remnants of the Wildlands, and insurgents in the Corporate Reconstruction Zone. Their vessels are known to dock on [[Valkyrie]], and they will frequently trade with both Unathi and alien criminal organisations there. In the Coalition of Colonies, they have been known to deal with various criminal syndicates on [[Assunzione]] and [[Xanu Prime]], and there are rumours of their vessels doing business in the [[Empire of Dominia]] as well. In the brief time since they came to exist, they have carved themselves a niche in the interstellar black market, and this shows no signs of slowing down.

They have competed with various other criminal guilds, though mostly preferring to make friends rather than enemies - after all, why fight someone when you can simply pay them off? They have something of a rivalry with the Shortclaws, who operate in a similar market - though this is not an outright feud, and the two groups are known to trade and occasionally cooperate.

=== Membership ===
The Silver Scales primarily consist of former guildsmen of the Merchants’ Guild, and this is where the bulk of their upper ranks are drawn from. They are also known to recruit lower-ranking members from Wastelanders, Guwan, and former guildsmen of other guilds, in order to provide the needed skills and services to operate an interstellar smuggling ring.

While none of these newer recruits have risen to higher positions in the guild hierarchy, in theory there is nothing preventing it - though individual captains and chapter masters prefer to choose and train a successor early, ideally one with enough scruples to not decide advancement at the point of a knife is a good idea.

Unlike most criminal guilds, the guildmaster of the Silver Scales is widely known - a Sinta by the name of Akhna Razi, a relative of the former guildmaster of the Merchants. Razi is a young woman, but a highly capable one, who was able to band the remnants of the Merchants together and persist through the near-total collapse of their guild. Despite her relation to Hizoni Izweski, the two are not close and, as far as Hizoni has publicly stated, have never spoken beyond cursory introductions. Whether or not the Silver Scales hold deeper ties to the Izweski Spymaster is a matter of some speculation, though, as with most questions relating to Hizoni Izweski, few concrete answers have ever been found.

== The Jhakal Syndicate ==
Many Unathi have left the Hegemony, whether in flight from the Wasteland or in pursuit of a better life among the stars. The Jhakal are an example of the former, having once ruled over the Jhakal Kingdom, a member-state of the Traditionalist Coalition. When the Kingdom fell to Izweski forces, the remnants of the Jhakal clan were forced to flee, eventually finding passage offworld with the assistance of human smugglers and setting course for the Republic of Biesel.

Over the years, the Jhakal have expanded operations across the docks of [[Valkyrie]] - gaining control and influence over the illicit trade running through the moon through a mixture of cunning, bribery and occasional spots of violence. For those smugglers and criminals seeking to do business in Tau Ceti, especially on Valkyrie, the Jhakal have become a fact of life - and one that is far better to have as a friend than an enemy.

=== History & Culture ===
The Jhakal Kingdom was never one of great importance or power, but managed to maintain its independence both from the Izweski and rival kingdoms. When it was captured by the Izweski, some of the ruling clan fled, including the ruling king. They were able to escape via human smugglers, fleeing for the Republic of Biesel - though King Jhakal would not survive the journey, having grown ill over the clan’s desperate flight offworld.

Arriving on the docks of Valkyrie with but a few loyal retainers, the remaining Jhakal might have quickly fallen to infighting, if not for the leadership of Lady Islek Jhakal, sister to the late king. She quickly took control of the remnants, bringing those who would bend the knee under her and disposing of the rest, before setting her sights on Valkyrie. The reputation of the Unathi as violent brutes worked in their favour, as she began renting the services of her clan’s warriors out to the gangs and syndicates of Valkyrie, beginning to accumulate credits - all the while plotting her ascent to power. Over the years, more and more of the rival smuggler syndicates fell, brought down from without or within, and as more Unathi came to Valkyrie, more of them found that the Jhakal offered good payment for only moderately dishonourable work.

Though they remain exclusively Unathi, the Jhakal have expanded far beyond their original clan, and are informally known as the Jhakal Syndicate - or sometimes the Jhakal Queendom, depending on who you ask. In the modern day, the Jhakal keep a tight grip on the docks of Valkyrie, and a vast majority of illicit trade that flows through the moon is under their supervision. Though they have achieved wealth and power in human space, this is in no small part due to the cunning leadership of Lady Islek - and when she dies, many of the organisation’s members fear all they have worked for could be undone.

=== Operations ===
The Jhakal primarily operate through their control of the docks - taking cuts from smugglers, paying off guards and inspectors, and ensuring that illegal trade can flow smoothly through Valkyrie. Outside of that, they deal in the sale of those smuggled goods both on Valkyrie and Biesel proper, dealing in drugs, weapons and smuggled luxuries from far-off worlds. They have good relations with those pirate fleets that operate in the Republic of Biesel, and are an often source for fencing of ill-gotten goods.

Outside of that, they frequently run protection rackets on Valkyrie - taking fees from local businesses to ensure that both their own people and other criminal organisations leave them alone. These fees are carefully calculated - enough to be profitable, but always just under the line of outright extortionate - the exact point where they are preferable from the alternative. If one doesn’t have the money to pay the Jhakal, they always accept debts and favours, with Lady Islek having built an elaborate web of debtors across the moon’s surface.

Expanding on this, many gambling dens and bars are also run by the Jhakal - capitalising on addiction or runs of bad luck to bring more and more into the clan’s debt. They have extensive influence among many of the Hephaestus workers and managers on Valkyrie, and this fact is a large contributor to their avoidance of the law.

=== Membership ===
Aside from those members of the clan who originally fled from Moghes, any Sinta may earn membership in the Jhakal through dedication and service. A large number of Unathi and, more rarely, aliens, work under the syndicate without bearing the Jhakal surname - though they are employees, they are not afforded the protection that being a member of the Jhakal proper imparts, and many will often take on dangerous jobs in the hope of earning a place within the ruling clan.

Marriage is also a traditional approach to joining the clan, though this method is less common and does not confer as much authority as rising through the ranks would, unless the clan member’s spouse is capable of earning that authority themselves. To date, the only Sinta known to have married into the syndicate is Lady Islek’s late husband Bezhak Rizek, a high-ranking Hephaestus dock manager who perished during the [[KING OF THE WORLD|Solarian invasion of 2462]].

Islek herself remains the uncontested leader of the clan, suffering no rivals even as she enters her twilight years. In public, she presents herself as a kindly and almost grandmotherly individual, a prominent citizen of the Valkyrian Unathi community known for her generous charitable donations and commitment to improving the lives of the working Sinta of Valkyrie. Behind this mask, however, she is a woman known for her cunning, willpower and absolute ruthlessness - respected and feared by rivals and underlings alike. She has ruled with an iron claw for nearly twenty years, and though in her advanced age the prospect of succession is increasingly discussed none would dare to suggest she step down. Though she claims no noble title beyond the traditional “Lady”, there is another title which has been bestowed in whispers upon her nevertheless - the “Queen of Valkyrie”. A dramatic name, but one not so far from the truth.

Currently, her son, Khariz Jhakal seems the most likely choice to inherit leadership of the organisation - though he is inexperienced, and often allows his temper to get the better of him. This has led to several arrests on both Valkyrie and Biesel, as he has been involved in several brawls and minor crimes, all of which his mother and her lawyers have managed to keep his name clean of. Whether he is worthy of following in his mother’s footsteps, or whether her rivals will see his ascent as a chance to strike - only time will tell.

== The Hammertail Smiths ==

While black markets may be common, the concept of a “black factory” is much rarer, the idea of an entire industry producing and selling in illegality, generally to other criminal elements. The Hammertail Smiths are just that, an organization of engineers, scientists, machinists, and industrial workers whose ingenuity, and occasionally deranged inspiration, is fueled and funded by eager clients, from pirate fleets and other Unathi criminal organizations to individual actors, may they be in the Hegemony, or on the other side of the spur.

The Hammertail Smiths, both due to their talent and to their business being very powerful on the black market, got to expand rapidly since their creation in 2433, to the point where they own several sites and stations across the Spur to do their research and production. Over the years, they became a well-known group all over the Spur, producing some popular pieces of equipment such as the infamous Crimson Voidsuits and Hardsuits series.
[[File:Gorlexlogo.png|200px|thumb|right|The symbol of the Hammertail Smiths adorns all of their creations, making it a common sight in countless black markets.]]
=== History & Culture ===

The Hammertail Smiths group was formed around 2433 as Hephaestus Industries, and to a lesser extent Zavodskoi Interstellar, started to win over a part of the population. From the get-go, the motivations behind the group’s members were diverse, but they all united under the same goal, providing Unathi-made alternatives to the advanced alien gear and equipment the corporations would provide Moghes with and prevent the creation of an alien monopoly. Doing so meant reverse-engineering this equipment of course, and this meant acts of theft, espionage, and other criminal acts, which led the Smiths to illegality very early. Between their small numbers, the need to avoid authorities, and the difficulties and dangers of acquiring corporate technologies, the first years of the Hammertail Smiths were generally unproductive, though their many experiments in these years would prove formative. With the Contact War approaching, members of the Traditionalist Coalition managed to come in contact with the Smiths and hire them to create advanced weaponry that could rival the Hegemony’s. Though they managed to do so, the Smiths lacked the means to produce them in high quantities, and barely dozens of beam rifles, along with armor prototypes, were produced before the Nuclear Exchange. Still, this would also prove formative and would lead to the Hammertail Smiths finding their specialty in weapon and armorsmithing.

After the Nuclear Exchange, the Hammertail Smiths, those that survived at least, seemed to have found a way out of Moghes as they were then found in Ouerea’s criminal underbelly, among the burgeoning pirate fleets of the time, who became their main clients. It’s during these years that the Hammertail Smiths began to truly grow and master their art. With more members, their ability to produce more increased, which in turn led to more attention and even more recruits. When Ha’zana was discovered, they were invited to move there, and so they built one of their largest facilities near Iz’iz, manned by thousands of workers. Their greatest installation, however, is rumored to be a massive, hollowed-out asteroid somewhere in the Badlands going by the name of Site 90-12, whose location is kept secret to all, even their client. By 2460, the Hammertail Smiths also had installations outside of the Badlands and were recruiting more than just Unathi (though they still remain overwhelmingly Sinta.)

By now, arms and armor by the Hammertail Smiths can be found in the hand of any criminal, wherever they are, so long as they can afford them, or get their hands on it in another way. Most nations consider them criminals, and the SCC treats the initial members of the Hammertails as corporate spies as best, and their members are arrested on sight for association with a criminal organization at the very least. Despite it all, they continue to grow, produce, and sell all over the Spur.

=== Operations ===

The Hammertail Smiths delve into various types of activity to fuel their business. These activities can be split into four branches: development, production, trade, and operations.

Development refers to researchers and testers, those who work on creating new technologies to produce and sell. Hammertail Smiths researchers, even today, can hardly rival today’s main powers when it comes to making the most advanced pieces of technology, but they don’t have to. Instead, they enhance already existing technology, try to make it cheaper to produce, easier to use, more reliable, and so on. These only work in the few main facilities of the Hammertail Smiths, such as on-site 90-12, in their facility on Ha’zana, and other large installations hidden across the Badlands.

Production is the backbone of the Hammertail Smiths. Though their ability to create advanced gear is what made their initial success, what allowed them to grow so much to this day is their ability to answer to the demand for their creations, and then some more. Factories belonging to the Hammertail Smiths can be spotted across the Spur, though the further they are from the Badlands, the less likely they are to actually be Unathi-made and are instead generally just reclaimed installations. The Smiths are mostly known for their weapons and armor, but they can also provide other types of goods to their closest allies. The wealthier Unathi Pirate Fleets, for instance, can afford to occasionally ask for Hammertail-made modifications for their ships, and even occasionally entirely new spacecrafts made for specific missions.

Trade isn’t just about Hammertail merchants selling their wares on the black market, but also the many smugglers of the Hammertail Smiths, as an organization of their size requires an important logistics network, one that very often has to remain concealed from authorities.

Finally, Operations would be the smallest branch, it would also be the most varied. From the few corporate spies they could send out to gain knowledge of the Spur’s main powers’ gear, to their very own security forces when they cannot hire local thugs or pirates for this work.

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'''Notable Creations'''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
* The '''HSHS-37''', or '''Crimson Hardsuit'''. Strangely, the crimson hardsuit borrows next to nothing from its industrial or military counterparts, such as the Vampire and Breacher hardsuits from the Sol Alliance and Izweski Hegemony respectively, instead housing a purely homebrew circuit board and miniaturized shielding system. What makes the HSHS-37 appealing is no doubt the flexibility and universal usefulness to any race, doubly so the integrated shields charged by way of well-positioned capacitors that rapidly turn on and off when physical trauma is detected. Among other things, it supports practically any hardsuit module, with backwards compatibility for older prototypes and by default harboring combat leg actuators and a chemical dispenser. The naming convention of Hammertail armors follows the highest recorded number of rounds that could be shot center of mass without fully puncturing the suit.
* The '''HSVS-19''', or '''Crimson Voidsuit'''. The HSVS-19 aims to be the best of both worlds when it comes to armor and pressure-proof apparatuses, and while it lacks the modular design of the HSHS-37, it sports armor as fair as a plate carrier with little to no speed reduction, making use of similar shield-capacitor technology mentioned in the HSHS-37. It was manufactured by human members of the Hammertail Smiths from one of their installations in Valley Hale, and thus was built around the Human body first, but has seen refitting in recent years.
* The '''HSS-02''', or '''Double-Bladed Energy Sword''', is a prototype within the Hammertail Smiths. It has seen little use in combat because of the extremely high skill floor required to use it effectively. Masters of bladed quarterstaffs or spears have found themselves dead or permanently maimed, with limbs dangling uselessly or severed entirely with one wrong turn or twist. The double-bladed energy sword, when used correctly, can deflect or absorb lasers, sear ballistic rounds and cause them to splinter or shatter before hitting the user, thus lessening their effectiveness, and generally be used as a whirlpool-blender to turn whoever opposes the user off. Its downside stems from the nigh-impossible techniques to replicate and follow in order to use it safely, and its tendency to explode when exposed to electromagnetic pulses (EMPs). It was named not after the number of blades it has, but instead the amount of high-capacity power cells required for it to function.
</div></div>

=== Membership ===

Due to their wide range of activities and sheer size, the Hammertail Smiths hire from a wide range of people. Members of all species, origins, cultures, and religions are welcome, as long as they respect rules, for both safety and secrecy’s sake, and that they actually work enough.

Low-ranking members are generally not allowed to know much about other sites, creations, and blueprints aside from those they work on; this is both to counter spies and to ensure recruits they might need to fire will not be able to tell much about the Smiths if they ever dared to do so. Higher ranking members get to know more, but this comes with more responsibilities, and these very often stay here for their whole lives; as they cannot be allowed to be fired and risk telling about various Hammertail installations to authorities (or even just be caught and interrogated), the Smiths taking much inspiration from the pirate “dead men tell no tale” threat. Aside from that, punishment within the organization works much like typical Unathi punishments; hard labour, loss of a hand in the case of some thieves or aggressors, and so on.

Those that work enough, and are loyal to the Hammertail Smiths are paid surprisingly well enough, salaries being comparable to most corporate workers of the same level of responsibilities, though that can differ the further away the workers are from the Badlands and from Hammertail leadership.

== The Champions of Moghes ==

Though many groups throughout the Izweski Hegemony were opposed to the presence of Hephaestus in the economy even prior to their mass acquisition of guilds, the events of 2465 changed that significantly. Though many among the Izweski nobility were opposed to Hephaestus - as were the workers of the Hearts of Industry and the cultists of the Aut’akh - this opposition rarely escalated into what one might call open warfare.

The Champions of Moghes are a new organisation - one who claims to be dedicated to keeping the destiny of the Sinta people in Sinta hands, by any means necessary. Though little is known about their membership or hierarchy, their membership is believed to come from many places - former guildsmen of Hephaestus’s new acquisitions, members of the Hearts of Industry, Wastelanders, lingering Traditionalist supporters and even the occasional Aut’akh or Si’akh cultist. They are a group with many ideologies and beliefs, united solely in their hatred of Hephaestus and Hegemon Not’zar for allowing them to grow as they have.

The Champions came to prominence in October 2465, after a prolonged campaign of sabotage against Hephaestus cost the megacorporation hundreds of millions of credits, culminating in an assassination attempt on Titanius Aeson which came dangerously close to success. They were uncovered by a Hephaestus investigation, and promptly released a video claiming responsibility for the attacks and stating their goals for a Hegemony free of the influence of Hephaestus.

Despite their membership often being conflicted, and the wide range of individual cells, the Champions are well-equipped and well-trained, capable of an extensive campaign against Hephaestus which has already cost the corporation enormous amounts of money. This has led to speculation about their funding and equipment running rampant - with some believing that nobles opposed to Hephaestus are supplying the terrorists, though no proof of this allegation has ever been found.

Others look further afield, believing that Hephaestus’s rival corporations are using the Champions as a means by which to break the company’s stranglehold on the Izweski economy. Zavodskoi Interstellar and NanoTrasen are the two names usually mentioned here - and while no explicit proof of this has ever been uncovered, it would be nothing out of the ordinary for the power struggles between corporations.

=== Structure and Strategy ===

The Champions of Moghes operate in cells. These can range in size from a few to dozens, scattered throughout the major population centres of the Hegemony. Though specific details about the organisational structure are scarce, it is known that cell leaders report to someone above them, though their superiors’ identities are usually unknown. Secrecy is their greatest weapon against Hephaestus and the Hegemony, and they wield it well.

Generally, the Champions recruit from those already opposed to Hephaestus - the refugee settlements in the Untouched Lands are often prime targets for embittered Wastelanders and former Traditionalists, as are the cities of Ouerea. While one would think that the Guwan might make for prime recruitment candidates, the opposition of most other Sinta to working with them plus the fact that many Guwan are able to seek more opportunities with Hephaestus than elsewhere means that there are few Guwan among their number.

They tend to focus swiftness and surprise in their attacks - favouring bombings, assassinations, hijackings and other acts that are widely considered dishonourable. Their tactics are reminiscent of those the Tajaran resistance on Gakal’zaal used, which has led to some speculation by Izweski law enforcement that veterans of that campaign are highly positioned within the Champions. They are equipped with an odd mix of Unathi-made and alien weapons, with one raid on a Champion cell in S’th finding several human-produced laser rifles and Tajaran surplus ballistic weapons.

Despite their motley assortment of equipment, however, the Champions operate with surgical precision when they do strike, a highly coordinated and efficient insurgency. This further supports the theory that former military personnel make up some of the organisation’s leadership, as well as that they have some form of hidden training camps to drill their members in these tactics - though none of these have been uncovered thus far.

They are known to have some form of space capability, as several Hephaestus vessels disappeared during their campaign of sabotage - though whether this was internal theft by agents within the company, an attack by a Champion-equipped vessel, or a deal with one of the more anti-Izweski pirate fleets, no one is sure. Regardless, though they are concentrated on Moghes, attacks from the Champions have been reported across Hegemony space.

=== Relationships With Other Groups ===
Aside from their opposition to Hephaestus, the Champions do not have firm stances on most groups within the Hegemony - every principle is flexible in pursuit of their ultimate goal. However, some interactions have been recorded, and captured members of the Champions have been able to provide some intelligence on how their organisation interacts with others.

'''Izweski Hegemony'''
The Hegemony and Hephaestus are closely tied, and naturally this makes the nation an enemy of the Champions of Moghes, with their official proclamation having declared Not’zar Izweski an unworthy Hegemon. However, some within the Izweski nobility are opposed to Hephaestus, and many of these nobles have been suspected of aiding or abetting the Champions’ actions in some way. Overlord Hutay’zai has frequently spoken out against Hephaestus, and though he officially disavows the Champions many among them think well of him, and would be satisfied to see his clan take the leadership of the Fourth Hegemony.

'''K’lax Hive'''
The K’lax are closely tied to both the Hegemony and Hephaestus, and as such are enemies of the Champions. Though some among the Hive dislike the level of power the corporation now wields within the Hegemony, the K’lax Queens are united in their disavowal of the Champions, and their Warriors have frequently been on the front lines fighting against the terrorist group. To most of the Champions, the K’lax are alien invaders, the same as Hephaestus - and though they do not carry the same level of hatred, there is little love lost towards the Hive from their membership.

'''Ouerean Confederation'''
The Ouerean Confederation has officially denounced the Champions, and many of their membership would find the idea of Ouerean multi-species democracy laughable - but many Ouereans hold a deep distaste for Hephaestus, and the Champions have recruited extensively from the planet. It is suspected that some more radical members of factions such as the Warriors of Liberty have provided funding or information to the Champions - after all, the fall of the Hegemony is their desired outcome.

'''Aut’akh Communes'''
The Aut’akh of the Hegemony are opposed to Hephaestus, and some of their number can be found among the Champions. While many of the Champions’ members would have strong distaste for the cybernetically-enhanced cultists, they do share a common foe, and some of the undercity communes have been known to provide information or aid to the Champions at times. They are not allies, and many other communes on Moghes and Ouerea have disavowed the Champions’ tactics for the innocent lives lost in their attacks - but they share a common enemy, and if nothing else, that means the two groups can come to be loosely aligned at times.

'''Si’akh'''
The Prophet Si’akh has not spoken on the matter of the Champions, though some of his followers can be found among their number, seeking to tear down the corruption of the Izweski Hegemony. Though Si’akh is not explicitly opposed to Hephaestus, the faith’s radical stance on the Hegemony and its nobility mean that they are prime targets of recruitment - though rarely trusted with information, as it is known that should the Prophet take a stance against the Champions, his followers will turn on them too.

'''Pirate Fleets'''
No official relationship has been recorded between any of the known pirate fleets and the Champions of Moghes, though some speculate that the Champions made some deal to leverage pirates into attacking Hephaestus's assets.

'''Other Criminal Guilds'''
The Champions of Moghes are known to work on occasion with both the Silver Scales and the Shortclaw Clan, purchasing weapons, equipment and information. Beyond that, however, the relationship is minimal - an association of pragmatism, rather than one of ideology. The Champions have no recorded interaction with the Shadow Service, preferring to carry out their assassinations themselves when necessary.

== The Gawgaryn ==
Though many Wastelanders have turned to raiding and banditry to survive, none are more infamous or more feared than the Clan Gawgaryn - the Punished of the Wasteland. Across the radioactive desert, the Gawgaryn will kill, rob and maim to survive another day in the ruins of Moghes, and their name is cursed by many of those who would seek to travel through those harsh lands. More information on the Gawgaryn can be found [[The_Wasteland#Clan_"Gawgaryn"_-_The_Punished_Clans|here]].

== The Aut’akh ==
While not a criminal guild, many of the Aut’akh communes of Moghes work closely with organisations such as the Shortclaw Clan - and are hunted by the law for their deeds. As such, they are worthy of a mention here - with many of the Undercity Communes operating similarly to other criminal guilds, stealing from their rivals and enemies to sustain themselves and their people. More information on the Aut’akh, and the criminal communes in the underbelly of Moghes, can be found [[Aut'akh|here]].

== The Hearts of Industry ==
While a legitimate guild, the expansion of Hephaestus saw the Hearts of Industry’s power broken, with many of its members hanging up their mantles in favour of the benefits provided by the megacorporation. Those who remained were found without legitimate work, and have frequently turned to, if not crime for its own sake, agitation against the megacorporation. Their acts often toe the line of sabotage, public disorder and other minor crimes, as Hephaestus pressures the Izweski to crack down harder on the Hearts - perhaps in time they will become a criminal guild in their own right. Many guildsmen angry at Hephaestus’s ownership of their former guilds have since joined, and the Hearts maintain a small presence in both the Southlands and Ouerea. More information on the Hearts of Industry can be found [[Unathi_Guilds#Hearts_of_Industry|here]].

== Pirate Fleets ==
Though space piracy is a new phenomenon for the Unathi species, it is one that has rapidly spread in the past few decades, with fleets of Unathi pirates roaming across nearly the entire Spur.

Though Piracy is punished harshly; the nebulous nature of Unathi piracy, the fleets that make up this field, and their politics makes it more complicated than one would assume. The Unathi that engage in piracy directly against the Hegemony and its people, as well as its allies such as Hephaestus are punished harshly - but those that do not generally stay out of trouble, or at least are not punished for piracy. They may be punished for any other crimes such as smuggling, theft, or murder, however.

Additionally, Unathi pirates, may they be alone, part of an independent crew, or used to be in a fleet, can return to the Hegemony and swear fealty to the Hegemon. There, their crimes are forgiven, assuming they were not too egregious, and they are allowed to keep their ships so long as they used their assets, skills and experience in the service of the Hegemony, bolstering its fleet as privateers. These pirates are often treated poorly and paid very little, but to some, it is a better option than risking getting caught, or spending one's life among pirates. Naturally, these pirates are not allowed to swear fealty as they are caught and/or judged, they have to do so on their own volition.

Alternatively, some other fleets can work with Hegemonic clans and colonies in need without swearing fealty directly to the Hegemon. These fleets and pirates tend to already be in relatively decent terms with the Hegemony and its people in the first place, of course, and this allows them stay on the Hegemon's better side while still retaining some degree of independence.

More information on Unathi pirate fleets, their customs, and their way of life can be found [[Unathi Piracy|here]].
{{Navbox_Unathi_Lore}}
[[Category:Unathi]]

Venus

2024-07-09T03:49:04Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infobox

{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Navbox Human Lore}}
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Venus
|System = [[Sol]]
|Image = venus_flag.png
|Sector = Jewel Worlds
|Capital = Binyaria
|Species = Humans, [[Skrell]], [[IPC|IPCs]]
|Languages = Sol Common, Tradeband
|Demonyms = Venusian
|Nation = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
Considered the Solarian Alliance’s entertainment and pharmaceutical capital, '''Venus''' exists as one of the oldest colonies within Sol and as one of the most populated worlds within the Spur. Its inhabitants live in aerostats dotted among the orange skies, where they can enjoy the highest tier of cinema, virtual reality, musicals, and so on. The Venusian population is divided – yet united – into two classes: the Cythereans, entertainment, service and generally white collar workers, and the Jintarians, the blue-collar working and middle class. Regardless of this divide and whichever stereotypes may exist, Jintarians and Cythereans recognise that the other is necessary for Venus to continue prospering.

One of the most stereotyped and divisive elements within the Spur, the term “Venusian culture” is intrinsically tied to Cythereans due to their overwhelming presence and influence within interstellar media – despite it being an umbrella term for both the Cytherean and Jintarian cultures. Nearly always opposing the values of one another, including in politics, fashion, economics and down to even details such as favourite colours, they enjoy a symbiotic relationship that has been carefully cultivated throughout the decades of cohabitation. It is recognised that reliance on one another is essential to Venus’ society, despite the existence of fringe groups that find themselves radical proponents for a division of these two cultures. Still, these two groups tend to stereotype and tease the other whenever possible due to the sheer amount of differences. It is not unusual to see Cytherean and Jintarian couples, but it is definitely something that raises many eyebrows and much curiosity on the matter – except for celebrities, where this particular choice in partner may cause a bigger scandal than anticipated; and Venusians do love their scandals.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==
<center>''“If you want to make it here, you’ve gotta put your all into it! They’re complaining about their schedule? Maybe they shouldn’t have signed up to be an actor, then!” - Anne-Marie Cythère in an interview on the Binyarian exposé.''</center>

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===Initial Settlement===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
The case of Venus and how its esoteric society developed is the subject of much debate by many sociologists. Curiously, it began not as a colony, but instead as a research outpost created by the corporations that would eventually go on to form Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals in the 2090s. Many experimental technologies were developed in floating research stations, mainly relating to the fields of hydroponics and the chemical industry. Despite this, Earth's governments did not pay the scorching planet much attention, since it was rather unsuitable for rudimentary colonisation prospects. This situation continued until '''2127'''. The flooding of New York City and the resulting anarchy caused many residing billionaires to choose to leave Earth in advance, and a particular group chose to leave for Venus for a simple reason: Zeng-Hu's auctioning of its Venusian research stations. These stations were sold to them in an auction at a discount as the fledgling corporation desperately needed liquidity to keep its much more valuable Asian assets afloat.

Over the next decade, these research stations were gradually expanded by their new owners and consolidated into two super-settlements, forming '''the first proto-aerostats.''' These aerostats are respectively named after their owners: '''Binyaria''', named after Jie Binya, a young American-Chinese billionaire who recently inherited a massive fortune, and '''Rathlin''', named after François Rathlin, a French entrepreneur and owner of a massive supermarket chain on Earth. Binyaria inherited Zeng-Hu's chemical industry facilities, whereas Rathlin inherited Zeng-Hu's more extensive hydroponics and pharmacy industries. Rathlin was a much more valuable complex and trade quickly flourished there, with the fledgling aerostat becoming a large exporter of grown foodstuffs. Binyaria was in a more difficult position: its chemical industry was not as valuable and, thus, was far more reliant on its owners' investment. Binyarians and Rathliners thus developed a small rivalry around this time around whose aerostat was ''really'' the better one, which persists to this day. Nonetheless, Jie, the owner of Binyaria, needed a plan to make Binyaria truly shine.
</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
===The Binyarian Renaissance===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
On the 25th of December '''2141''', the '''Jie Holocinema Complex''' was announced in a massive opening ceremony costing in the billions of credits. This grand opening was complete with free tickets for a showing of the most famous Christmas movie at this time, White Snow. It was a revolutionary cinema, an absolutely massive one at that, using state-of-the-art holographic technology to give its viewers a ''truly'' out of the world experience. Nothing quite like it existed anywhere else in Human space and it acted as a lightning rod for citizens and tourists alike, which over time slowly became permanent residents. It attracted both rich and poor alike through clever use of advertisements and the inclusion of low-cost and luxury display rooms. More notably, however, it attracted the large media companies on earth. The cinema was so big that it was unmatched in terms of potential opening revenue, and Venusian billionaires were open to paying a fortune for luxury tickets. This led to a slow exodus of media companies to Venus, all competing to get opening-day contracts. It was slow at first, but later snowballed: more investment into the fledgling acting and media industry meant that more companies would move. Eventually, even the titans of the media industry began to move. By the turn of the 23rd century, Venus began rivalling Earth in terms of media. It was not quite dominant yet, however. One last push was needed.
</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
===The Founding of the Venusian Stars Institute===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
Intentionally announced at the turn of the century, on the 1st of January 2200, the Venusian Stars Institute was set from the beginning to be the heart of the Venusian media empire. An absolutely byzantine and gigantic entity, it was created to manage every single tiny bit of Venus' growing media industry. From managing actors to funding media companies, the VSI is the last edge that Binyaria needed to dislodge Earth's dominance in the media sector. Lucrative contracts and clever handiwork behind the scenes resulted in the titans of the media industry finally committing to a move to Venus. These contracts ended up creating luxurious and revolutionary institutes for the big media companies to settle in, their massive skyscrapers dominating the Venusian skyline. All citizens, at this point, would see the emblems of the Venusian media empire when looking up. Gigantic holographic billboards began to claim an unrivalled amount of space in every single alleyway. Social media, which was placed under the purview of the VSI's newly-created Social Leadership Team, began to truly boom around this time as well. Practically every citizen became an avid user of social media from the morning to the evening: the Venusian government often paid companies to give new employees latest-model phones, which came with all sorts of social media applications installed and no way to remove advertisements. While this was annoying at first, Venusians ended up accepting this situation eventually. After all, they ''were'' free, high-end mobile phones. The money that Venus spent on this was quickly made back through insane amounts of advertisement money: practically every citizen was viewing hundreds and hundreds of advertisements throughout the day. Idol culture began spreading through social media as well, with many falling in ranks behind their favourite media star, yet quick to turn their backs on them whenever the new scandal came out.
</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
===The Binyarian Exposé and Cytherea===
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The reality of the actors' life was much different than what was shown on social media. Their happy lives were often carefully manufactured lies, sold by their privately-hired media marketing teams. Of course, this is knowledge that only the actors themselves would have -- they, themselves, were too busy under the immense pressure of the Venusian entertainment industry. The Venusian Stars Institute's guidelines for actors -- essentially rules that they may not break for any reason -- clamped down harder and harder with every passing year. Newly-implemented beauty standards in ''2203''' meant that many actors had to resort to expensive, Zeng-Hu sponsored plastic surgery or then-experimental genetic engineering in order to meet unrealistic demands. Many took out extensive loans from the then-up-and-rising Idris banking company in order to afford these expensive Zeng-Hu procedures. These loans were then paid through a gruesome amount of work: actors often had to work gruelling work schedules, day after day, just to not be crushed under the interest. This opened up a new, lucrative front for Zeng-Hu: drugs grown on Rathlin could easily be sold to actors on Cytherea, which led to their rampant substance abuse behind the scenes, simply to deal with the stress. This industry is extremely lucrative and Zeng-Hu invested billions and billions into it. The usage of these substances spread to much of the public as well, although it was not yet a worldwide phenomenon.

This situation was unknown to the public until '''2217'''. A Venusian reporting agency, ''Le Courrier'', broke out a story amiably called '''the Binyarian Exposé.''' This story was in actuality a 287 page document that detailed the living situation of authors behind the scenes and the unrealistic standards of the VSI, down to every single small detail. Many failed or rejected authors were interviewed to obtain the information needed. Unfortunately, it was far too long and had the opposite effect of what the authors wanted. The VSI's strict control over social media meant that the story was swiftly suppressed by the algorithms. Additionally, many Venusians simply did not care and dismissed the revelations as '[...] washed up artists and B-rate actors making things up [...]'. This was the position held by '''Anne-Marie Cythère''', the most famous actor of this era and an icon of Venus, arguably the first real idol who possessed a massive cult following, mainly on Venus. Those who agreed with her stance were referred to as 'Cythereans' by Earther critics, a term which stuck over time and began substituting the usage of Venusians in common language. It began as a derogatory term, but Venusians simply repossessed the word to fit their new identity. This point marks the beginning of Cytherea and Cythereans for historians -- the point where Venusians accepted their new identity.

Additionally, the Exposé resulted in most of the world beginning to accept drug usage -- most simply saw it as just another facet of idol culture, and reasoned that since drinking was fine, substance abuse should be fine, too. The authorities were quickly overwhelmed as there were far too many rising cases of substance abuse and resale for them to handle. This led to most cases being dismissed with either a very light fine or no action taken. Some critics point to Zeng-Hu interference in this process through bribing authorities to grow its markets, but Zeng-Hu has denied all such claims.

As a result of this new identity, less and less Cythereans begin entering skilled trades. Rathlin's hydroponics and pharmacy industries, curiously, were not affected due to them being mostly automated and due to a relative lack of required physical work for their workers. The service industry and connected sectors begin absolutely dominating Venusian statistics, with almost the entirety of Venus' industry being located in Rathlin's hydroponics facilities. Binyaria's chemical industries began to go bankrupt and alarm bells were rang by many, but the government simply did not care. The media was what was making money, not the heavy industries. Anyone with a keen eye could spot that this growth was unsustainable, but once again, profits were placed over rationale.
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===The Interstellar War and the Jie Riots===
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With the outbreak of war for the Alliance, Venusians were conscripted just like the rest. This was, however, not taken amiably by the planet's populace and led to the first ever mass riots on Venus, dubbed 'the Jie Riots', as they took place in Our Lady’s Plaza in the aforementioned district. Around a million Venusians took to the streets to protest against the war, or at the very least for exemptions for Venusians. Many cried out that 'war's not good for our industry' and expressed a general unwillingness to go fight, as the physical damage would ruin their careers. Historians point to most social media posts bringing attention to the fact that the majority of the populace simply did not want their beauty to be compromised -- this was a more worrying prospect than death, to most Venusians. These protests were, however, very disorganised as there was no real unifying cause or voice behind them. The Alliance quickly intervened, quelled them, and conscription took place as it normally did in other worlds.

A significant amount of the Venusian working class was drafted -- around 20% -- mostly drawn from those that worked in the heavy industries keeping the planet afloat. Resistance to conscription was significant for most Venusians, who often found ways to outright avoid it. The Venusian government and the VSI were found to be involved in assisting actors, film makers, billionaires and, in general, everyone involved with the Venusian entertainment empire in draft dodging, mainly through clever forging of medical papers exempting them from service for one reason or the other. The entertainment industry continued to prosper or at the very least stay afloat, depending on which economics agency was polled, but everything else began to collapse in a manner of weeks due to the drafting of almost all of the skilled workers. Rationing and austerity were quickly instituted in all aerostats, to the chagrin of the planet’s populace. It would prove to be a difficult decade for Venusians, with many feeling the brunt of poverty and austerity, leading to a large amount of resentment towards the Alliance.
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===The End of Austerity and the Jintarian Plan===
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With the war ending, Venus was at the breaking point. The power plants had almost nobody left to work for them except for direly overworked engineers, and most of the populace simply did not want to work these jobs. The situation was especially dire and a new technocratic government was put in charge with a political blank cheque in order to deal with the situation once and for all. This led to the creation of the '''Jintaria Plan''', one of the biggest social engineering feats of human history. Through the usage of the Venusian media conglomerate, many veterans and refugees across the Alliance were invited to hastily fabricated 'cities under cities' in the aerostats. The contracts given to them were quite simple: as long as they worked in their assigned sector, they would have government-provided housing, heating, electricity and appliances. This was a very risky gamble that was quite expensive, but the dice roll succeeded. Many flocked over to the newly created Jintarian strata in order to find a new life, thus providing Venus with the skilled force it direly needed. The situation finally stabilised on the '''21st of August 2301''' with the end of austerity. Gigantic parties were held everywhere across Cytherea, with it becoming an official holiday, Ascension Day. Some Jintarians participated in these parties, while others simply took to pubs in their own slice of the aerostat.

Jintarian society is an inviting prospect for many refugees and immigrants. It is a patchwork blend of many cultures, who live together sharing the burden of an entire planet: this sole unifying factor leads to a shared sense of brotherhood and duty among Jintarians. This new class finds it hard to scale the ladder, however. It is practically almost impossible for Jintarians to work in the Venusian media industries due to ‘beauty standards concerns’: the fact that most of the Jintarian population has done some sort of trade or physical work in their life, which leads to the formation of minor beauty defects – enough for the Cythereans to reject the prospect of such a person entering the media scene. Some Jintarians opt for extensive plastic surgery to enter the ranks of the Cythereans, but this requires almost half a lifetime of savings and is an exceedingly rare occurrence. These ‘quasi-Cythereans’ are a mixed bag for Jintarians: the most radical view them as class traitors and the ambitious view them as lucky individuals.
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===Modern History, Cytherea and Jintaria===
Venus is, today, labelled as the '''Queen of Entertainment''' for good reason. A significant amount of entertainment media is produced in Venus, casted with Venusian celebrities and created by Venusian companies, with the end products finding solid purchase in most markets across the Spur. It is a powerful cultural weapon for the Alliance. It also hosts a state-of-the-art hydroponics industry in Rathlin -- being a net exporter of food, second only to Ganymede -- and a titanic pharmaceutical industry, focused mainly on beauty and pharmaceutical products. Venus, curiously, hosts the largest population of Martian refugees in the Spur. Following Violet Dawn, millions of Martians now call Jintaria their home. They were invited to work on Venus under similar contracts as the first Jintarians.

On '''October 31, 2460''', a high-profile Venusian club by the name of Athena's Temple was the site of a tragic shooting which saw eleven deaths and ten injuries: among these deaths, three admirals. The two culprits -- disguised as high-class patrons -- were arrested and later identified as Adhomian nationals residing in the Alliance through work visas. The club's administration confirmed that the two Tajara in question were masquerading as People's Republic officials. The VPPF's response to the incident was defined as "shoddy as best," as it took over an hour to reach the club: conflicting reports were blamed by higher-ups, a statement that was doubted and mocked on the Extranet by a large amount of Venusians who felt that these incidents would hurt both the tourism and service industries. While no group took responsibility of the attack, the Tajara Revolutionary Army was nearly universally blamed as this attack shortly followed the New Hai Phong bombings: the Venusian populace would end up supporting the Tajara Deportation Act near-unanimously.

==Environment==
[[File:VenusSkyline.png|thumb|Binyaria from the outside, along with a few satellite aerostats.]]
<center>''“Those eruptions? Ohmygosh, they were so cool!” - Part of an unnamed Venusian tourist’s review of the Idris Venusian Cruise Experience sightseeing package.''</center>

Venus is an incredibly hot and miserable planet. The mass of its atmosphere is 93 times that of Earth's, equivalent to the crushing depths of the deep ocean. This atmosphere is extremely thick and toxic, composed primarily of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, and this generates the strongest greenhouse effect in the Solar System, creating an average surface temperature of at least 462 C (864 F). Due to these crushing conditions, '''no Venusians live on the surface.''' Instead, they rely on floating aerostats – which have become a key part of Venus, and more importantly its society.

A Venusian year lasts 225 Earth days. A normal day on Venus lasts much longer than that of Earth due to the slow rotation, taking 243 Earth days to make one Venusian day. Venus spins backwards when compared to the other planets in the Sol system, causing the sun to rise in the west and set in the east. It rains sulphuric acid on the surface and the atmosphere is so thick that it exerts massive amounts of pressure on the surface. This crushes all but the most structurally reinforced habitats below the cloud layer, practically all of which are extremely specialised research habitats, with the rest destroyed by caustic acid rain. The planet hosts massive amounts of volcanic activity, which spew even more toxic gases into the atmosphere – although these are often co-opted as tourist attractions visible from cubicles in the aerostats or through windows in shuttles. Almost no sunlight reaches the surface of the planet, despite the temperature.
==Government and Politics==
<center>''“Jintarians have been governed by Cythereans for a century now, but no more! No more will the Jintarian have to stand by and let clueless addicts govern them! No more!” – Excerpt from Hendrik Strom’s famous campaign speech to a crowd of around million Jintarians in Jintarian Parabing.''</center>

Venus’ government is, on the surface, fairly simple: each aerostat has its own governor, which is elected through a democratic vote where all registered citizens can participate. Each district likewise has its own representative, elected in the very same manner. However, Venus places little to no effort in fighting any sort of corruption, often staffing its anti-corruption bureaus as if they were vacation homes for retired politicians. This has led to Venus’ government historically being among the most corrupt and inefficient in the Spur, with a record period of '''11 years without any significant reform''' (according to the Xanusii News Service’s ''Venusian Insight'' scoop of 2431, with a "significant reform" classified as any bill that implements a new social or governmental program). District representatives and aerostat governors alike are often accused by independent news services of collaborating in the Venusian drug trade to disgusting degrees, pocketing bribe money left and right and willingly ignoring the issues that plague Venus. Moreover, competition is at an all-time low on Venus, with all of its sectors practically monopolised by a select few companies. Venus’ media freedom ranks at its highest peak ever according to Venusian and some Solarian outlets, but independent news services often instead rank it at the bottom due to the VSI’s absolute stranglehold on the media services.

Under the surface, Venus has many de-facto exceptions given to it by the Solarian law apparatus. Drug trade and consumption are essentially completely allowed on Venus, with the VPPF not particularly inclined to ever prosecute these crimes due to their profitability. Whatever narcotics one may desire are nearly always handed over-the-counter at Zeng-Hu pharmacies, which present a ''technically legal'' front – and, as a result, no perquisitions ever occur.

This general complacency boiled over in Hendrik Strom’s election as the planetary senator in 2453, a result of Cytherean apathy and general lack of care towards voting. Elected through a historic Jintarian turnout, his campaign has run on anti-corruption promises and economic reforms – populist policies that are not appreciated by Cythereans or by the established Venusian industries. Whether these reforms will be implemented or have any long-lasting effect is yet to be seen, however, as more pressing matters have taken the ex-senator’s attention since the Solarian collapse.

The '''Venusian Stars Institute''' is an entirely government-controlled agency and an integral part of the average Venusian’s life. It has absolute control over Venusian media, from what gets produced and put on the extranet to the image rights of its stars and idols, with more details on this particular facet in the Cytherean Culture section. To the average citizen, the VSI is an almost invisible force behind social media, rarely interfering unless absolutely necessary. An example of this is the silencing of the Binyarian Exposé, where journalists propagating the story in question were promptly banned from all social media and their stories scrubbed from the Extranet.

===The Venusian Planetary Police Force===
Venus’ law enforcement agency is the '''Venusian Planetary Police Force''', or '''VPPF'''. The VPPF is more of a media stunt than a real police force, being riddled with corruption and inefficiencies, where officers are known to readily take bribes to ignore crimes -- particularly the crimes of Venus' rich and famous. The VPPF's reputation is so poor that megacorporate facilities and Venusian notables may even use private military contractors from the Eridani Federation Military to provide security instead. Hendrik Strom and his fellow populists have made a scapegoat out of the VPPF by citing its most public failures such as its inability to contain the now-defunct Tajara Revolutionary Army and its rampant cronyism. In public polling, the Venusian police typically ranks as one of the least popular planetary police agencies in the entire Solarian Alliance. It can mostly be seen policing important landmarks, clubs, bars or whichever important gala is being hosted on a certain night.
The gendarmerie’s poor standing also has to do with mostly who exactly chooses a career in it, often described as a dead-end career: that is to say, mostly crashouts and those who don’t want to be in the spotlight, for one reason or the other. Unfortunately for them, the VPPF doesn’t pay very handsomely and is seen as the opposite of a prestigious career, being considered useless by just about every single Venusian. This has led to an extremely high rate of turnover, with those leaving the VPPF often leaving Venus entirely and looking for work abroad as mercenaries in the PMCG/EPMC or as corporate security: leaving the planet with their eyes open to Venus’ many injustices and likely more depressed as a result.

The VPPF is structured into one department per aerostat with thirty-two sections per district, with each section varying in size depending on the population and importance of the location. Rimari has by far the largest sections across Binyaria. While the VPPF functions like an archetypical gendarmerie, many of its bureaus are intentionally stunted: narcotics or financial crimes departments often function in name only, with their director being paid off by more than one person in exchange for their inaction. This situation is known to just about anyone who researches it, but most importantly they have to care about it – which is not the case for the average Cytherean. After all, the VPPF’s inaction is what allows their hedonistic lifestyle to continue.
==Cytherean Culture==
<center>''“[...] Sol knowingly perpetrates that deluded Venusian perversion of human values, where the greed of the individual is placed on a pedestal for all to see and envy, where lust becomes paramount both for money and for man, where hard work and pride are substituted for laziness and a manic social anxiety. In this place, the ugly truth has a model’s face [...]” - Commander Ganesh Shrivastav (2411 - Present) in an impassioned speech to the Xanu parliament, regarding the Solarian threat.''</center>

Cytherean culture’s paramount concept is '''climbing the social ladder'''. This is the one concept that is '''utterly important''' to every single Cytherean, and each of them has their own view on what it entails. This social ladder can be interpreted in many ways – for some, it’s gaining an immense amount of followers on social media, while for others it’s becoming a spur-wide celebrity through a career in acting. It is universally considered to only be climbable through activities that inherently make you more popular among others, contributing to the reason why the extreme majority of Cythereans reject any sort of physical labour that does not provide this opportunity. It isn’t seen as strictly necessary to remain on Venus in order to climb the social ladder, and glory is considered to be attainable even outside of Venus itself – but most consider it an eventual necessity to come back and show off.

Because of this obsession, Cythereans tend to be extravagant in all facets of life, willing to stand out from the crowd by any means necessary; Cytherea is the primary pop culture centre of Sol, with a populace often dressed in bright, dramatic clothing. Many Solarian celebrities either live or were born on one of Venus’s aerostats, growing up in the privileged Cytherean culture. The best actors, comedians, chefs, musicians, and pop stars enjoy almost constant coverage on holo-screens, only occasionally replaced by adverts for startup beauty products, cutting-edge gaming hardware, or the newest diet fad. These celebrities enjoy high class treatment and something akin to worship from the Cythereans. Many come from across the galaxy, human and alien alike, seeking to turn their fortunes around. However, Cythereans are not immune to poverty and hardship in their laissez-faire society. Those looking to become the next big thing sometimes wind up on the opposite end of the spectrum, relying on morally and legally ambiguous means to get by. Aliens, although welcome, are typically sidelined in favour of human actors and models due to most moguls desiring to “play it safe." As a result, aliens, regardless of their talents, are typically seen as understudies, extras, dancers, and occasionally backup singers or instrumentalists.

The Cytherean environment is very cutthroat: many are willing to do whatever it takes to climb the social ladder, whether that be by fabricating scandals or putting their fingers in one too many pies. Law enforcement is often easily evaded due to lofty standards and a general lack of passion. In the end, one can get away with almost anything as long as they possess the right contacts and enough money. The party culture thrives in the aerostats, with the grand cocktail parties and fundraising schmooze-fests toward the top of teardrop slowly fading into the high-energy festivals of the lower sections. Toward the top, one can overhear the latest gossip and glimpse envelopes of credits sliding under tables. Toward the bottom, one can see the most hedonistic displays of luxury.

Though many work in the entertainment industry as stars and producers, there are great opportunities for a Cytherean scientist: after all, climbing the scientific social ladder and becoming a genius prodigy renowned across the Spur is quite the attractive goal. The development of pharmaceutical drugs and new medicines is a common field for Cytherean scientists, with celebrities and talent agencies needing a constant stream of narcotics for parties and stimulants to keep shooting sessions going for days at a time. Cytherea has a booming genetic engineering field that is primarily centred around the biomodification of celebrities in order to ensure that they are always at their physical peak, no matter which direction the ever-shifting winds of Cytherea's celebrity scene blow. Stimulants, such as cocaine, are the Cytherean drug of choice and are typically genetically modified by various Cytherean pharmacies to create more desirable effects. When exported these so-called "designer" drugs can fetch an extremely high price on the interstellar market. Cytherea's pharmaceutical industry is estimated to produce upwards of two-thirds of all narcotics consumed in the Republic of Biesel, even after the First and Second Solarian Invasions. Appropriately, Cytherea's pharmacies also produce a vast amount of the Alliance's anti-overdose medications. Many Cytherean pharmacies are associated or owned by Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals.

The largest Cytherean holiday is '''Ascension Day''', shortened to '''the Ascension''', celebrated on the 21st of August. It marks the return to normalcy after Venus’ long period of austerity, but its roots have long since been forgotten by most of the population, except by politicians and work supervisors. This is a day for all Venusians to indulge in whatever they can for as long as they can: gigantic feasts, parties and raves are held across all of Cytherea, along with fashion shows on the streets and other such activities. For some it’s a point of pride and reminds them of why living on Venus is worth it, along with the happiness that the end of austerity brought them – while for others, it’s simply a day to get wasted and enjoy it.
===Stars, Idols and Crashouts===
The idol culture of Venus is extraordinarily demanding for those that choose to involve themselves in it. Climbing the rungs of the Cytherean entertainment industry from mere extra to A-list celebrity able to star in the likes of Monkey King is no small feat involving raw acting talent, an incredible amount of social networking, and no small amount of backroom dealing between agents, celebrities, and producers. This process can often take years if one is unlucky, and the top celebrities often undergo extensive plastic surgery to ensure that they remain attractive enough to be considered for the greatest entertainment products of the industry. The amount of resources, time, and commitment needed to reach - and stay at - the top of the celebrity culture of Venus is truly astonishing, and the rat race of keeping up with the ever-shifting and constantly changing standards of what makes a celebrity an A-list celebrity results in many hopeful stars simply crashing out of the industry, and thus becoming known as a '''crashout'''.

Becoming any sort of professional major media player (referred to as a '''Star''') – whether that be an actor, a news anchor or an influencer – requires one to first sign '''100% of their image rights''' to the Venusian Stars Institute. These contracts are extremely lucrative for the person in question, but it is a poisoned apple nonetheless – once one signs with the Venusian Stars Institute to become a Star, '''they no longer have any control over their media appearances''', and thus the VSI will thus be able to unilaterally decide when and where they appear, in addition to being able to monopolise and commercialise the fledgling Star’s image as they wish – a very well known fact, but now only considered a stepping stone to become a celebrity. Each Star possesses its own PR and media team, de jure under the Star itself but de facto delegating to the VSI’s byzantine bureaucracy.

Despite these contracts, Stars are given a large amount of autonomy in how to run their career. While the grand majority opt for running their careers on Venus, some manage to take jobs abroad and live out new experiences there, while still technically affiliated to the VSI. It matters not for the Institute, as long as they garner a high amount of views on social media and further spread the Venusian brand.

Those that fall out of grace – either because of the crushing standards, burnout, extreme social pressure or whatever else – do not enjoy an easy life. Referred to as '''crashouts''' once the Institute stops affiliating with them – a process known as '''delisting''' – they are reminded of this failure everywhere they go by anyone that knows them, representing the minority of Venusians that have had their eyes opened to the injustice and oppression of Cytherean society. Cythereans do not have much tact or care for these crashouts, viewing them as simply not good enough. Most of these rejects either leave Venus entirely and seek employment somewhere else – often taking out generous loans in order to apply for apprenticeships or training courses, as they do not have any sort of marketable skill – or find employment in Venus’ overworked public sector, such as in the Venusian Planetary Police Force or even in the Solarian Navy itself, representing by far the largest percentage of Cythereans in both categories. Some crashouts can also end up falling into the net of Jintarian culture, where they are caught and welcomed by other Jintarians as simply more proof that Cytherean culture is poison rather than a blessing. A one-way ticket to delisting is, for example, speaking up about unfavourable work conditions on social media.

Upon becoming a Spur-wide celebrity, a Star is then granted '''Idol''' status by the VSI, and immortalised in the Diamond Hall: a gigantic museum in the very centre of Binyaria that hosts detailed biographies, mementos and signatures of every VSI-signed celebrity big enough to truly make it. Becoming an Idol is the ultimate dream of every Star and often functions as a sort of northern light for them in their journey. These Idols are practically all known to Cythereans at large and represent a sticking point for Cytherean pride, with many prizing their trivia knowledge on any given Idol. '''Due to their rarity, immense popularity and astronomical wealth, it is impossible to play an Idol or an ex-Idol on the ship.'''
===Famous Cytherean Celebrities===
Those that are able to survive and thrive as celebrities in the cutthroat and demanding environment of Cytherea's entertainment industry reap a truly massive amount of rewards ranging from accolades to millions of Solarian Credits. But, perhaps more importantly than anything else, they are some of the most famous people in human space and the greater Orion Spur. The individuals listed below are just a handful of Cytherea's most famous residents, and will be known throughout the Orion Spur.

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====Chan-mi Jee====
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One of the most famous Cytherean idols ever is perhaps Chan-mi Jee, the renowned frontwoman and singer of '''INTERSTELLAR✰GIRLS''': a famous all-female pop group based out of the Binyarian aerostat. Chan-mi Jee's famous voice, which has been biologically augmented to have a wider range, can be found on dozens of '''INTERSTELLAR✰GIRLS''' albums. The band's most famous album, Interstellar Heart, currently holds the Spur-wide record for most copies ever sold. Despite her successes, which include having been named the Venusian cultural ambassador for five years in a row, Chan-mi Jee's personal life has been the subject of some speculation in the Cytherean press, and repeated plastic surgeries have left only a sliver of resemblance to the woman that began her pop career ten years ago. But for the moment, she and her band remain the undisputed queens of the Cytherean musical scene. ''"You have Chan-mi's looks"'' is a Cytherean's most prized slang weapon, used to describe someone who is extremely attractive.

In the Cytherean acting scene there is, arguably, nobody that defines the role of leading man better than the dashing and charismatic idol, '''Caspar Orillian'''. Born and raised in the "red treadmill" industry of Cytherea, Caspar has found extraordinary success playing athletic leading men thanks to extensive biomodifications and plastic surgeries that have shaped and reshaped his face to constantly be in-season and attractive. A large number of editors hired by his estate retroactively edit his films and publicity photos to resemble whatever Caspar's current appearance is. His constant facial restructurings are seen as a sign of his success due to the immense cost associated with them, and are a clear proof of his dedication to maintaining his celebrity status.
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====Samuel Monaghan====
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Famous director Samuel Monaghan is another of Cytherea's most famous celebrities, and his name can be found on a variety of movies ranging from action films to long dramas. Monaghan's distinctive style is easily-recognized throughout the Orion Spur's film scene thanks to his focus on single-shot scenes using drones as floating cameras. The fame of Monaghan has also been built by the director's often eccentric and eye-catching behaviour off the set. Monaghan is known for his eccentric behaviour, unusual rants, and deliberately garnish outfits. The controversy that this has caused him in Cytherea's tabloid scene has only helped his fame grow, but it remains to be seen if his behaviour will continue to build fame or ultimately backfire and cause his fall.
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====Quu'xuu "Kwoo" Vol'rii====
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Quu'xuu "Kwoo" Vol'rii is an idol and something of an oddity in the Cytherean entertainment scene due to her status as a skrell. Having recently flown into the highest ranks of Cytherea due to her highly-rated performance as the main villain of Monkey King VII, Doctor Yana Vashtu, the diminutive doctor of human cultural studies has found a following thanks to both her haughty and evil attitude on-camera and her awkward yet earnest attitude off the set. Kwoo, as she is affectionately known by her fans, has found further fame thanks to her charitable donations to Mars following her success in Monkey King VII. However, it remains uncertain how long her fifteen minutes of fame from Monkey King VII will last, if Kwoo will choose to remain in Cytherea at all, or if the unfaltering support for the Nralakk Federation will be her eventual social downfall.
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===Cytherean Fashion===
Due to the extremely fast-paced nature of Cytherea's fashion industry there are a number of trends entering the public eye, being sold by stores, and falling out of fashion at any time. Anything a non-Cytherean can put together that is appealing to the eye, and sometimes not, has been the height of fashion at some point somewhere in the clouds. However there are a few popular looks and rules Cytherean fashion tends to follow.

The most important rule for an aspiring Cytherean fashionista is that the best part of the body is the '''skin'''. A lot of clean, unblemished, hairless skin is shown in Cytherean fashion; whether it be through a high-slit dress, a translucent button-up shirt, a pair of short shorts, a fitted tank top, or a low cut blouse. More masculine figures tend to show off the upper body, especially the arms, while more feminine looks show off the lower body, specifically the legs. But in the Cytherean view showing too much skin is a great faux pas; looks are often balanced so that if a lot of the upper body is shown, the lower body is mostly covered and vice versa. Cytherean business wear, in contrast, tends to be much less skin-showing in order to stay in line with the greater Solarian Alliance, particularly Luna.

While Cythereans consider minor body modifications fine, a more natural appearance is preferred in contrast to gaudy or overly eye-catching augmentations. Body-sculpting plastic surgery procedures are common, especially among celebrities, in order to ensure that one remains within the Cytherean standards of beauty. Some of the most common body-sculpting procedures include improving facial features and structure, removing all body hair “below the eyelashes," tightening the skin, removing excess body fat, dental reconstruction, enhancing or emphasising musculature, and balancing body proportions (usually in favour of the legs). However extensive piercing, more extreme body-sculpting, heavy tattooing, and other modifications that break the “pure skin” rule are frowned upon and tattooing in particular, even minor forms in some cases, is considered unsightly due to its long-standing connection with criminals or groups such as dregs.

Many trends originate in Binyaria’s Parabing District, and are locally called '''“wankukai”''' trends. Wankukai clothes are either what’s popular in the Mile's clubbing scene or, less popularly, something slightly more appropriate for streetwear. Masculine looks often have plain, solid colored pants in dark colours with slim, usually designer belts, and often have simple dress shoes or sneakers. Translucent button-ups with LED or neon-tubing designs up the arms or across the chest are popular, as well as similarly designed, fitted tank tops to accentuate the arms. Some even elect to go shirtless. Suit jackets matching one’s pants are also common, as well as leather jackets with LED or neon designs on the back. As for more feminine looks, miniskirts, short shorts, and -- for the brave -- microskirts are commonplace, often paired with simple low heels, flats, or sneakers. Colourful dress shirts, qipao blouses, and standard blouses are all common as well, featuring designs similar to masculine looks. Dresses of all lengths usually have a high-slit, reaching all the way up the thigh, and are often intricately decorated with LED and neon-tubing. Though suit jackets and leather jackets with designs are common among feminine looks as well, they are occasionally cropped to just below or at the ribs.
==Jintarian Culture==
<center>''“J-I-N-T-A-R-I-A! Home of the free!” - Excerpt from Torchbearers, a famous Jintarian punk nu-metal song by Just Us, the most popular Jintarian band as of 2464.''</center>

Jintarian culture can often be defined as the ''polar opposite'' of Cytherean culture in many facets, but it borrows as much as it opposes. Jintarians pride themselves on being the squeaky clean side of Venus – an approach which, unfortunately, makes their scene only truly appealing to Jintarians themselves and to contrarians across the galaxy. Regardless of how unpopular they may be on the interstellar scene, Jintarians tend to be extremely prideful of their accomplishments and often have a do-or-die attitude when it comes to carrying things out: after all, Venus is standing where it is thanks to them. This leads to a mostly punk-ish and contrarian culture, where keeping things real is incentivised, along with distancing yourself from Cytherea as much as possible in matters of fashion, music and even the celebrities one follows. As an example, while Cythereans prefer clothing that shows off as much skin as possible, Jintarians prefer the direct opposite of that – turtlenecks, sweaters, flannel shirts and other such clothes are very common in these communities.

Despite all of this, Jintarians and Cythereans are not enemies. They live together just as much as a Biesellite and a Solarian may live in the same apartment in Mendell City. Cythereans recognise the need for Jintarians in order for their planet to function – but do not hesitate to call them out on their broodish, low-class fashion. Jintarians recognise that Venus is the giant it is due to the Cythereans’ natural aptitude in entertainment, but do not hesitate to call them out on their hedonistic lifestyle, corrupt politics and horribly flashy clothing choices. In the same vein, it isn’t unheard of for Jintarians to spend their weekend at Cytherean bars, if only to prove their superiority over them in one way or the other. It is possible for Jintarians to find employment in more Cytherean fields: as an example, Jintarian baristas in Cytherean bars are not entirely out of the world – but some discrimination in this field is to be expected.

In the same vein, it isn’t unheard of – although '''very rare''' – for Jintarians to end up integrating into Cytherean society. This is only possible for those that are willing to either sign up for '''drastic''' plastic surgery in order to compete with the very top of Cytherean society, often by taking out very predatory Idris loans, or for those that are more naturally blessed. It isn’t an easy path and it is marred with discrimination and harsh financial choices, as these ‘reformed’ Jintarians are often looked down upon in Cytherea in basically all matters: whether that be in job selection or simply having their curriculum vitae noticed. Those that choose this path and continue following it, whether that be for credits or fame, end up disenfranchised and practically '''exiled''' from their old Jintarian community.
===Famous Jintarian Celebrities===
Jintarians have distanced themselves from the distinction between Star and Idol, viewing it as essentially objectifying celebrities. Instead, the concept of who exactly is a celebrity is fairly wide: essentially, anyone famous enough to be known outside of Jintaria, even a little, is considered an ambassador of Jintarian culture and essentially a celebrity. Historically, Jintaria has been the unacknowledged part of Venus, and only in recent times has its influence begun to increase: with the election of Strom and the massively increased success of Jintarian celebrities abroad, Jintaria has finally begun reclaiming its slice of Venus. This has led to Jintarians as a whole being extremely prideful and attached to their celebrities, viewing them as the only reason why Jintarians are known at all – referring to the current crop as '''the Golden Generation'''. While this success may be still extremely small compared to their Cytherean brethren, it does not stop particularly prideful Jintarians from proclaiming the beginning of a new age for their class.

Much like in Cytherea, any Jintarian celebrity deemed big enough is given a spot in the '''Venusian Jintarian Museum''', the Jintarian counterpart of the Diamond Hall. The requirements are much less stringent, and generally there isn’t much competitiveness among Jintarians to be represented there – it is simply an honour.
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====Hendrik Strom====
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Hendrik Strom is, in the eyes of many fellow Jintarians, the best representation of Jintaria. Since starting as a humble city councilman roughly thirty years ago Strom has climbed to the top through ability, ambition, and no small amount of Jintarian nationalism. Once a senator representing Venus, Strom has served as the emergency governor of the Sol System since shortly after the Naval coup in late 2462. Strom has never forgotten his roots and often visits Venus, where he is greeted warmly by his fellow Jintarians, to raise support for himself and what many see as his inevitable run for Prime Minister once elections open up again. His face can often be seen throughout Jintarian communities on inspirational posters and political billboards alike.
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====Kyle De Koster====
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Kyle De Koster is arguably the biggest Jintarian celebrity, perhaps only tying with Hendrik Strom for the title. The lead singer of Just Us, a Jintarian punk nu-metal band with a focus on optimistic lyrics, his career has been a long and hard fought one. It started as a venture between high school friends who played their music in the streets of Binyaria’s Jintarian communities, and evolved to an interstellar phenomenon through hard work alone. Many of this band’s songs idolise the Jintarian struggle and their own experience, providing a point of reference for many Jintarians. Their latest album, ''Hold Us Tight'', has been a massive hit with Jintarians but also across the Coalition of Colonies, boasting very high viewership especially on Himeo. De Koster and his band are known Jintarian nationalists and do not fear speaking up in matters of politics, having given their endorsement of Hendrik Strom several times in the past.
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====Katarina Josic====
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Katarina Josic is a strong contender for the spot of ‘very famous Jintarian celebrity’, despite being much more of an extremist. Her career, interestingly, is not in Jintaria but instead abroad – she left Jintaria very early to become an actress in the Coalition of Colonies, with her main following being located there instead of in Sol. This endeavour was successful and she has starred in many top films in the Coalition, becoming a widely known figure and using this fame as a platform for her pro-Jintaria speeches. Unlike Just Us’ members, however, she is a very anti-Solarian individual and has often spoken out against the nation in the past, going as far as renouncing her citizenship in favour of a Coalition one following the Violet Dawn incident. She has criticised the members of Just Us many times before for their pro-Solarian stances as well.
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===Jintarian Fashion===
Jintarian every-day fashion is much more practical and significantly less gaudy than its Cytherean counterpart, generally trending towards punk-like styles – ripped jeans, as an example, are very common in Jintaria. Many Jintarians wear simple, practical clothing well-suited to their typically industrial or physical work such as jeans, simple tees, long-sleeved shirts or track pants. Jintarian professionals dress much like their counterparts in the rest of the Alliance. As their pride prevents them from emulating Cytherean fashion, Jintarians have a habit of standing out through the smaller details: they often decorate their jacket or shirt with stickers, pins, armbands. There is much variance in the style and reason behind these accessories – some use accessories that represent their life or views, while others simply pick whatever is the most colourful or whatever they think is most aesthetically pleasing. Jintarian business wear tends to be similar to the rest of the Alliance, although the expensive brands are near-universally avoided by Jintarians.

Most Jintarians opt to deliberately ignore Cytherea's big fashion brands, and many take pride in this willing ignorance -- instead opting to "buy Jintarian" when it comes to their clothing. As a result, most Jintarian clothing is produced using materials sourced from Jintaria itself and made in Jintarian-dominated aerostat districts. It isn’t unusual for Jintarian fashion to be exported off of Venus: simple Jintarian clothing has found a niche in cheap, affordable apparel and can be found in many shops and malls around the Spur. As of late, many more people are buying this type of clothing due to the living cost crisis created by the Phoron shortage. Additionally, Jintarian enterprises often run some philanthropic endeavours with certain lines of clothing, donating some of the earnings to a few good causes – one example is the ''Dawn'' line from the most famous Jintarian clothes company, Jinnel: a series of black tees where the imprint is that of a typical Martian dome, transitioning from a normal state to a destroyed and burnt one. 75% of the earnings from this line were donated to the Martian victims of the Violet Dawn disaster that now find their home in Jintaria.
==Other Demographics==

===Synthetics on Venus===
<center>''“It is the duty of Idris to provide the most perfect synthetics for the Venusian media enterprises [...]” - Excerpt from Alex Mason’s 2454 Q1 investor meeting.''</center>

[[IPC|Positronics]] on Venus are mainly imported from around Sol, with Hephaestus and Einstein Engines being the chief providers of chassis and positronics for menial and service work alike. A product of their environment, these IPC are programmed with the local Cytherian or Jintarian accent according to their posting and purpose. Fielded by both the government and private entities, the aerostats of Venus are a prime hub of IPC activity, as well as the shell frame capital of the Alliance, pushing the boundaries of avant-garde taste and chassis modifications to fit all sorts of cosmetic and functional niches of an unhinged entertainment industry.

====In Cytherian Society====
The service and entertainment sectors make heavy use of IPC workers, both on and off screen, primarily shells provided by Einstein Engines, Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals and smaller producers such as Earth’s Hazel Electromotive. It is not unusual for Venusian movies to cast shell actors and actresses, using them as stunt doubles for dangerous or arguably fatal screens where agility is a must, sometimes even causing real harm and damage to their forms. Cytherian Stars in the movie industry often have shell lookalikes on standby, shooting multiple scenes at once or even working on different lower-end films to maximise efficiency and output, while also making upcoming and unknown studios pay incredible sums to have a Star’s likeness in their movie, be it the real actor or not. Furthermore, shells are used intensely on stage by bands and brands such as INTERSTELLAR✰GIRLS, enhancing performances with dancing, acrobatics or other such stunts. Shell workers are also commonly found in the infamous Cytherian parties, serving guests or accompanying them in their various activities. The deeper and lower one gets, the more cosmetic altercations one finds on the shells present, as the creativity hampered by Venusian ideals of a clean body, are channelled into tattoos and modifications on their IPC. The application of piercings, vibrant colours and tattoos with fluorescent ink can range from simple creations to extravagant displays of art, utilising the bodies of the shell as a limitless canvas.

While all the above may push a favourable image of the positronics’ lives, the reality is more or less the opposite. Situated in core Solarian territory, Venusians largely echo the conservative views for the treatment of IPC as objects and property, and this is no different for Cytherian shells. While some may have their shining moments or even manage to gather a following on social media, their owners and especially the Venusian Star Institute tend to be quick at grounding them back to reality, making sure that an IPC never gets enough time in the spotlight to shadow a human Star. To this end, shell actors and dancers are often recycled for fresh ones, those discarded being resold for lower-end work in various establishments throughout Binyaria and other aerostats, or as Venusian novelty items abroad. Operating under the same crushing regime that even many Stars find exhausting, the tear and wear caused by repeated performances, dangerous scenes in cinema and a general treatment as nothing more than equipment, guarantees a much shorter lifespan compared to shells in other parts of the Spur.

====Jintarians and Corporate Synthetics====
While not as expansive as in Cytherian culture, the Jintarian working class sees its fair share of baselines and industrial frames in the workforce, owing to the extreme working conditions found in maintaining certain parts of aerostats. As a result, most positronics intended for labour are programmed with engineering and maintenance databases, organised in teams and sent to work under human technicians in tasks where even the most hardy and experienced individuals would find arduous. One other significant sector such IPC can be found in is the Venusian Planetary Police, fielding synthetic officers for all manners of operations against crime and other runaway synthetics. It is thus only natural that Jintarians interact more with non-shells, with many even coming to somewhat appreciate their presence and make clear distinctions between them and Cytherian positronics. While still under highly restrictive ownership, these IPC enjoy a greater standard of living, usual repairs as well as the lack of fear of living up to unreasonable standards like their counterparts in the more expensive and luxurious locales of Venus.

Corporate synthetics on Venus largely maintain their corporate identity, with some being tailored with a Venusian, mostly Cytherian, flair. Idris’ professional shell service staff and Reclamation Units are often programmed with the accent to cater to the clientele, while in some cases taking on low-scale cosmetic alterations such as fancy antennae, vibrant eye colours or certain skin patterns. Owing to a large Zeng-Hu presence in the pharmaceutical industry, Bishop frames are regularly seen around the megacorporation’s installations, in laboratories and pharmacies, their white and sterile form being a characteristic element of the company’s identity in many Venusians’ eyes.

===Skrell on Venus===
The [[Nralakk Federation]] is, to the surprise of very few people, one of the most restrictive states when it comes to public displays of hedonism. Thus it begs the question of what kind of [[Skrell]] would dare set foot on Venus, and the answers are fairly simple -- mainly stars and washouts. While there are Skrell on Venus that work in duller fields such as hydroponics, science or medicine, these two groups form the bulk of the popular perception of Skrell on the planet.

'''Skrellian Stars''' are the most represented group of Skrell on Venus, being present in prominent media and with some even having a fairly large following. Most of these Stars are either Federation-sponsored actors from Nralakk, human culture enthusiasts or simply disgruntled Skrell who couldn't make it in the Federation, for one reason or the other. The latter two groups are the most likely to fully embrace Venusian ideals and even venture out to other human nations, whereas the former group -- Nralakk loyalists -- do not partake quite as much and keep a tight lip on topics like dissent.

'''Washouts''', instead, are Skrell that have been completely and utterly socially isolated in the Federation. Most often either successful scientists that have published research deemed too controversial or failed doctors that couldn't meet Nralakk's academic standards, Venus represents a prestigious temporary vacation for them to spend their many leftover credits at. These Skrell stay for a matter of years -- a short time to them, but a long time to everyone else -- drowning away their sorrows until they feel ready to hit the stars once again. Whether those stars are part of Venus' artificial sky or are the Spur's is up for them to decide from their brooding.

==Aerostats==
<center>''“What do I know about Binyarians? All they do is take our stuff and never give anything back. It’s unfair!” - A quote by an unnamed Rathliner hydroponics specialist responding to the “What Do You Think About Your Fellow Venusians” survey, juxtaposed with an unnamed Binyarian actress’ answer, “About Rathliners? Well, they make our food, I guess?”''</center>

Venusians dwell in aerostats floating in the habitable layer nicknamed '''“the Zone”''' above the sulphuric acid clouds masking the surface. These floating cities are primarily held in place by their natural oxygen content and large bags of hydrogen. Aerostats began with a size equal to the average city centre, but have since expanded to much larger sizes, with the largest ones rivalling other major cities in the Spur. Aerostats are divided into two main sections: Cytherea, which refers to the Cytherean-dominated areas above, and Jintaria, which refers to both the small pockets of Jintarians above ground but also (and mainly) the Jintarian cities under the respective districts.

Aerostats follow a similar style of planning to normal cities, with all kinds of districts and buildings present – each aerostat is divided into a variable number of districts, depending on the population, that make up its administrative divisions.There are, however, some differences due to their nature as floating cities: as an example, no wind or any kind of atmospheric phenomenon is present on these aerostats, except as an optional setting in artificial parks. Binyarians pin this on the fact that the presence of wind would limit one’s choice in fashion. On the other hand, both a day-night cycle and a sky similar to the Earth’s are simulated through large and complex lighting arrays that make up the inside of the dome-like structure separating the aerostat from the atmosphere. Normally, someone would only be able to see this artificial sky in an aerostat, but there are some buildings that have a window to the outside as a stylistic choice.

All aerostats are interconnected in a gigantic ring-like structure, forming a sort of spider web across the planet’s surface: the two biggest aerostats, Binyaria and Rathlin, form the two ‘poles’ respectively at the north and south of the web. It is possible to travel from an aerostat to another through the '''Venusian Ferry''', the gigantic shuttletram network forming the basis of this web. It isn't only a means of transport but also a very famous all-in-one tourism attraction sponsored by Idris: firework displays are fused with the planet's naturally odd atmosphere in order to create light shows truly out of a movie. Most if not all Venusians and tourists alike take at least one trip on the Venusian Ferry in their life.

Bar certain exceptions like Rathlin, most Jintarians live in sprawling city complexes under the aerostats, referred to as, for example, Jintarian Binyaria or Jintarian Parabing to name a section of Jintaria under a specific district. Jintaria as a whole is informally known as '''‘downstairs’''' by Cythereans, whereas Cytherea is referred to as '''‘upstairs’''' by Jintarians. These city complexes tend to be densely packed and populated, with little variance in terms of architecture and structure as a result of their government-planned construction. They have overtime, however, been decorated with various LED holoboards bought from Cytherea, artificial parks and other such structures to breathe some life into the atmosphere. The aerostats’ heavier industries, such as power complexes or factories, are entirely located in the Jintarian sections. Jintarians have easy enough access to Cytherea through elevators that can be found throughout their cities, with at least one under each Cytherean district.
===Binyaria===

'''Binyaria''' is the capital aerostat of Venus and by far the most populated one, widely known as Venus’ jewel, sporting the archetypical Cytherean architecture: lightshows, LEDs and flashy buildings. People from across the galaxy flock to Binyaria to experience both Solarian and Cytherean culture, which has its roots in the very same aerostat. It is one of the most-visited tourist destinations in the Spur, clocking in the high hundreds of millions of visits every year – with all of them coming to experience the Cytherean culture that began in the very same aerostat. Of course, all of these tourists come to partake in Cytherean hobbies in one way or the other as well.

Cythereans in Binyaria are almost entirely employed in the service and entertainment sectors. Despite its rapid deindustrialisation, Binyaria still hosts a large amount of pharmaceuticals industries and related research complexes, where about 12% of the Cytherean population works.

The following are Binyaria’s most populated and well-known districts.
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====Jie District====
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The Jie District is located at the very centre of Binyaria, named after the original ruler of the aerostat. It is the true heart of the Cytherean fashion and acting industry, along with the bio-modification that goes hand in hand with them. Tourists flock to Jie to partake, or at least gawk, at the majesty of Cytherea's famed fashion houses, acting museums and so on. This district also houses several Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals facilities centred around biomodification and beauty techniques that are frequented by both the rich and famous of Cytherea and exceptionally wealthy (or vain) tourists. Outside of its main thoroughfare, Jie is home to a wild variety of production studies for everything from holovids to music, and many of those involved in Cytherea's entertainment industry make their homes in the expensive apartments and estates of the district. With all of this considered, it is not the district that houses the government, and functions mainly as the flashiest show-off of what Cytherea is truly about, being the most visited district for its value in re-telling Cytherean history (from their side, at least). The only permanent residents in Jie are CEOs, official functionaries and other similarly wealthy or famous figures. ''"We can't all live in Jie District"'' is a phrase used by Jintarians to essentially say "not all of us can be filthy rich", to mock Cythereans for their vanity or simply to express just how ridiculous something is. On the flip side, Cythereans often use the phrase ''"not a Jintarian's chance in Jie"'' to describe impossible odds or something/someone looking really bad (either socially or physically).

Located at the very centre of the Jie District is the '''Venusian Stars Institute''', arguably Venus’ single most important institution. A gigantic, byzantine skyscraper, covered from bottom to top in holographic billboards and the brightest, most colourful LEDs that can be bought on the Spur. With these features and the tacky holographic signs on all four sides at its top blasting its acronym in the brightest rainbow lights imaginable, it dominates Binyaria’s skyline as a consistent reminder of what truly keeps the aerostat afloat: the power of media. Curiously enough, the phrase ''"You're like the Jie skyline"'' has recently become a Cytherean way to tell someone that they stand out, either from good looks or for other reasons. Its first recorded usage was in an Interstellar Girls single from 2463, ''Skyline''.

The Jie District is also home to the '''Jie Holocinema Complex''', the largest and most advanced holocinema in the Spur. It is an absolutely gigantic and flashy structure, being by far the brightest and most-decorated building in Cytherea as a whole. Every single top movie has at least one early screening in this cinema, and these tickets often go for exorbitant prices – which doesn’t stop Cytherea’s many billionaires from lapping them up as soon as they come on the market. Its claim to fame is the Virtual Reality Suite, the highest class viewing hall available, where the viewer can fully immerse themselves in the movie by being able to freely view the current scene from any angle through experimental VR technology. Lower-class viewing halls that provide the “classic” experience are also present for those that don’t have quite as much wealth.

This cinema is found at the very centre of '''Our Lady’s Plaza''', a massive sprawling circular plaza. Its claim to fame is it is built under an artificial vineyard, providing quite the change of pace from the other plazas that may be mistaken as dance floors by unknowing visitors. Restaurants and shops of all kinds can be found around this plaza, providing one of the most unique experiences possible for a weekend. ''"Our Lady's has nothing on this place!"'' is a somewhat uncommon exclamation for Cythereans to refer to a really cool place.
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====Chiye-Gyo District====
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The Chiye-Gyo District was helped to fame by corporate investment rather than Venus' municipal government. It was a district constructed and leased to the megacorporations to function as a corporate hub on the planet, where one can find any corporate facility they wish for, whether that be corporate-sponsored universities or Idris shopping malls to buy the newest clothing catalogue at. Nanotrasen used to have a presence here as well, but their assets here have been entirely handed off to Einstein Engines. Because of this megacorporate presence, Chiye-Gyo is often used as a backdoor out of Venus for those wanting to leave the planet, with the corporations offering contracts both in Sol and abroad to Venusians willing to take them – Jintarians and Cythereans alike. Of course, many of these Venusians also have to undergo mandatory training courses in Chiye-Gyo to bring them up to speed with their new job. Following the Industrial Reclamation Decree and the nationalisation of Nanotrasen property, their workers were offered to transfer abroad in the Republic of Biesel by the corporation if they wished to leave the Alliance. ''"Straight laced like Chiye-Gyo's corpos"'' is a slang phrase used by Cythereans to refer to someone who's too serious. "Corpos" can often be substituted with "goons", "suits" or other demeaning terms.
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====Parabing District====
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The Parabing District is Binyaria’s most populated district, representing where the majority of its population resides. It is where most of the Cytherean life takes place, with its many stylish apartments, estates and houses, but is not lacking in entertainment and hosts a number of clubs, PC cafes, karaoke joints, laid-back bars, and fast food restaurants complete with glowing neon lights. Parabing also sees a high amount of Jintarian thoroughfare in its districts, both because of its entertainment opportunities and for work reasons, as some Jintarians that live downstairs can find employment in Parabing’s chemical and pharmaceuticals complexes. ''"Putting the bing-o in Parabing!"'' is an expression used by particularly goofy Jintarians and Cythereans as another way of saying "Bingo!". It is, however, very informal and somewhat ridiculous, so it is only used among good friends, most often after a drink or five. Jintarian Parabing hosts a fairly large number of immigrant workers in its Jintarian side, where it hosts the largest population of Martian immigrants in the Spur as a result of Violet Dawn.
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====Central Binyarian Power Complex====
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While hardly as famous as any of its higher counterparts, the Central Binyarian Power Complex on level ten is one of the most important levels in the entire aerostat. The Complex provides fission-based power to the entire aerostat using a network of massive fusion generators. The amount of equipment needed to ensure that power flows and the generators continue functioning has turned the Complex into a massive labyrinth of tunnels and industrial machinery that are difficult to navigate through and very easy to become lost in. As a result the Complex is informally known as "the Labyrinth" and has very few legal permanent residents. The tunnels of the Complex are often poorly-lit and filled with stagnant air due to insufficient ventilation. Due to the construction of the Complex noises are able to easily travel through it, and the groaning of machinery and hissing of coolant pipes can echo through miles of tunnels. The Labyrinth is seen as a very unsettling place by both Cythereans and Jintarians, and the disquieting nature of it and similar power facilities have become fodder for the Cytherean film industry. This place's pervasion in pop culture has led to the creation of some creative slang phrases, such as ''"Have you come from the Labyrinth?"'' to refer to an ugly person for Cythereans, or ''"The Labyrinth's got nothing on you"'' to refer to a particularly cool person for Jintarians. Both cultures attempt to one-up the other, with Cythereans using this complex as a negative attribute and Jintarians attempting to reclaim it.
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==== Jintarian Binyaria ====
Lower Binyaria is the home to most of the planet’s Jintarians, but does not present itself to be much different from the rest of Jintaria, architecturally or socially. It does, however, house some districts and landmarks that are very renowned across Jintaria.

The '''Susuhe District''' is the largest and most populated Jintarian district in Venus. It is functionally a mishmash of every kind of facility: from power plants to sports facilities to apartments and parks, nearly everything can be found here, providing an extremely centralised but comfortable lifestyle, if a bit packed with people. Jintarians may find employment either in Susuhe itself or even directly above it in Parabing’s pharmaceutical complexes. Being the administration’s home and arguably the heart of the Jintarian class, it also houses a few important landmarks.

The '''Venusian Jintarian Museum''' is the main point of reference for Jintarian culture, inspired by the Diamond Hall in function. While it presents itself as a rather boring building – clearly not inheriting the Diamond Hall’s gaudy looks – the inside is one of the, if not the most decorated example of Jintarian architecture. Marble flooring and pillars mark the amount of care taken in preserving the story of celebrities and immortalising them as part of Jintaria’s past.

On the entertainment side of things, Susuhe is also home to '''the Ring''', the largest pub across all of Jintaria, built not by the government but by the collective efforts of Jintarians. As its name implies, it is a massive ring-like structure where the inner part is the counter, and the rest is dedicated to tables and other entertainment facilities. Its clients can either simply sit and order their drink and food, or take part in some of the more tame activities that can be found here: the Ring is home to facilities for sports, table football, tabletop games, and more. This pub’s prevalence in Jintarian popular culture has led to the creation of ''"You're ringing out"'' as a common slang phrase used by Jintarians to refer to someone who is too drunk or high for their own good.
===Rathlin===
'''Rathlin''' is the second most populated aerostat, and is the home to Venus’ extremely advanced hydroponics and medical facilities. While distant from Binyaria, it has also overtime adopted the archetypical Cytherean culture, but with a fairly large degree of difference: mainly, the resentment that Rathliners feel towards their Binyarian brethren. While practically all of them accept their Cytherean ways of life (which have been, to some degree, imposed on them), it doesn’t quite feel right to them that Binyaria is the centre of attention in all things Venus. This has developed into a sort of complex of inferiority towards Binyarians, with Rathliners eager to show that they’re just as relevant as their compatriots. Of course, this has to happen in other fields, as there is no hope for Rathlin’s media industries to ever outpace Binyaria’s. Instead, Rathliners – Cytherans and Jintarians alike – are much more likely to seek to climb the social ladder via scientific or medical prowess.

Another oddity unique to Rathlin is that it is the aerostat with the largest number of Jintarians living among the Cytherean population – in fact, most of its Jintarian population lives in its Cytherean side, with only around 21% living below. Many Jintarians find easy enough employment in Rathlin’s many medical, scientific and hydroponics fields if they have the skills to show for it, as these jobs are in ever-increasing demand. Some of these Jintarians can even find their way to Cytherean Binyaria, as expertise is always welcome if they can survive its cutthroat environment – and if they can match Cythereans in beauty.

The following are Rathlin’s most populated and well-known districts.
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====Nunusa District====
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The Nunusa District is Rathlin’s seat of government and where most of its population resides. While just as brightly decorated as other Binyarian districts, Nunusa sets itself apart by borrowing its architectural styles from diverse places on Earth: anything can be found in its districts, from Baltic old town architecture to traditional Japanese architecture. Of course, all of these architectures have the typical Venusian twists to them – LED strips to accentuate colours, holographic advertisement billboards attached to the sides, and other similar tacky details. Nunusa also hosts a fairly large number of Jintarian residents. Cythereans often say that something looks "like Susuha" if it's a mishmash of many things, a melting pot, or generally curious or interesting.

Nunusa is home to one of Venus’ most multicultural academies, the '''Nunusa Polymedical Institute''', informally known as '''PolyNu'''. It is Venus’ highest rated medical university as it places more of a focus on skills rather than good looks, and many aspiring Cytherean doctors from other aerostats – even Binyaria – study here, either by using the Venusian Ferry or by temporarily moving to Nunusa. Binyarians often find themselves teased and sometimes even mocked by Rathliners for attending classes in this institute, but the education is top notch nonetheless. These four groups of cultures that coexist – Jintarians, Binyarians, Rathliners and Cythereans from other aerostats – are in a constant race to one-up the other through bragging about better grades or whichever other methods they can come up with. While this does contribute to a higher degree of academic competitiveness in the university, these competitions can also be settled in other ways, such as on the dance floor. ''"You're like a Binyarian in PolyNu"'' is a common phrase used by Rathliners to describe someone who's out of place.
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====Satisma District====
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The Satisma District is perhaps Venus’ most important industrial district, made up almost entirely of hydroponics facilities and attached employee housing. It provides Venus with practically all of its food, and even exports a significant amount to the Alliance as a whole. A good amount of the Spur’s expert hydroponicists are raised and trained in Satisma’s world-class facilities. Cythereans and Jintarians alike work in this district, with Cythereans managing to find it bearable as it is not particularly high-intensity work, and automation does most of the job anyway. Jintarians often write off their Cytherean workers as particularly lazy here, but that is not necessarily always the truth. ''"Do you work at Satisma?"'' is a slang phrase used by particularly vain Cythereans to refer to someone who is lower class or generally uninteresting. It is very negatively charged and often elicits a reply in kind (or worse) if used against Jintarians.
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====Rimari District====
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The Rimari District is, on the surface, quite similar to Satisma, filled with hydroponics complexes and other such installations. In truth, it is arguably the centre for Venus’ drug trade: completely dominated and owned by [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]], the hydroponics plants here are rumoured to grow exclusively narcotics and whatever other types of drugs the Cytherean clientele may desire. It is strictly guarded at all hours of the day by several VPPF detachments, which has most certainly only further stained the Venusian Police’s name in the minds of Jintarians and unsatisfied Cytherean. Rimari also holds the infamous reputation of being the largest narcotics trade hub in the entire Spur according to several independent newspapers and research articles, claims that have been solely ignored by every single Venusian government. ''"Locked up like Rimari"'' is a charged slang phrase used by Cythereans and Jintarians alike to refer to someone who's clearly holding a secret of some sort, or refusing to talk about it.
</div></div>
==== Jintarian Rathlin ====
The Rathlin home to Jintarians is not much different from its Binyarian counterpart, mainly because of Jintaria’s beginnings as little more than pre-fabricated drab cities. It is, however, connected to Jintarian Binyaria through the Venusian Ferry.

'''Jintarian Satisma''' is mostly made up of restaurants, curiously enough, which import food from the hydroponics facilities above. Jintarians can find their respite in many of the higher-class (for Jintarians, anyway – they would still not hold a candle to Cytherean restaurants) in this district. Jintarian Satisma is also the host of the Satisma Fair, a 3-day fair beginning on the 15th of March and ending on the 18th where the streets of the districts are filled with food stands, festivals and other such activities. It is extremely famous among Jintarians and most of them attend it yearly, spending more than usual. Additionally, cooks from the rest of the Alliance sometimes set up their own stands and makeshift restaurants here as it is a very, very lucrative opportunity. New Hai Phonger cooks are especially renowned in Jintarian Satisma, with many trying to emulate their cuisine.
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[[Category:Planets_and_Systems]]
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Republic of Elyra

2024-07-09T03:21:44Z

La Villa Strangiato: Changes "New Ankara" system to "Tabiti". The "New Ankaran Jewel" has been changed to "Tabitian Jewel".

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{{Infobox Species
|Species = Elyran
|Scientific = H. Sapiens / Human
|Image = Elyra417x372.png
|System = Tabiti
|World = Persepolis
|Language = Elyran Standard
|Politic = The Serene Republic of Elyra
}}
[[File:Elyra_Flag.png|thumb|The flag of the Serene Republic of Elyra]]
[[File:Perispolis2.png|Persepolis seen from orbit.|thumb|left]]
[[File:Bursa.png|Bursa itself viewed from orbit, displaying a snow-white tundra encompassing the world. |thumb|left]]
[[File:Aemaq.png|Aemaq seen from orbit, the purple coloration of the chemical water stretching across the globe apparent. |thumb|left]]
The '''Republic of Elyra''', or more officially the Serene Republic of Elyra, is among the more prosperous nations in known space. One of the few locations in the [[Orion Spur]] that phoron can be naturally found, the element is the cornerstone of the growing Republic’s economy. It is loosely allied to both the [[Republic of Biesel]] and the [[Coalition of Colonies]], all three being products of Solarian colonization efforts which gained independence and self-governance, even if each has taken wildly different directions from each other. Elyra is seen as one of the most developed nations in the Orion Spur, boasting high levels of technological achievement and living standards for its citizen population. This is partly due to its well-planned, heavily funded government effort from the wealthiest nations of the time when its first colonists were sent out. The discovery of phoron in Elyran space has seen the Republic’s industry rise to Olympian heights and given it a place on the interstellar stage of geopolitics.

Much of modern Elyran culture draws influence from its founding nations; the United Arab Republic, the Free Republic of Iran, and the Republic of Turkey. Elyra is largely isolated from interstellar travel, having very harsh customs and monumental requirements for those seeking citizenship. Despite this, the citizens within are far from locked inside, the Republic itself heavily funding foreign exchange programs to further cement its place as an interstellar leader in technology and phoron technology.

In recent years, regional skirmishes with the [[Izweski Nation]] and the [[Empire of Dominia]] have led to increased funding and emphasis on regional defence. Most notably, the [[Lii'dra|Lii'draic Incursion]] of the planet Bursa has sparked a newfound effort of modernization and advancement in the Republican military, though the Republic's forces remain the smallest of any human nation in the Spur. While their relations with the Izweski have begun to cool and normalize, the [[Vaurca]] of the galaxy are often seen as a foremost threat to many Elyrans. The ever-expanding Empire of Dominia is also a regional rival that many in the Republic remain wary of.

The Republic of Elyra is a parliamentary democracy with a prime minister who serves as its head of state. Currently the prime minister is Rasheed Tatenda of the Republican Revolutionary Society who has held the office since 2456.

'''Elyra's historic isolationism has made it nearly impossible for outsiders to become Elyran citizens. Elyran citizens must have names and appearances consistent with the people of the modern day Middle-East, North Africa, Anatolia, and Persia. Only native Elyran citizens or Elyran made IPCs may take the Elyran accent. This is enforceable by server moderators and admins.'''
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==Population and Planets==
Elyra has a plethora of inhabited planets, moons, and locations within its boundaries.
===[[Persepolis]]===
The capital planet '''Persepolis''', in the Tabiti star system, has roughly 15 billion residents. The planet was originally an arid planet with a modest atmosphere and stubborn native ecosystems already present. Original Alliance-funded terraforming efforts transformed the planet into an Earth-like planet within a decade which allowed the population to flourish before and after independence. Commercial and service sector jobs remain the highest employer, second only to refineries processing phoron and other minerals transported to the planet's orbit. This is among the primary locations in Elyra where phoron can be found in abundance.
Persepolis is known for its incredible luster, the soil giving the vast treelines a unique shade of amethyst that may be confused for a vast sea from space. Contrasting this are vast swaths of sand deserts filled with crystalized phoron which, despite efforts, poisons the soil and prevents any plant life from growing. However, these phoron crystals jutting out of the ground provide Persepolis with its most lucrative export.
The planet holds host to the Tabitian Jewel, an orbital shipyard and drydock connected by space elevator. From here the majority of the Republic’s finest space-faring vessels are made, civilian or otherwise. It is located in the planet’s capital city Uthma among sandy dunes and extends to low orbit of the planet.
===[[New Suez]]===
Often referred to as the “Persepolian Sapphire,” because of its unique natural blue colour, '''New Suez''' is Persepolis’ only moon and is home to only 500 million permanent residents. Though because of its status as not just Persepolis’ biggest port, but Elyra’s, and a hub for the retail and luxury goods industries of Elyra, it often can have up to three times its population on its surface due to the number of visitors or tourists. New Suez has a crucial role in the economy, being the center of the New Suez Free Trade Zone, the only area of Elyra where foreign megacorporations can operate while unbound by most of the otherwise incredibly strict regulations placed on them by the government. The largest stock exchange in Elyra is also located here and many financial services corporations are based from this moon. New Suez is also notable for having the largest number of non-citizen residents as part of its population relative to the number of citizens living there and is one of the only places in the Republic where citizens are a minority.
===[[Damascus II]]===
The former capital of Elyra and the only inhabitable world in the al-Rashid system, '''Damascus II''' is the second most populated planet in Elyra with a population of around 2.5 billion inhabitants. Its climate is Mediterranean on the coastlines of its single large continental landmass and becomes more temperate the further inland one travels. Damascus II is most notable for its historical and cultural significance in Elyran society as it was the first planet settled in what is the present-day Republic of Elyra. It has a very long and storied history relative to the rest of the country, houses the finest universities in all of Elyra, and is often referred to as “The Heart of Elyra” for its role in forming the Elyran identity and being the planet on which the Elyran Revolution began. The planet’s economy revolves primarily around agriculture, and provides an overwhelming majority of the Republic’s food.
===[[Medina]]===
With 1.3 billion people, '''Medina''' resides in the binary star system of Jedeed Isfahan and is one of the most unique of Elyran worlds. The planet has a thin yet breathable atmosphere which makes prolonged physical effort difficult without respiratory gear. However, the planet is incredibly rich with mineral wealth due to its active geological history. Settlements on the planet are built to compensate for the high frequency of earthquakes, the most prevalent of which are massive floating cities kept aloft by Elyran hover technology. The planet’s economy is focused on phoron extraction and the technology sector. Along with being a producer of phoron, it is also one of the foremost centres of applied phoronics, the field of science which focuses on finding new uses and applications for phoron in everything from hover tech, to energy, to pharmaceuticals, to weaponry.
===[[Aemaq]]===
'''Aemaq''' is a hot, chemical waterworld in outer Republic space with a population just shy of 1 billion. The settlements on the world are made up of flotillas dotting the waters of the planet. The water itself is non-potable but high in exotic volatile organic compounds, leading to the largest chemical industry in Elyra being on this planet. The water and phoron refining industries are a large part of the economy here as well. Aemaq’s unique position as a world with unparalleled chemical expertise make it home to some of the largest phoron refineries in Elyra and final stop for most of the raw phoron mined in Elyra’s outer rim.
===Bursa===
'''Bursa''' is an arctic planet within the Alaz-Khan star system, with a population of roughly 700 million. The planet sits further out from the star than usual and thus has a predominately frigid climate year-round. Paradoxically, shipyard companies remain the highest employer on the planet with hydroponics industries coming in close behind. Several Elyran Armed Forces bases also dot the surface to take advantage of the harsh winters for wilderness survival training.

Bursa was the site of the Lii’dra hiveship’s planetary landing, and it is still shaken by the 40,000 dead after the ensuing conflict. In an initiative conducted in 2458 by the Elyran Parliament, the Bursa Memorial was constructed to honor the dead of the Lii'draic Incursion. The memorial itself sits several miles outside of the capital city of New İzmir, and is separated into walls of different sizes also divided into different sections. Section A is reserved to the Republican Army, B for the National Guard reservists, C for the Republican Navy, and D for civilians. An honor guard is perpetually posted here, to honor those who laid down their lives in service of the Republic.

==Economics==
The Serene Republic of Elyra's official currency is the '''Elyran Pound''' (پوند), and it does not accept the Solarian Standard Credit within its borders. The Elyran Pound is more valuable than the Biesel Standard Credit, and because of its value it can be occasionally seen used in the [[Coalition of Colonies]].

Elyra has a modern service economy with strong resource extraction sectors, namely the phoron sector, which is one of the largest employers in the Republic. Tabiti in particular is home to several major financial corporations, mostly domestic banking services or wealth management firms.

The heavy industry sector of the Republic has been seeing large increases with demands for domestic manufacturing of weapons, vehicles, and ships after the Lii'draic Incursion. With the high education standards pushed by several governing coalitions in recent decades, engineering and mathematical fields have seen higher-than-average growth, and the Republic producing highly trained engineers and doctors who are desirable across human space for their skill and proficiency is the result. Curiously, there are no major private military contractor companies based out of the Republic of Elyra due to the state’s centralized control over the most assets— those most worth protecting— in the country. This economic growth, seen as a testament to their hardy spirit, is not seen as unambiguously positive by all in the Republic; Elyran society has seen increasing levels of economic stratification, even among those in the country with citizenship, and growing income disparity. Some parties are calling for social policies to combat what they see as an unwelcome change.

Due to Elyra's location, they sit with some of the largest reserves of phoron in their area. [[NanoTrasen]] was quick to notice this, and for the better part of a decade, the company has been fighting tooth and nail to press claims on the deposits. However, the Elyran state maintains a monopoly on phoron extraction in the country and is fiercely protective of both its deposits and its businesses. Recently, because of a spur-wide scarcity of phoron, Elyra cut off phoron sales to foreign companies and corporations, deeming the element as a resource of importance to national security. This move, while securing Elyra’s phoron deposits, caused a slow-down in much of the Elyran economy along with some of Elyra’s own phoron deposits, mostly extraterrestrial, becoming smaller and smaller. This has compounded into an economic recession, which the Elyran government is trying to remedy this with excessive stimulus spending on the economy and attempting to subsidise the areas of the economy unrelated to phoron to better diversify the country.

Foreign megacorporations are allowed to operate in Elyra, however they must do so under strict regulations as described in the New Suez Protocol of 2381. This piece of legislation defines the parameters of how foreign corporations must conduct themselves in Elyran space, the key tenets of which are as follows:
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===The New Suez Protocol of 2381===
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* Any foreign corporate venture in Elyran space must be done in cooperation with the Elyran State or an Elyran-based business approved of by the Elyran Ministry of Economics, Revenue, and Commerce, which will have a controlling interest over all joint-operations in Elyran space.
* Foreign corporations must invest at least a third of their profits derived from their Elyran ventures back into those ventures and must have a notable majority of their workforce for their Elyran operations either be Elyran citizens or Elyran non-citizen residents.
* Each corporation must submit a detailed annual report of all of their operations and finances to the Elyran Ministry of Economics, Revenue, and Commerce and be prepared to answer for discrepancies if any are found.
* Foreign corporations are not permitted to make donations to any electoral campaigns for any Elyran citizen running for office, nor are they allowed to buy majority shares in Elyran businesses.
* The Elyran State reserves the right to halt any foreign corporate operation as they see fit.
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===Elyran Megacorporations===
Elyran megacorporations dominate the Elyran economy; they are incredibly well protected by both the New Suez Protocol and the numerous subsidies and other benefits given to them by the Elyran government. Without the protection of the Elyran state, most if not all Elyran corporations would be outcompeted by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate or Einstein Engines and become defunct. While small businesses do exist in Elyra, there are some largest companies of note.

'''Elco''' - Elco, often abbreviated to L-Co, is a phoron-based corporation owned by the Elyran state which by law has an absolute monopoly on all phoron extraction, refinement, and research operations in the Republic of Elyra. It is by far the largest company in Elyra both by revenue and number of employees, and it is just by itself responsible for a majority of Elyra’s GDP. From its Perseopolian headquarters, the company is massive in its influence on many aspects of Elyran everyday life. It affects almost every other industry in the country both from its size and its pivotal role in the administration and controlling of Elyran phoron and has operations or offices on nearly every planet in Elyran space. It is managed by the Elyran Ministry of Phoron Management and has worked jointly with foreign corporations in the past, most notably Nanotrasen, in negotiating joint-extraction agreements and the sale of Elyran phoron to foreigners.

'''Suezbank''' - Suezbank is a publicly traded bank based on the Persepolian moon of New Suez. It is the largest bank in the republic and is routinely used as the bank of choice for not just ordinary Elyran citizens but also other Elyran corporations and even foreign megacorps operating in Elyra. It has majority ownership over the New Suez Stock Exchange and is the premier player in Elyra’s financial services industry. The bank has a long history of working with Idris Incorporated with a partnership primarily centred around Idris providing Elyrans living outside of Elyra with access to their Suezbank assets and Suezbank doing the same for foreigners, including non-citizen residents, living in Elyra in giving them access to Idris financial services and banking. The bank is also known to routinely employ contracted IRUs on loan from Idris for asset reclamation services.

'''Jewel Aerospace''' - Persepolis’ Jewel Aerospace is the largest aircraft and spacecraft manufacturer in the Republic of Elyra with an extensive product line. Everything from small prop planes to planetary shuttles, to freighters, to even warships for the Elyran navy are produced by this company. The Tabitian Jewel, for which the corporation named after itself, is the largest facility operated by the company. Because of its prominence in the Elyran shipbuilding sector, Jewel Aerospace has cooperated with Hephaestus Industries and Einstein Engines in the past for many of its designs and also has a history of buying or co-developing naval weapons systems with Zavodskoi Interstellar for its more military-focused projects. Perhaps the biggest achievement to their prowess as expert vehicle manufacturers is the company’s proficiency in manufacturing the specialised sea-scoops used for chemical extraction on the planet Aemaq. The company also operates Jewel Starlines, the national spaceline of Elyra and Jewel AstroCaravan, the largest interstellar shipping company in Elyran space.

'''Osman Electric Industries (OEI)''' - Founded by the Osman family and headquartered on Medina, Osman Electric Industries has been responsible for some of the largest developments in electrical engineering since its inception in the mid 2370’s; it has since expanded to include the areas of tech and applied phoronics as well. OEI is at the cutting edge of Virtual Reality simulation technology, something that has led to a very lucrative partnership between itself and Idris. Its primary claim to fame, however, is the pioneering of Elyran magpulse hovertech, something which has influenced Elyran society greatly and has brought the company a wealth of joint-contracts from Hephaestus Industries and Einstein Engines. Additionally, it has made great strides in the field of plasma technology and remains one of the largest contractors of the Elyran military for this reason. Additionally, Zavodskoi Interstellar has worked with OEI in the past in cooperative projects allowing the megacorp to sell plasma-based weaponry outside of Elyra. Osman Electric Industries is also the largest manufacturer of Integrated Positronic Chassis in Elyra. The company is its most advanced AI programmer as well, being responsible for programming a majority of Elyran QQ’s.

'''Yazmani Holdings''' - The oldest of the Elyran corporations, tracing its history back to before the Elyran Republic was even proclaimed, the Damascus II-based Yazmani Holdings occupies a few fields in the Elyran economy in an umbrella over its various subdivisions. Its agricultural division, Yazmani Agricultural Services, is owned and managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, and holds a monopoly over food production, distribution, and price setting throughout the country. Many farmers work with this division of the company. Its other sectors however, Yazmani Wellness and its retail branch Yazmarket, are privately owned by the Yazmani family. Yazmani Wellness is the largest biomedical corporation in Elyra and is based on the planet of Aemaq, making a name for itself by using the planet’s unique chemicals to make new pharmaceutical medications for sale. Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals has cooperated in the past with Yazmani Wellness to develop new medications and continues to do so to this day. Yazmarket is the largest retail, e-commerce, and video streaming company in Elyra and has its head offices on Persepolis. It has a history of working with NanoTrasen and Idris Incorporated, running special holiday promotions or sales of NT consumer goods and Idris luxury goods that would otherwise be inaccessible to ordinary Elyrans. Yazmani Holdings also owns the subsidiary Yazmani Communications, a broadcasting conglomerate and holonet service provider which also has joint-ownership over the Elyran News Network, the most consumed news source in the republic, with the Elyran government.

==Politics and Government==

''See also: [[Elyran Government and Politics]]''

The Republic of Elyra describes itself most often as a “Revolutionary Parliamentary Democracy,” and true to its self-labelling, the power of the country sits with the parliament. The Republican Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Elyra and is responsible for proposing and passing legislation that runs the country. The Republican Assembly also elects the prime minister of Elyra, an office currently held by Rasheed Tatenda of the Republican Revolutionary Society. The Republic also has a series of courts to check the power of the parliament.

The governance of Elyra is mostly pyramidal in structure, with the Assembly and Prime Minister making decisions that often affect the entire country. Bills, amendments, and laws are put into place by the planetary and regional governments. Localities such as planets or moons are awarded autonomy to some degree; they are ruled over by planetary and lunar governors, with the exceptions of Damascus II and New Suez which is ruled over by its unique Damascene Captain and High Commissioner, respectively.

Elyra has an incredibly developed and wide-ranging healthcare system along with its other social support networks for parents and the financially disadvantaged. Most Elyran citizens have to pay very little, if any credits, to access treatment. Complex medications such as dexalin and peridaxon are easily-available due to Elyra’s phoron reserves, and though doctors and surgeons are paid somewhat less than they might be in other parts of the Spur, there is little shortage of medical personnel. It should be noted that this well-funded healthcare system is more-or-less exclusively available to citizens of Elyra; non-citizen persons have basic emergency treatments paid for by the state, but can rarely access long-term or specialized treatment.

==History==
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=== Pre-Colonisation and the Elyran Coalition ===
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Before the Republic of Elyra came into its present state, the country was known as the Elyran Coalition, a collection of Solarian colonies settled by the peoples of the United Arab Republic, Free Republic of Iran, and Republic of Turkey. Prior to its official founding, these countries, sitting on some of the largest petroleum reserves in the world, would come together to partner in co-authored colonization efforts so that they could compete with the likes of the United States, EU, Commonwealth of Nations, and the USSR plus its Warsaw Pact allies. Not only was this a smart economic move by the three countries, but it was one that was key to ensuring the continued competitiveness of the three countries by stimulating their economies with colonial resources. Efforts to explore the area of space now known as the Badlands and Valley Hale began in the early 2100’s, but colonization would not take place until 2153, when the first colony of the three nations, Al-Rashid III (though soon renamed to Damascus II) was settled. The colony of Damascus II was a robust, self-sustaining venture that soon became an administrative, agricultural, and educational hub in the far off reaches of what would become Elyran space, but it lacked the wealth of resources— more specifically, precious metals and minerals that those back on Earth were hoping for. Even so, smaller ventures were undertaken, usually in close proximity to Damascus II as a hub. with smaller colonies now bringing in mining materiel back to Earth and the solar system, the Elyran project had only broke even and was barely profitable. This all changed however with the discovery of Tabiti IV, the planet that would soon come to be known as Persepolis.

Surveys returned reports of precious metals and other natural resources in previously unheard of quantities, and efforts began to see who could get there first among the various regions of Earth. There was not much of a contest as the U.A.R, Iran, and Turkey were quick to use their existing colony in the region of Damascus II to settle Persepolis and begin excavations of its great mineral wealth. This started not only a golden age for their economies, but is when the idea of the Elyran Coalition was brought into being. Before Persepolis was settled, all efforts to colonize the region were centred around Damascus II as being in the area made it so that colonies were limited by their ability to keep their supply lines connected to that hub. The Persepolian Miracle facilitated an unprecedented level of investment in the Valley Hale Colonies, almost unilaterally leading to a need for a more localised administration that could better run the burgeoning economies of the region. To meet this need, the Elyran Coalition was officially proclaimed as a Solarian Colonial Administration in 2229, ten years after the settlement of Persepolis, with Damascus II as its capital. For the next thirty years, the Elyran Coalition saw steady economic growth along with the continued settlement of various, smaller scale mining and industrial colonies— the Persepolian moon of New Suez being among them.
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===The Second Great Depression and Elyran Revolution===
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The Second Great Depression of 2260 hit the Elyran Coalition like everywhere else in known Human Space, but for the first nearly two decades in the Coalition, the colonies were able to stave off a complete collapse by using the funds they’d accrued in the previous good years to invest in themselves. This effort wouldn’t last. By 2280, the Elyran economy had run out of reserves and had been reduced to a shell of collapsing mining colonies and millions leaving their worlds in retreats to the Solarian Core or the Elyran hubs of Damascus II and Persepolis. What made these times even worse for the Elyrans though was the increased demand of exports from the Solarian Core to prop up the economies of the core systems. These demands impacted Persepolis especially hard, and caused the economy of the planet to contract drastically for five years. Economically, the Elyran experiment had been a failure, with only Damascus II still even maintaining a semblance of economic stability from its consistent agricultural sector. Outcry from the colonies to the Solarian Core grew and grew, but they met deaf ears. What began as a small regional conflict in the frontier in 2279, the Interstellar War was now growing to be something that threatened to tear the Sol Alliance apart, and all Solarian authorities were focused on stopping, and more importantly winning, this far off conflict. The Elyran Coalition was ignored aside from the bare minimum of interactions, and separatist sentiments began to grow on the two hub worlds of Damascus II and Persepolis as the Coalition increasingly invested in itself rather than looking to the Solarian Core to halt a descent into lawlessness and disarray.

The kettle that was the Elyran Coalition boiled over in 2301, when a student protest on Damascus II against the continued lack of economic assistance from the Solarian Core was violently broken up by colonial soldiers, leaving hundreds dead. Soon after, the population erupted in resistance, with masses of Elyran civilians and soldiers alike marching to the seat of Elyran governance and forcing the resignation of the governor. The Elyran Revolution had begun, and in a desperate attempt to avoid being defeated so early on, the Damascene revolutionaries sent a transmission to Persepolis, urging its citizens to join them in the creation of an independent country. Many feared a violent, bloody war like what had been gripping the frontier for the past decades, but luckily Elyra was spared from such a tragedy. General Abd Al-Hamid, the commander of Persepolis’ garrison and the fleet orbiting the planet also heard this transmission. He was an Elyran Persepolian native who sympathised with the rebels, and after weighing his options with his staff, declared his allegiance to the Elyran revolution and stated that any Solarian efforts to retake either Persepolis or Damascus II would be met with armed resistance. Following the fall of both hub worlds of the Elyran Coalition, the rest of the garrisons left across the region surrendered with little to no resistance. A weary Solarian Alliance, exhausted from an already decades-long and monumentally costly war with what would become the Frontier Alliance, made little effort to reclaim the Elyran Coalition, only sending a fleet to evacuate important diplomatic figures and some civilians wanting to remain as Solarian citizens. After control by the new revolutionary government was centralised, the Serene Republic of Elyra was officially proclaimed on January 1st, 2302, inheriting Damascus II as its capital and installing General Al-Hamid as its first prime minister. What began afterwards was what many historians call “the Elyran Century,” in reference to a speech made by Prime Minister Al-Hamid in 2320.
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===The Elyran Century===
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Thankfully being spared from the destruction of the Interstellar War, the Elyran Republic was slow to take off after its independence, not having the economic quagmire of reconstruction and death of human capital that the Coalition of Colonies had, but still having a quite literally bankrupted economy to fix. Without the restraints of forced exports to the Solarian Alliance however, the Elyran economy could focus almost exclusively on itself, focusing first on restarting the colonies abandoned during the Second Great Depression. This endeavour took a few years, and in the meantime the Persepolian economy slowly recovered from its slump, curiously spearheaded by the Elyran moon of [[New Suez]] off of its shipping industry now tying the fledgling republic together. By 2316, Persepolis was once again the largest economy in Elyra and once more saw a steady flow of immigrants from across Elyra to the purple planet looking for ways to better themselves. The troubles brought on by foreign demands and the conflict at the beginning of the century cast a long shadow across Elyran society, leading to a withdrawn, isolationist attitude among many Elyrans in the government, military, and civilian society that led to the country closing itself off from foreign trade almost entirely in the year of 2320 with Prime Minister Abd Al-Hamid declaring a perpetual policy of “an Elyran Century of economic self-reliance.” The mineral wealth of not just Persepolis, but what was Elyran space as a whole, proved to be a reliable and enriching source of income, providing the Elyran economy with a surplus of resources it used to reinvest in more colonies, both old and new. The Elyran mining colony of [[Medina]] was settled during this time, officially obtaining its charter in 2337, and [[Aemaq]] soon followed with a charter in 2351.
The country saw significant strides in the realm of governance as well, holding its first nation-wide elections in the year 2324 after the death of Prime Minister Al-Hamid from age. He was 84. These elections signalled the Republic’s transition from essentially a despotic provisional military regime to a truly democratic republic with the Republican Revolutionary Society winning a majority government. Two years after this, the Constitution of the Republic was drafted by the Republican Assembly and passed by a strong majority, officially being ratified on November 11th, 2326.

Aside from the economic prosperity which Elyra obtained during this time, the most lasting impacts from the Elyran Century were the cultural golden age of the first half, with some of the most influential and lasting works in Elyran literature, music, architecture, theatre, and film coming from the 2330’s and 2340’s, most from Damascus II. It is argued that these two decades are those in which the “Elyran” cultural identity fully took shape, though this is something still disputed even to this day with some scholars citing the Damascene settlement as its impetus and others being the full shift to Persepolis as the definitive centre of the Elyran nation. This shift took place officially 2380, by which time Perseoplis had become not just the largest economy in Elyra by far, but also the most populated planet in the country, having surpassed Damascus II in numbers nearly two decades prior. From then onwards, Persepolis was the capital of the Republic of Elyra.

Elyran magpulse, or “hover-tech,” was pioneered in this century as well, being tested on Medina in 2380 after its invention by the team of "Project Hubris", an Osman Electronics-funded venture to . Originally, the technology was very limited in its scope, barely being able to support substantial amounts of weight and only reaching the heights it reaches now (literally, in the case of Medina’s floating cities) through the usage of applied phoronics that would be discovered in the early 25th century.

By the 2380s Elyra was a stable, peaceful, and still prosperous country, but its economy had been experiencing a gradual slow-down since the 2370’s as its domestic production and import substitution reached a standstill. The Elyran economy had stagnated, not growing nor shrinking. While Elyra had never reached the levels of the Sol Alliance or Coalition of Colonies, in terms of economic output, the threat of a recession caused a change in national leadership to the pro-foreign trade League of United Republicans. Shortly after their election, the Elyran Government organised the New Suez Protocol of 2381, ending the republic’s economic isolation from the rest of the Spur and allowing foreign megacorporations into the country with the New Suez Free Trade Zone, albeit with numerous restrictions. The Elyran Century of economic self-reliance ended nearly twenty years early with this legislation. This caused the Elyran economy to pick up once more and push high growth numbers yet again, ensuring nearly twenty-five years of dominance by the League of United Republicans over Elyran politics.
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===The Golden Age and Its End - Current Times===
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The discovery of the nearly-infinite possibilities of phoron in 2417 led Elyra to new heights, to what truly was the Elyran Golden Age, a time most historians consider to be the time period between 2417 and 2457. Development of things like the modern iterations of hover-tech and plasma weaponry were pioneered in Elyra at this time, the applications of which have changed Elyra immeasurably. The largest example of this was the creation of the hovering cities of Medina, an entire planet being kept afloat, both metaphorically and literally by phoronic magpulse technology. The Republic soon found itself sitting on the largest known reserves of phoron in the Orion Spur, exploding upwards in a huge state-sponsored campaign to exploit and develop these resources. This growth led to the average standards of living of Elyran citizens to be some of the highest in the Orion Spur, only rivalled (and just barely) by the wealthy worlds in the Solarian Core, the planet of Biesel, or the lives of the Dominian Primaries. Despite the Elyran economy still being the 4th largest in the Spur, it has the highest wealth per capita for those in the country that have citizenship.

The darker side of this phoron boom however has been the creation of a second class of those living in Elyra: non-citizen migrant workers. These people are mostly from the poorer classes of the Coalition of Colonies or the non-coalition Frontier wanting to make a living working in the burgeoning Elyran economy. This trend started to occur in the mid 2420’s, though by the late 2430’s was in full swing. In contrast to their citizen counterparts, “non-citizen persons,” as they are officially called, often are only in the republic to work, live in low standards, with things like education, legal representation, and housing not being provided for by the Elyran government but instead being services that are paid for out of pocket. However, the labour of non-citizen persons is certainly something that has multiplied the growth of the Elyran economy in the 25th century, their contributions allowing for the phoron mining industry in particular to develop far faster than it would have otherwise.

Despite the position of Elyra stepping onto the interstellar stage as more than just a closed-off pariah, the Republic has seen more turbulence in recent years than it has in any other period in its history, barring the Elyran Revolution. Skirmishing with its neighbours, the Izweski Hegemony and the Empire of Dominia, became common in the past two decades, as both tried to further assert themselves in the region of the Sparring Sea, the Elyran Naval Self-Defense Force doing its best to protect Elyran claims in the region, especially phoron deposits. The growing number of non-citizen persons has caused some internal turmoil in the country as the question of what changes should be made to the Elyran system of citizenship and welfare. Questions of what Elyra’s place in the Orion Spur should be also are up in the air, with different political parties holding different ideas for how Elyra should engage with interstellar politics.

More recently however, Elyra has experienced two crises that have made great waves in the country. The first was the Lii’dra Incursion of 2457, a gruesome ambush on the planet of Bursa by the Lii’dra hive of Vaurca. Although Elyra was victorious, this tragedy signalled to many in the republic the inadequacy of the current state of the Elyran Self-Defense Force. Outcry from the Elyran public and many in its politics has led to a massive overhaul, reorganization, and upgrading of the military since the incursion. The second crisis has been the recent Orion Spur-wide phoron shortage. While Elyran reserves have been more or less unaffected by the shortage affecting all other nations in the Spur, the decision by the Elyran government to halt the sale of phoron to foreign countries and corporations on the principle of national security has caused a slow down in the Elyran economy, nullifying a significant stream of revenue into the country’s primary industry. Some in the country have exclaimed this as an example of why Elyra should have remained closed off to the greater Spur economically and letting the rest of the galaxy sort out its own problems, with others arguing that this is an opportunity for the country to assert itself on the galactic stage with its vast reserves of phoron and advanced technology as leverage. The majority opinion currently is that Elyra should just wait the crisis out and then resume the status-quo once it has been resolved.

In the late summer of 2464, the largest protests in the Elyran capital city of Uthma's history broke out in response to rising phoron prices brought on by the continued economic stagnation of the Phoron Scarcity crisis. The protests started small, originally calling for government amnesty for the phoron expenditures of citizens, but rapidly grew into something far larger in scope that completely occupied al-Hamid Square, the central square of Uthma. Alleged reports of an Elyran Extraterrestrial Brigade team interdicting and then dying upon the SCC Horizon for leverage against the phoron-seeking company struck a chord with the protestors even though the Elyran government denied it even happened. The protests ground to a halt in the coming weeks, with nearly 30,000 protestors entrenching themselves in the square surrounded by Elyran law enforcement. Negotiations between protestors and the government began, but were soon dashed by the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of the Interior who claimed they were in possession of evidence that showed Dominian involvement in plotting and leading the protests as a measure to destabilize their regional rival. The Dominians denied this outright, however the Elyran government gave a strong response to what it saw as a national security threat.

Overnight, nearly two-thirds of protestors left the square in fear of a formal, military response to the protests. The next day, Elyran police, armed forces reservists, and the counter-terrorist Special Threat Service stormed the square with military equipment and thousands of personnel. The "Battle of al-Hamid Square" lasted over two hours and was the single-deadliest armed exchange on Elyran soil since the Lii'dra incursion. Hundreds died, and nearly nine-thousand were injured, these figures being comprised of both protestors, dubbed "terrorist sympathisers" by the Elyran Government, and law enforcement casualties. After the square was retaken by Elyran government forces, they uncovered alleged Dominian documents instructing protest leaders how to proceed and maps of the square in High Morozi showing where to fortify and how to make formations to stop police attacks. The Dominian foreign minister denied the authenticity of these documents and contested that they were planted evidence painting Dominia as a scapegoat for Elyran failings, though the Elyran government reaffirmed their position and held that the protests were the result of Dominian foreign interference. As a result, Dominia expelled the Elyran ambassador from its capital and recalled their own from Elyra. The two have yet to re-establish formal diplomatic relations. Elyra's current prime minister, Rasheed Tatenda of the Republican Revolutionary Society, saw a dip in popularity during the protests, however after they were alleged to be the product of a foreign, Dominian, conspiracy, he has seen rising popularity among Elyra's citizens as a defender of the nation against an underhanded imperialist foe.

Many suspect that the coming years will usher in a new era of Elyran history whatever happens further, though it's unknown where the republic will go or what direction it may head in.
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==Culture and Demographics==
''See also: [[Elyran Culture, Law, and Society]]''

Elyran culture is a rich and unique one among the powers of the Orion Spur and expresses itself through many different facets. Elyran culture has its roots in the cultures from which it was founded, those of the Middle East, North Africa, Persia, and Anatolia. Because of this, it shares many traits of those but also has some noted differences and unique, “Elyran” twists on it.

Elyran culture is multifaceted and is deeply interwoven into the nation itself, through art, architecture, attitudes and customs, and laws. Because of this complexity and depth, Elyran culture has its own page devoted to the topic which can be found above.
===[[Languages]]===
Elyran Standard, so-called because it was the language created to be the standardised method of communication across the Elyran Republic after its revolution, is the official language of the Republic of Elyra. It was created by the Ministry of Education shortly after the Elyran Revolution at the behest of Prime Minister Abd Al-Hamid for the purposes of giving his new republic a single language that could be used for government, law, military organization, and trade. Many in the Republic praised this initiative as they saw it as either the practical thing to do or saw it as just another step in the Elyran Revolution, creating a new language that was untainted by Solarian influence. A large mass-education and literacy program began in 2317 to educate the Elyran people on this new language, to a point where the government banned the teaching of old Earth languages, such as in public schools, though still allowed them to be taught and used in higher education and religious institutions. The program was completed in 2336, with almost all of the Elyran population being fluent in the new language created by taking influences and grammar from Arabic, Turkish, and Farsi.

To this day, Elyran Standard is the most prevalent language in the Elyran Republic, with everything from legal documentation to public broadcasting being in this language. It is also unique to Elyra, with no other country using it as an official or accepted language in government or business. For this reason, it is rarely spoken outside of Elyra proper. All Elyrans learn it in school as part of their general curriculum. Starting in year 7 of their schooling, Elyrans are also given the opportunity to study Tradeband, Freespeak, or Tau Ceti Basic. Freespeak is spoken as the majority language among Elyra’s largely frontier-dominated non-citizen person population. Sol Common is taught by the military, higher education (such as universities) and diplomatic services; however, it is not taught in Elyran public schools, stemming from the government’s historic position that speaking Sol Common as an Elyran citizen was unpatriotic and anti-Elyran. While the government no longer holds this position, openly speaking Sol Common is still looked down upon by many Elyrans, especially those who harbor more nationalist or patriotic viewpoints.
===Elyran Citizens and Non-Citizen Persons===
The Republic of Elyra has a somewhat unique way in which its society is structured as it is broken up between official Elyran Citizens and what are officially referred to as “Non-Citizen Persons.” Elyran citizens make-up the majority of Elyra’s population, at slightly more than two-thirds and are the recipients of things such as Elyran state healthcare (or repair services in the case of positronics); a legal defense free of charge in the event one gets brought to court; a state-funded retirement pension, voting rights, free temporary housing if one loses their home to eviction or disaster, access to Elyran consular services abroad, and the ability to attend most of Elyra’s universities, including the most prestigious, with little to no charge if one passes the respective university’s stringent entrance exams. Being a citizen of Elyra provides one with unquestionably helpful benefits, but this is not a status that some in Elyra hold. To be born into citizenship, both of an individual’s parents must be Elyran citizens who are married at the time of the child’s birth. Additionally, if two married Elyran citizens adopt a child, even if this child is foreign, they become an Elyran citizen. Currently, only Humans and IPCs can hold Elyran citizenship.

Obtaining Elyran citizenship is an infamously difficult process for those who do not have it from birth. A lengthy period of 10 years of residency and labour in Elyra is first required and one’s criminal record must be immaculate without even the slightest infraction. An applicant must also be fluent in Elyran Standard and must take a lengthy exam on Elyran culture and history that even most Elyran citizens would most likely fail. Every applicant is subject to review by the Ministry of the Interior for the applicability of their skills and achievements as well, with the Ministry often rejecting applicants who do not have graduate or postgraduate degrees, or similarly highly regarded credentials. Additionally, an applicant must be sponsored by at least four current Elyran citizens who can vouch for their credibility and integrity as a potential citizen. Finally though, and for some most worryingly, the Elyran Ministry of the Interior can reject any applicant for any reason they see fit and are not legally required to give an explanation. It is perhaps for this reason why it is nearly impossible citizens of the Empire of Dominia, Eridani Federation, or Solarian Alliance to obtain Elyran citizenship even if all other requirements are met, for the simple reason of Elyra’s geopolitical disposition against these states. Marriage to an Elyran citizen does not qualify the foreigner as a citizen, and many suspect this is an indirect measure by the state to encourage Elyrans to marry other Elyrans rather than foreigners. Only humans can apply to be citizens in Elyra, as applications from foreign IPCs and other other species are not accepted by the country’s incredibly isolationist government.

“Non-Citizen Persons,” (NCPs) as they are officially called, make-up approximately one-third of the total population of the Republic Elyra. Most of these people are poor migrant labourers from the less wealthy planets in the Coalition of Colonies or the stateless Human Frontier. They are often unskilled and undereducated, coming to Elyra in order to make enough money to send back home as remittances to their families, or alternatively to save up enough money to return to their homeworlds with enough cash to make their lives there.

Life as an NCP is far from a comfortable one, however. Typically non-citizen persons are put in either the most menial or most dangerous of tasks by their Elyran employers, with a large portion of them working in the infamously hazardous phoron extraction industry or low-skill service positions. Because NCPs are not citizens, their employers are not subject to minimum wage laws when paying their incomes, and so they are paid drastically less than their citizen counterparts. Additionally, their lack of citizenship shuts them out of the Elyran public health and education systems, and grossly restricts the amount of influences they have on Elyran society, having little to no legal representation in most courts of law either. They cannot vote and are not provided with any of the other benefits that the average Elyran citizens enjoys. Because of this, NCPs often live together in tightly knit communities or neighbourhoods in Elyran localities, with almost every major Elyran city having an “NCP Town,” where non-citizen persons coalesce and live often in lower standards when compared to their citizenship-holding counterparts. Despite these realities though, frontier-dwelling outsiders flock to Elyra for the promise of an income that can sustain them and their families, as even the reduced wages they receive in Elyra are more than they would ever receive on their homeworlds.
===Elyran Synthetics and Citizenship===
Elyra’s relationship with Integrated Positronic Chassis is an interesting one that has rapidly evolved since Elyra’s creation of their own indigenous [[IPC|IPCs]] in 2423. At first, the legal status of positronics was relegated to them being merely property of their owners, much like everywhere else in the Orion Spur. This however changed in 2428. The League of United Republicans had been put into power for the first time since the 2380’s and were desperate to hang on to their majority in the Elyran parliament. In order to do this, the party and their prime minister at the time, Abu Bakr Al-Hossein, pushed a proposition through the Elyran National Assembly granting citizenship to a large number of currently owned IPCs in the country. The logic was this: if the party granted citizenship to IPCs, these IPCs would be sure votes for the League, and therefore the party could artificially inflate their votes. This attempt was partially successful, in that nearly all newly freed IPCs voted for the League of United Republicans, however it backfired horribly by causing those who were already in the party’s voting base to leave. This occurred because many Elyran citizens did not, and to this day still do not, see IPCs as equal to humans in any way, leading to the League’s loss in the election to their long standing political rivals, The Republican Revolutionary Society. The new prime minister, Majedah Al-Haddad, was then left with a rather big quandary, being the new head of state of the first country in the Orion Spur to grant citizenship to IPCs, despite it being wildly unpopular. Simply revoking citizenship from IPCs was not something that would look good or be popular among these new citizens, so instead she came to the decision that the IPCs that had citizenship currently could keep it. However, there would be new restrictions put in place on how citizenship among IPCs was handled. In 2429, the Synthetic Citizen Act was passed, the provisions of which can be found in the drop-down menu below.

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===The Synthetic Citizenship Act===
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# A quota of citizenships are to be allotted to IPC manufacturers annually. They are to not exceed nor fail to meet the quota. The quota is to be adjusted annually.
# The number of IPC citizens in the republic of Elyra is to never exceed 10% of the total citizen population. If it does, allotment of citizenship to IPCs at the point of manufacture is to be halted until further notice.
# An IPC that wishes to be freed by its owner must go through a citizenship attainment process similar to an immigration application. Service in the Elyran armed forces does not make an owned IPC eligible for citizenship.
# Elyran IPC citizens are entitled to the full allotment of rights that their organic counterparts enjoy. They are entirely equal under the law.
# No foreign-manufactured IPCs are to be granted Elyran citizenship under any circumstance.
# Social services such as repair and maintenance duties will be cared for by the Elyran welfare system.
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For owned IPCs, when an Elyran integrated positronic chassis is manufactured, their ownership largely falls under the megacorporation that built them. During this period, maintenance and repairs are offered as a part of their ownership to the company. The process by which an owned synthetic becomes a free one is long, extensive, and incredibly bureaucratic, much like the process of a foreigner wishing to immigrate to Elyra. Similarly, it has a small success rate with the majority of free Elyran IPCs being manufactured as from their creation. Elyran IPC manufacturers are free to allot citizenship however they please, so long as they do not exceed or fall behind the target given to them by the Elyran government. For this reason, it is very arbitrary among Elyran synthetics as to which ones become citizens and which do not.

A deep-seated paranoia in synthetics manufactured from different systems trying to infiltrate Elyran society has meant that non-Elyran synthetics seeking refuge in the republic are outright turned away, sent back to their fleeing star systems or, if volatile, decommissioned outright. This doesn’t stop synthetics from attempting covert operations of forging documentation. As a result, Elyran synthetics have a tiny phoron inlaid engraving on their tag, denoting their original make as Elyran-made synthetics.

==Military==
''See also: [[Elyra Military]]''

From the inception of the country, the '''Elyran Armed Forces''' have been an integral part of the Serene Republic. The country’s military has its origins in the garrisons of Persepolis and Damascus II that rebelled against the Solarian colonial authority and sided with the revolutionaries during the Elyran revolution, who, without the help of these defecting soldiers, would not have been liberated from Solarian rule. The EAF has a pivotal role in the nation’s politics as the last line of defense against internal threats. As written in the Elyran constitution, the EAF has the right and responsibility to dissolve parliament and depose the current ruling party if the Elyran Joint Command Staff believes there to be a violation of the constitution. This has never happened in the entire history of the Republic, but it is still a function the military serves, despite calls from some in the government to revise the constitution so as to revoke that power.

Despite its importance to the historical narrative of the Elyran Revolution though, for most of its history the EAF was primarily a second-rate self-defense force that primarily focused itself on two things: its versatility on one hand, and defense on the other. The military often engaged in tasks relating to territorial defense, policing, anti-piracy, and disaster relief throughout the Badlands and Valley Hale regions as well as within the territory of the Republic itself. The EAF was usually decades behind the leading militaries in the Orion Spur in terms of both technological prowess and strategic largess, though this often did not matter as Elyra had not been involved in a war between itself and another interstellar power aside from its progenitating revolution.

This trend abruptly changed in 2457 however as the EAF was caught off-guard and humiliated by the Lii’dra’s incursion force surrounding Bursa. After two weeks of fighting, the EAF was able to repel the Vaurca invaders, but tens of thousands of Elyrans had died, and the military had received almost unilateral criticism across all political parties of the country for its poor planning and handling of the situation. This also spurred a similar cry for modernization of the EAF; the transformation of the institution from a small, outdated, coast guard-esque force to a respectable, modern, and defensive military capable of protecting the Republic of Elyra and its citizens. For this reason, the Elyran Armed Forces are currently in a state of transition, with new cutting edge plasma weaponry and hover-vehicles often working alongside decades-old lasers and mechs. The EAF aims to be fully modernised by 2470, though the troubles caused in the country’s economy by the spur-wide phoron shortage have slowed down many modernization efforts.

==Technology==
The technological advancements in the Republic, which can be owed to its rich deposits of phoron and high economic standing, are the foundations on which Elyra is built.

'''Magpulse drives:''' Developed over the course of twenty years during efforts to colonize [[Medina]], the magpulse drive consists of magnetized phoron-based materials that over a century, have become the primary mode of transportation within the Republic. Because of the magpulse drive's proliferation, ground traffic elements that are not light rail trains, foot paths, or bicycles are more or less disregarded. Instead of parking lots are landing pads, and most indicators used to control traffic are left to heads-up-displays found within hovercars via helmets, screen projectors, and other means. Travel to and from any point within any Elyran territory as a result is usually fast, reliable and easy as hover-vehicles are fully capable of flying well above and beyond any obstacles or landscapes. The average commercial flying car would be able to sustain flight at nearly fifty meters over ground.

The most prominent example of magpulse drives is on the surface of Medina, where entire cities are suspended above the perpetually-shifting ground on the backs of magpulse platforms.

'''Virtual reality and simulation technology:''' Elyran virtual reality is considered among the best in the Spur, and the best that humanity can offer. Owing to a complex series of processors, lights, and in some cases headsets and equipment used to simulate touch and scent, the technology is both incredibly immersive and typically accessible (though expensive) to the average citizen. Collaborations between Osman Electronics and [[Idris Incorporated]] on VR exist as public-access "VR plazas", where a room can be rented and enjoyed by one or more people. Private terminals can also be commissioned which are considerably more advanced and intricate, though these can cost hundreds of thousands of credits.

'''Plasma technology:''' Utilized exclusively in the military field, high-end plasma technology is the most apparent indicator of Elyran presence in any given combat situation. They are the only faction to utilize superheated plasma in this sense, able to penetrate and combust foes from the inside out with horrifying results. The ethics behind using such weapons are questionable, yet their effectiveness is without doubt. This was pioneered after the Lii’dra incursion to Bursa as part of the Elyran military’s modernization initiative.

=== Underdeveloped areas ===

By and large, Elyran technological progress is on average fairly advanced, mostly due to its status as the Spur-wide leader in applied phoronics and virtual reality simulation technology only rivalled by that of the Vaurca. Despite this, there are areas of the sciences where Elyra is noticeably behind in technological development.

'''Robotics:''' The posibrain as a piece of technology was never bought by any Elyran corporation or the Elyran state— as in any such transaction the Republic felt that it would have had to make unnecessarily large economic concessions to an outside party. Instead, a supply of Einstein Engines posibrains made their way into Elyran hands through uncertain, though almost certainly clandestine methods. After years of work with numerous setbacks, Elyran scientists reverse engineered a posibrain in 2423 that would become the basis of all future Elyran positronic development. Since then, Elyran scientists have focused much more on the artificial intelligence aspect of positronics rather than the “integrated,” chassis-focused aspect seen in other states. While producers of advanced AIs, they are notably behind in robotic development when compared to other nations in the Orion Spur such as the [[Sol Alliance]], [[Republic of Biesel]], and [[Coalition of Colonies]].

'''Aerospace:''' Historically the Elyran aerospace industry has been rather inactive in the area of technological advancement as Elyra has experienced almost no conflicts with the outside world that would have inspired pressure on the Elyran aerospace industry to innovate relative to their competitors. Due to the Lii’dra invasion, this was changed. The Elyran military now bankrolls extensive aerospace research to become on par with other nations, and most importantly militaries, in the Spur, with a focus on maintaining parity with the Empire of Dominia to the Republic’s galactic southwest. The Elyran aerospace community is making fast advances in this field and its estimated that they will be on par with the rest of the developed nations of the Spur, if not surpassed them, within the lifetime of an average human.

'''Genetics:''' Genetic research, at least in animals and humans, has seen little progress in Elyra as well in recent years. Most of the scientific focus in Elyra has transitioned to phoron-based studies since the early 22nd century, where genetic research took a back seat to the newer, and much more profitable, science of phoron. One notable exception is that Elyra has kept up in the agricultural side of genetics and is even seen as a leader in the field. Recently, Elyra has attempted to rekindle the full spectrum of genetics research in order to compete with their geopolitical rival the Empire of Dominia, a Spur-wide leader in genetic modification research. The gains from this initiative have been negligible.

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New Suez

2024-07-09T03:20:35Z

La Villa Strangiato: Changes "New Ankara" system to "Tabiti". The "New Ankaran Jewel" has been changed to "Tabitian Jewel".

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[[File:New Suez 4.png|thumb|The flag of the New Suez Free Trade Zone. Each star represents one of the megacorporations party to the New Suez Accords; [[Hephaestus Industries]], [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]], [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]], [[Einstein Engines]], [[NanoTrasen]], and [[Idris Incorporated]].]]
Travelling in the orbit of the Elyran capital of Persepolis is the planet’s only moon, New Suez. It is small in size, even by lunar standards, but remains a bustling centre of trade and commerce for the Elyran republic, and a central, essential component in the country’s expanding economy. Not only is the moon the largest single port in the Tabiti system, but it is the only place in Elyra where foreign megacorporations are allowed to host their headquarters for Elyran operations. The combination of these two things ensures New Suez is perpetually involved in any discussion about Elyran economic relations with the greater Orion Spur. '''The official title of New Suez is the New Suez Free Trade Zone.'''

==History==
New Suez, named Tabiti IV originally, was colonized at roughly the same time as the planet which it orbited, starting only a few years after the official colonization of [[Persepolis]] began. The moon was settled originally by colonists wishing to turn the moon into what would be a port for the planet and an area where goods, both imported and exported, could be stored and shipped from without taking up the space and planetary resources of the newly-minted colony below. Terraforming followed, taking many years to turn what was essentially a rock into a place that was habitable, though perhaps not all that comfortable, for humans. This was the purpose that the moon served and many viewed simply as an extension of Persepolis itself, taking on the nickname of “Persepolis 11⁄2” after its establishment. During its early days, the moon was dominated by vast warehouses, shipyards, and a growing hospitality industry that existed around providing services to those aboard the large interstellar freighters that would stop there before legally entering or exiting the Tabiti system. Life for the most part on New Suez was calm, though not very exciting, before the Elyran Revolution of 2302. The moon’s name was changed to its current, New Suez, after the revolution in an attempt by the Elyran government to make each planet or moon in its space build new, Elyran identities for themselves, rather than remaining as nondescript astrological names.

The effects of the revolution brought sweeping changes to the moon. This is all despite the fact that it didn’t see any fighting or formal involvement in the revolution at, all aside from the Solarian garrison on the moon withdrawing without a fight. What changed for the small moon was that it no longer was just the primary port of entry for a large planet in a Solarian colony, but the primary port of entry for what would soon become the most populated planet in a new, fledgling country. This reality caused the Elyran government to enact many reforms around New Suez in the years following Elyran independence. Many of these were new investment initiatives into the businesses and facilities of New Suez to further broaden the moon’s efficiency as a port, but also to ensure that its capacity was able to keep up with the rapidly growing economy and population of Persepolis. Most of what was handled in this time were food shipments coming in from [[Damascus II]] to feed Persepolis, but as time progressed, and as Persepolis further developed, the moon also began to handle all the exports from Persepolis’ growing industrial and manufacturing sectors, ensuring that they would all reach wherever else in the Elyran Republic they were so destined for. This time to many, though none are alive to remember it, was the best time to be living on New Suez, not because it was when it was the richest, but because it was when the place was dubbed by the newly-formed Elyran Development Bank as “the gateway to Elyra,” a moniker the moon still keeps today— though really and only for tourist purposes. It wasn’t uncommon to see double-digit growth numbers for the moon’s economy in the 2310’s and 20’s as the moon’s ports tied the new republic together, but eventually, New Suez’s economy indeed slowed down. It did not recess after its boom of growth because the ships still came in, and the traffic was constant.

The largest change did not come to New Suez in this time, however, but a few decades afterwards. Elyra gradually was becoming a much more insular place in terms of its foreign policy, already guarded to and suspicious of the Solarian Alliance and at times openly hostile to the upstart Empire of Dominia to their galactic south. Increasingly, the country’s economic policy reflected this as well, with new laws and directives encouraging and rewarding investment within the Republic and the development of Elyran businesses and enterprises over foreign-owned ones. Something that needed to be addressed by the Elyran state, in what now was the late 2370’s, was the presence of megacorporations in Elryan space. These massive private enterprises were essential to the Elryan economy, none of them were Elyran, with all having their offices and headquarters on far-off Solarian planets.

In an effort to make the economy less vulnerable to outside interference in the event of a conflict, the Elyran government established what is now known today as the '''New Suez Protocol of 2381''', or simply New Suez Protocol, so named because New Suez would be at its heart. The government knew that it could not entirely cut megacorporations out of its economy— the Republic itself would collapse— but they also knew that with the value Elryan markets provided, they could leverage their importance to exercise greater control over the megacorporations. The protocol created the “NSFTZ,” or New Suez Free Trade Zone, which would turn the entire moon into a single, massive free-trade area in which foreign megacorporations had to establish Elyran Headquarters or no longer be allowed to operate or conduct business in Elyran space. Another component of the protocol, though less relevant to New Suez, was the mandate that all foreign megacorporations could now only operate in Elyran space in partnership with private firms or state enterprises of the government.

The impact of the New Suez Protocol changed the small moon overnight. Within months of its signing, megacorporations had established their Elyran headquarters as agreed, with all of the primary megacorporations we know today building large facilities to direct their operations around the Elyran republic on the moon’s surface. Most notably though, this also brought in millions of new residents to the moon, creating a demographic that still carries on to this day of New Suez having more non-citizens than citizens living on its surface. Quickly, the already-important economic center of New Suez became a paramount instrument not only of Elyran economic policy, but of foreign policy as well. The moon was established as the primary area where the government and foreign megacorporations would debate and negotiate further terms or changes to policy between them from the enactment of the Protocols to the present day. This new influx of foreigners has also turned New Suez into not only the largest cargo port in Elyra, but also the largest passenger port, being not just a destination in itself, but the primary vector by which many reach Persepolis.

==Geography and Environment==
New Suez was originally a rocky moon that had an odd characteristic to its appearance: the surface was blue. This occurred due to the primary mineral in the crust of the moon being azurite, something which many geologists believed formed in the moon’s crust due to the weathering of copper deposits there which were then thrown to the surface in great volcanic eruptions. Liquid water is also believed to have been naturally occurring on the moon in the past, as it is a fundamental component in the formation of azurite. Even post-terraforming, New Suez still holds its blue color in many places, leading it to take another nickname: “Persepolis’ Sapphire.”

The terrain of New Suez is still a rocky one in most places, yet there have been efforts to forest and make arable some parts of land on the moon. Most importantly however in the terraforming process was the establishment of an atmosphere in which humans could breathe. Gravity generators were also installed at many points around the moon so as to give it a gravity level equivalent to Earth’s, the goal for most gravity generation operations. There is one large body of water on New Suez, the Crater Reservoir, and it serves as the primary water source for the moon’s residents. As the name implies, it was created from a massive impact crater on the surface. Efforts to populate it with some species of fish and squid, along with continued terraforming of the area around it, have led it to be the most “natural” place on New Suez.

Aside from the crater reservoir, there is not much natural variety on the moon. Forests exist in some areas and are populated with small-sized mammals and birds, but the majority of the surface of New Suez is still a blue and rocky moonscape encapsulated by an atmosphere. The seeding of the atmosphere with clouds has also led to the formation of often small rainwater crater lakes and rivers across the surface of the moon, which while lifeless and remote, are often described as very picturesque. There are also no craters large enough on the dark side of New Suez that could serve as potential reservoirs which, along with the rocky and impassable terrain, has deterred colonization. It remains almost entirely untouched.

==Economy==
The economy of New Suez is not only important to those who live on the moon, but to the entire Elyran Republic. Its status as the only place in Elyra where megacorporations are allowed to head their operations in the republic has made it not only a hub of anything related to these corporations, but one of the largest financial services and banking centers in all of Elyra. New Suez’s finance industry, combined with its continued importance as the largest port of entry in the republic for foreign trade, ensures that the moon will continue to be a lynchpin in the Elyran economy for decades to come. Because of its proximity to Persepolis as well, it is also the hub for many spacelines and delivery services. The moon has also kept its hospitality industry strong, and while it does not have the great resorts or entertainment centres found on many other planets, there’s still a consistent quality and profitability from this sector of the New Suez economy. From its importance as a shipping hub, New Suez has also established a minor, but growing, shipbuilding industry mostly centered around building space freighters.

Many businesses and facilities on New Suez are operated entirely by foreign megacorporations, something entirely unseen anywhere else in the republic. Zeng-Hu hospitals, NanoTrasen laboratories, Hephaestus factories, Idris banks, Zavodskoi offices, and Einstein Engines shipyards fill the landscape of the inhabited areas of New Suez. Housing for many that live here is also provided by the corporations as well. This is not to say that the economy is entirely foreign-dominated however; Elyran businesses also are active on the moon and actively compete with foreign corporations there in certain sectors, while others exist solely to mediate the interactions between foreign megacorporations and the Elyran domestic economy. Suezbank, the largest Elyran banking and financial services institution, has its headquarters on New Suez. The New Suez Stock Exchange, or NSSE, is also located here and is the only exchange in Elyra where foreign stocks may be bought from foriegn traders and corporations and actively interacts with markets in places like [[Biesel]] and [[Callisto]]. Once the stocks are bought here, Elyran traders are free to trade the stocks they own as they please throughout the Republic.

Curiously however, the area that is most well-known of New Suez’s economy aside from its financial services industry is its retail sector, mostly filled by migrant labourers and IPCs in its more luxurious facets. The status of the moon as a free-trade zone ensures that all goods sold on the moon are non-taxable and therefore duty-free. This has led to New Suez garnering a reputation of a place where many in Elyra go to buy goods that would normally be heavily taxed such as alcohol, tobacco and marijuana products, weaponry, and, most importantly, foreign goods imported from Tau Ceti, the Coalition of Colonies, or even the Solarian Alliance. These can range from luxury goods from the finest craftsmen and artisans on Venus or Luna, to top of the line Himean industrial equipment, to the newest, most cutting edge pieces of technology developed in Tau Ceti. The largest shopping mall in Elyran space, the Sapphire Retail Complex, with its tagline of simply, “Anything and Everything,” reflects the sheer variety of goods that can be bought there. While the Elyran government cannot tax what is bought there, anything bought on the moon that is leaving it, must be declared to the Elyran Customs Office. This process which often carries a fee to allow the government to profit at least a little off of goods they cannot tax. This is also done in part to help combat the moon’s smuggling problem, as with so many non-taxable goods changing hands on New Suez, its only natural that an illicit economy would develop there. This black market, while small, has been growing at an alarmingly fast rate in recent years as the megacorporate presence on, and immigration to the persepolian sapphire has increased. Elyran customs enforcement officials believe that as much as 90% of illicit goods smuggled into and out of Elyra pass through New Suez, with most being moved by criminal groups comprised mostly of non-citizen persons.

==Government==
The government of New Suez is unique in comparison to many other Elyran planets and moons, in that its equivalent of a lunar governor, the High Commissioner of the New Suez Free Trade Zone, is not elected by the citizens that live there, but is instead appointed by the Elyran state. The High Commissioner is only answerable to the Elyran government, though an assembly of elected representatives, simply called the New Suez Lunar Congress, serves an advisory role to the High Commissioner and creates civil legislation for the moon. Only citizens residing on New Suez can vote for these assembly members, meaning that a majority of the moon’s population cannot take part at all in the governing process of New Suez. This unique status reflects the Elyran government’s prerogative to keep the economy of New Suez under close watch and ensure that if any measures need to be taken on the moon to alter its laws or economic protocols will be done so without hesitation or any wavering from whoever is in charge of the moon. For this reason, all High Commissioners of New Suez, with the exception of its current, have never been from New Suez. All have instead been appointed on the criterion of economic and civil expertise, along with perceived loyalty to the Elryan State and its vision for the Elyran economy. This has led to many protests from the Elyran citizens that live on the moon decrying their lack of representation in the affairs of their own jurisdiction. The Elyran government however, has consistently held firm in its status quo stance of prioritizing the economic importance of New Suez over the representative rights of its citizens.

Along with the High Commissioner, the primary sources of authority on the moon are the various Corporate Commissions, one for each megacorporation, set up by the Elyran government to interact with and regulate the various megacorporations that operate in the New Suez Free Trade Zone. They hold massive amounts of sway over what the corporations are and are not allowed to do on the moon, and by extension, hold great influence over the lives of the many residents, both foreign and Elyran. Megacorporations are constantly in a back and forth with these commissions, trying to expand their operations on New Suez and to a greater extent, throughout the Elyran Republic, while the Commissions exist to limit, regulate, oversee, or outright prevent these advances. The current High Commissioner of New Suez is Atena Rashidi, an economist and formerly the head of the NanoTrasen Corporate Commission. She has been the High Commissioner of the moon for nine years.

==Culture and Society==
The culture of New Suez is truly a fusion of foreign cultures throughout the spur and the Elyran domestic culture. This is most seen in the numerous settlements of entire quarters of New Suezian cities being populated almost entirely by migrant workers brought by the foreign megacorporations from around the Orion Spur. It’s not uncommon to see parts many cities on the moon called, “Little New Hai Phong,” “Xanutown,” or “Bieselland,” names which reflect the demographic origins of those that live there. Small xenos populations of migrant NCPs can also be found here, primarily Unathi. These all exist in contrast to the more “Elyran” areas of the moon which have distinctively Elyran architecture, and are inhabited primarily by citizens, though there are numerous places on the moon, especially within its big cities, where Elyrans and foreigners intermingling is the norm.

Elyran culture on New Suez is similar to culture elsewhere in the Republic, most noticeably Persepolis due to its close proximity; however, there are some noticeable differences. New Suezian Elyrans are more likely to have a more lax attitude to Elryan isolationism since they interact so much with the outside Spur and, similarly, are likely to embrace more aspects of foreign culture themselves. New Suezian Elyrans are also almost entirely trilingual from a young age, usually knowing Elyran Standard plus two more or even a third extra language, either from schooling or just from exposure to so many foreign migrant employees on their moon. Many have also adopted things like certain elements of fashion from their foriegn counterparts, combining Elyran articles and holo-clothing with elements of dress from around human space. Most noticeable in New Suezian citizens though is an attitude of political apathy. Many do not care about politics because the status of the moon on which they live gives them such little recourse to actually change anything about how their homeworld is governed, leading many to find talking about politics, no matter the opinion or stance, to be rude or distasteful.

The dynamic between citizens and residents is what defines much of the civil society on New Suez. Being an Elyran citizen grants numerous rights and privileges to a person that a non-citizen resident would not have. These include things such the right to own property or transportation, being able to use the Elyran state healthcare system, having increased legal representation in a court of law, being able to vote in Elyran elections, access to Elyran banks, and being able to leave the jurisdictions where they reside without permission from both the Elyran state and their employer. This contrast has divided New Suezian society into two very different subsections, those being Elyran citizens making up roughly a third of the population and the rest being non-citizen residents working primarily for the megacorporations there. While this dynamic of interaction between citizens and non-citizen residents is seen across Elyran space on nearly every planet or moon to some degree, it's most stark on New Suez. There is some resentment had by the non-citizen residents of New Suez towards their more privileged citizen counterparts, especially because the process of obtaining Elyran citizenship is a long, arduous, and difficult one, and protests from the non-citizen majority of New Suez for more migrant worker rights are common, though are usually dispatched quickly. While usually under the surface, there is often tension between these groups of New Suezian society, usually with the non-citizen residents holding a grudge of perceived systemic injustice against them. New Suez is one of the few places in the Republic of Elyra where Sol Common is spoken commonly.

While there is conflict at times though, New Suezian culture is defined by its diversity. This can be seen in not just the diverse ethnic make-up of the moon, with people from all over human space coalescing here as either migrant workers or corporate employees, but also in other things too. The language spoken by the majority of the population on New Suez is not Elyran Standard, but is instead Freespeak, with Sol Common coming in at a very close second, Elyran Standard at third, and Tau Ceti Basic fourth. As a result, signage, official forms, and other state functions can be found in any three of these languages along with Elyran Standard, something that would be strange in any other part of the republic. Radio broadcasts and holonet streams are also in these languages along with Elyran standard, and some QQ firms have made personalities specifically to target the different populations of migrant workers on New Suez. Food on New Suez is also known to be some of the richest in all of Elyra. The moon itself has no naturally occurring plants or animals that could make food on a large scale, with only very small cultivation and hydroponic efforts taking place on the moon. This has led to various fusion dishes dominating the scene there, with food from all over human space coming together and making odd, new creations never before seen. While not as diverse as a place like Biesel would be due to the exclusion of xenos from most of the moon, many do consider New Suez to be the most varied and diverse place in the entire Republic of Elyra. This diverse and unique culture does not leave New Suez however, as it is nearly impossible for a New Suezian migrant worker working for a foreign Megacorporation to enter the rest of Elyra, and many New Suezians are pressured to assimilate into whatever other planet they go to if they leave New Suez, making the rich and vibrant culture of contrasts on the sapphire moon almost entirely self-contained and unable to spread throughout Elyra, something that the Elyran state wishes to see continue without the rest of the country being “polluted” by foreign cultural influence.

An unofficial holiday of the non-citizen community on New Suez is something known as “Patchwork Week,” a week in which many across the migrant community, regardless of origin, come together and celebrate their origins through a variety of local festivals and traditions imported from their homeworlds all occurring at once, usually starting on the first Saturday of June. Notable attractions to visit during this day are the various New Hai Phongese street markets in many cities, Callistean film festivals showing both classic and new films from the Jovian moon, and Biesellite-styled night clubs that often offer special deals for admittance or host headlining musical acts. While still unofficial to the Elyran government, many Elyran citizens actively participate in this holiday as well and involve themselves in the festivities. Already duty-free shops on New Suez also usually host their largest sales of the year called “Warehouse Sales,” for their tendency to empty entire warehouses, where they sell their products at greatly reduced prices for the entire week. Many flock to them to buy things for the festivities, or as retail tourists from Persepolis or elsewhere in Elyra simply looking to buy New Suezian goods at even cheaper prices than their untaxed usual.

==Major Settlements==
'''Qamar Azraq''' - Literally meaning “Blue Moon,” in old Arabic, Qamar Azraq, usually shortened to Azraq, was the first permanent settlement on New Suez and is currently its largest. It is where the majority of the financial services industry is located and is where all major megacorporations host their headquarters on the moon. Completed in 2462 after eight years of construction, the Suezbank Lazuline Tower which serves as the headquarters of Suezbank is not only the tallest building on New Suez, coming in at 201 floors, but the tallest in the entire Republic of Elyra. Facades of deep blue crystal glass adorn the building along with interlockings of white hard-light. The Sapphire Retail Complex, the largest shopping mall in Elyran space, is located in this city as well, along with the New Suez Stock Exchange. The city serves as one of the primary ports for passengers and cargo both to and from Persepolis. The largest “Little [[New Hai Phong]]” is located here as well, indicative of the New Hai Phongese Community being the largest migrant community in this city, though nearly every ethnicity from across human Space can be found here with the exception of Dominian cultures. Many who work in the city are involved with a foreign megacorporation or Suezbank in some way and many work in facilities reflective of their employer’s specialisations, Hephaestus factories, Zeng-Hu hospitals, NanoTrasen laboratories, EE shipyards, etc.

'''New Hormuz''' - New Hormuz is the second largest city on New Suez and is unique in that it is a “synthetic city” due to its very methodically planned nature. It was not an original settlement on New Suez but instead was created as a result of the great amounts of economic investment that the moon saw from the Elyran Government in the early 2320’s to create a city strictly devoted to being a massive cargo port, unrivalled in its efficiency. Taking nearly half a century to finish, the port of New Hormuz is the largest in Elyran space and sees more cargo traffic than nearly anywhere else in the Orion Spur aside from perhaps the gargantuan ports of Callisto, [[Biesel]], and [[Xanu Prime]]. Many of those who work in New Hormuz are involved in the shipping industry. Because of this, the largest migrant community in New Hormuz is Xanusii, and many have had prior experience in working on the ports of that planet. Jewel Aerospace operates many shipyards in this city and has a large office located in New Hormuz.

'''Rasht''' - The smallest of New Suez’s major cities, Rasht is situated close to New Hormuz and functions mostly as a massive housing project meant to house incoming migrants. As a result, it has the largest foreign population by percentage of any New Suezian city, with a large majority of the city’s population being from outside the Republic of Elyra. Most come from the [[Republic of Biesel]] and [[Coalition of Colonies]], with the largest demographic in the city being New Gibsoners. The city is known for its rich fusion culture and nightlife and is where many Elyrans travel to in order to “travel without travelling.” It is where the tradition of “Patchwork Week,” originally called only “Patchwork Day,” began on the moon. It is also the place where many consider to be the hub of the Elyran black market and where most illegal items go to after being unloaded from the ports of New Hormuz or are stored before being shipped out of the country through the same ports.
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Persepolis

2024-07-09T03:19:42Z

La Villa Strangiato: Changes "New Ankara" system to "Tabiti". The "New Ankaran Jewel" has been changed to "Tabitian Jewel".

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<center>[[File:Perispolis pixel.gif|link=]]</center>
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Persepolis
|System = Tabiti
|Image = Perispolis2.png
|Sector = Badlands
|Capital = Uthma
|Species = Humans, IPCs
|Languages = Elyran Standard
|Demonyms = Persepolian
|Nation = [[Republic of Elyra|Serene Republic of Elyra]]
}}
Nestled within the Tabiti system is the crown jewel of the Serene Republic of Elyra: the capital planet of '''Persepolis'''. The most populous planet in the Republic by far with 15 billion residents, the planet has cutting-edge technology and is exceedingly prosperous thanks to the Republic’s phoron industry. The arid planet is remarkably hospitable due to intensive terraforming efforts undertaken by the Sol Alliance before the planet’s initial colonization. This gave the planet a habitable atmosphere and an environment Earth-like enough for comfortable human habitation, with much of its pre-terraforming flora and fauna surviving to the current day. The planet’s vast deserts are home to some of the largest phoron deposits in the Orion Spur, which has contributed to the vast wealth of the Republic, and is the planet’s largest source of employment and industry. These deposits are primarily managed by the government of the Republic or Elyran companies, rather than massive interstellar megacorporations, which has brought the Republic into conflict with entities such as NanoTrasen in the past. From orbit, the planet is known for its incredible luster as a result of its large native forests, which take on an amethyst hue visible from orbit as a result of the soil in which they have come to thrive. Early photographs of the planet taken from orbit initially confused these trees for vast seas due to the massive sizes of the planet’s forests.

Uthma, the planetary capital, and capital of the greater Republic of Elyra, is one of the wealthiest and most prosperous locations in the Orion Spur alongside [[Mendell City]] thanks to the immense phoron reserves found on the planet. It is sometimes referred to as the technological capital of humanity by its residents as a result. It is home to some of the most advanced constructions in the Orion Spur, including the largest manmade structure found in the Orion Spur: the gargantuan Tabitian Jewel space elevator. Uthma is also renowned throughout the Orion Spur for its thriving entertainment industry and cultural productions, which have contributed to tourism being an unexpectedly large industry.

==History==
''See also: [[Republic_of_Elyra#History|History of the Republic of Elyra]]''

As the second planet colonized in what would eventually become the Republic of Elyra, much of Persepolis’ history is tied into the greater history of the Republic as a whole. However, the planet itself has its own history unrelated to the greater Republic.

Originally discovered in the late 2100s, the Tabiti system was marked as a target for terraforming within mere years. Tabiti IV, which would later become known as Persepolis, was deemed a prime candidate for terraforming now being tested on the Martian surface. In 2210 terraforming efforts were formally started by the Sol Alliance (though primarily funded by countries from the Middle East and North Africa) with a tentative deadline of 2220. Work finished slightly ahead of schedule in 2219, and the planet’s colonization formally began the next year.

The planet rapidly became exceedingly wealthy due to a high amount of rare minerals, such as phoron (though its mining would not become widespread until the 2410s) and, by the mid-2300s, was able to support colonies of its own such as [[Medina]] and [[Aemaq]]. This prosperity has continued to build in the 2400s thanks to the rapid growth of the phoron industry on Persepolis, and the planet has come to be a center of wealth in the contemporary Orion Spur. The Persepolis of the present day attracts immigrants from across civilized space, and remains less dependent on megacorporations than other comparable planets due to its powerful (and wealthy) central government.

==Environment==

The environment of Persepolis can be divided into three major regions: the forests, the deserts, and the phoron fields. All three of these environments are arid and generally hot, though the forested regions receive more rainfall and are cooler than average. Terraforming efforts by the Sol Alliance in the years leading up to the planet’s colonization have made the environment more hospitable for humanity overall but at the cost of many native species, which thrived in the weaker atmospheric conditions of pre-colonization Persepolis. Regardless, many species have doggedly persisted despite terraforming.

The large, alien forests of Persepolis are home to a remarkably diverse section of flora and fauna, most of which is benign to humanity. The flora of the forests is particularly fascinating to researchers throughout the Orion Spur due to their unusual coloration and high adaptability to various soil types. The planet is often visited by researchers from the renowned botanical institutes of [[Silversun]] interested in studying the planet’s flora. Many regions of the planetary forests are considered to be planetary reserve parks by the Republic of Elyra, and human development in them without government permission is disallowed. These reserve parks are a large source of tourism for the planet, though Persepolis’ city life attracts more visitors. Many of the planet’s residents live in the arboreal zones of Persepolis despite the utter lack of significant phoron deposits in this region.

The deserts of Persepolis dominate the geography of the planet, forming the majority of its land. These deserts are vast and rocky environments similar to their Earthbound counterparts, with some notable differences, such as a greater amount of precipitation annually. However, the deserts of Elyra have one important thing that separates them from the deserts of Earth: vast phoron deposits often referred to as “phoron dunes” can be found scattered throughout the deserts. The name dunes is technically a misnomer resulting from the misconceptions of the original surveyors. The phoron deposits on Elyra’s surface naturally form into crystalline formations rather than traditional dunes. While some of these crystalline formations can be quite large, most instead hug the ground and instead extend downwards rather than upwards. Areas of Elyra’s deserts that feature large amounts of phoron in the soil are known to be nearly devoid of plant life with only rare animals making their home in the dunes. Xenobiological surveys have concluded that phoron poisons the soil it resides in, leading to a lack of plant life and eventually desertification due to erosion. Areas without large phoron deposits display more ecological diversity and often instead resemble an environment more akin to a savannah. Most of the desert-dwelling population can be found in these savannah regions, where major settlements such as Uthma and its Tabitian Jewel space elevator can be found.

==Economy==

While it is most well-known for its entertainment industry and artistic exports, the vast majority of Persepolis’ wealth comes from the planet’s primary employer: Elco, the Republic of Elyra’s state-owned phoron corporation. Elco’s status as a government company has long given it a monopoly over the planet’s phoron industry, which has given it a stunning share of Persepolis’ today gross domestic product . Most Elyran residents of the planet are employed either directly by Elco or by a company adjacent to the corporation, with a minority employed in its avionics sector, primarily via Jewel Aerospace, or in various tertiary industries, some of which are associated with tourism and the Tabitian Jewel.

==Culture and Demographics==
[[File:Persepolis Flag.png|thumb|The flag of Persepolis.]]

For Elyran citizens, the quality of life on Persepolis is one of the highest in the Orion Spur due to both the wealth that the phoron industry has brought to the planet and the technology that has resulted from it. Marvels thought to be nearly impossible a century ago such as anti-gravity hover technology, plasma, and high-end virtual reality that has become commonplace for Elyrans throughout the Republic can all be traced back to the laboratories and institutes of Persepolis. Massive skyscrapers shoot out of the ground and spiral their way miles into the air. Space travel is cheaper than ever thanks to the Tabitian Jewel— the Orion Spur’s largest space elevator that provides easy transport into orbit. Hover-vehicles are the premier method of transit to get around. Persepolis— the Serene Republic of Elyra, more generally— it attracts people from all across the Orion Spur due to its splendor, though many immigrants to the planet find that life for them is radically different than that of their fully Elyran counterparts.

Socially, Persepolis is perhaps the most liberal of Elyra’s worlds due to its cosmopolitan nature and connections to the wider Orion Spur. While its local culture still follows the wider societal and social trends of the Republic, particularly its reverence for the status quo, which most on the planet revel in, the planet has a reputation for playing faster and more loosely with some traditions. The most obvious break from traditional Elyran norms is Persepolian fashion, which shows far more skin than average while making use of Elyra’s traditionally rich colours. Many theorize that this more liberal fashion outlook comes from the planet’s close relationship with [[Venus]] through its entertainment industry, and more conservative politicians have been known to rail against the immorality of Persepolis’ fashion industry to gain support.

The extreme wealth and prosperity of the planet has led to a lifestyle based around perfection and leisure, with the average Elyran resident of Persepolis able to live easier through the use of technology. Many Elyrans focus their free time or entire careers towards the production of cultural works and art, though Persepolis tends to focus more on social arts such as films than [[Medina]]. Many artists that start on Medina eventually make their home on Persepolis despite this difference due to the greater prestige often associated with working on Persepolis. Films are a common export of Persepolis to the point of its industry having a known rivalry with the Cytherean film studios of Venus. Whether or not Persepolis’ smaller film industry surpasses (or even comes close to) the quality of Venus is a matter of intense debate amongst film critics and fans throughout the Orion Spur, but the relationship between Persepolis and Venus is well-known with many directors from each visiting the other and cross-border cooperation remaining common until the Solarian Collapse of 2462.

Elyran holovids, often taking the form of episodic series rather than singular films, have become massively popular throughout the Orion Spur with many of their iconic characters appearing in merchandise throughout civilized space. The famous Quu Trifective, or QQs, originated on Persepolis and have since become famous throughout the Orion Spur. Their likelinesses, particularly Mychau, are used throughout the planet to advertise various products, sometimes in giant holograms promoting the latest trends on the planet and in the greater Republic.

===Non-Citizen Persons===

Non-Citizen Persons living on Persepolis often find themselves at a disadvantage compared to their Elyran counterparts, while typically working worse jobs and have less access to the wonders that the planet is well-known for. These immigrant laborers make up the majority of the laborers employed to work in planet’s phoron fields— where a single misplaced spark can spell the end of a mining vehicle and its crew. They are often passed over for higher-level positions in favor of native Elyrans due to the greater trust placed in them by the government-owned companies in charge of phoron mining and refining. These non-Elyrans see little of the benefits brought by Persepolis’ phoron and are often denied opportunities to participate in wider Elyran society, with very few non-Elyran workers on Persepolis living outside of designated foreign quarters or worker housing projects.

==Major Settlements==

'''Uthma''' is the planetary capital of Persepolis and the administrative center of the entire Republic of Elyra. Located near the equator in a savannah-like desert region, Uthma’s climate is extremely hospitable with the weather being quite comfortable at all times of the year. The first city established after the planet’s colonization, the centuries since have seen Uthma grow into one of the most prominent cities in the Orion Spur thanks to the planet’s phoron deposits and technological advances. The city has the most advanced VR centers ever constructed by humanity and is, like most Elyran cities, entirely designed for transportation via hover-vehicles rather than traditional vehicles. As a result, Uthma is a city that is designed more vertically than horizontally, a trait made no more obvious than in its massive space elevator: the Tabitian Jewel. The Elyran National Institute of Phoron Sciences, the largest phoron-researching organization outside of NanoTrasen, is located in the city.

'''The Tabitian Jewel''' is part of the planetary capital of Uthma. However, this massive structure is arguably a city unto its own, though one that has been constructed vertically rather than horizontally. The Jewel is both a result of the planet’s immense wealth and a reason for its increasing prosperity, as it was originally constructed as a method to cheaply and efficiently move resources from the surface to low-Persepolis orbit and was only possible due to the immense profits brought into the Tabiti system by phoron. With transport to and from levels of the Jewel, and the skyscrapers surrounding it, many have come to call it their home, including some of the planet’s best artists. The Elyran News Network, the official public service broadcaster of the Republic, is located in one of the middle levels of the Jewel, and its famous backdrop is a view of the Uthma skyline from their studio.

'''Ashkhaimi''' is a city in the forested regions of Persepolis well-known for its verdant surroundings and institutes of biology. The city is home to many of the institutes of science that have helped to produce Elyran hover technology and other marvels, and it features a significant military proving grounds on its outskirts where the first practical plasma weapons were developed. The forests of Ashkhaimi are a significant tourist attraction for residents of Persepolis looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life, and they also manage to attract visitors from off-world. The forests are often commonly used as a shooting location by the film studios of Uthma due to their unique flora and fauna.

'''Madinat Omraia''' is a settlement dedicated to phoron mining and processing located on the edge of the desert’s phoron fields. It has a smaller population of permanent residents than other cities on Persepolis due to the nature of phoron mining in the deep deserts necessitating the rotation of mining crews every three months. Despite this small population, it remains prominent due to its significant phoron production and the racing circuits in the dunes around it. Madinat Omraia is one of the few locations in the Republic of Elyra where wheeled vehicles can be found among the civilian population, since it is the city’s prominent rallying scene for racing wheeled vehicles.

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Sun Reach

2024-07-09T02:30:48Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infobox and a pic of sun reach, by me, lavillastrangiato

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{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Sun Reach
|System = Mithra
|Image = Sun reach planet.png
|Sector = [[The Orion Spur#Badlands|Badlands]]
|Capital = Sun Reach
|Species = Human
|Languages = Freespeak, Vulgar Morozi
|Demonyms = Reacher
|Nation = [[Empire of Dominia]]
|Former = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
On the eastern edge of the Empire of Dominia lies the least-populated major world of its domain: the '''Imperial Viceroyalty of Sun Reach''', fully integrated into the Empire in 2422 following an invasion of the Mithra System by the Imperial military in response to piracy against the Empire by the planet’s former rulers. Over the past forty years the planet has become a major source of Helium-3 production for the Empire’s war machine and, as generations of Reachers have come over age under Imperial rule, the planet’s identity has become more and more entwined with the Empire that both aids and exploits it.

Reachers are '''Ma’zals''' of the [[Empire of Dominia]]: commoners of non-Morozian descent. Unlike their counterparts in the [[Novi Jadran|Imperial Mandate of Novi Jadran]], the majority of Reachers are not honorary Secondaries, and are instead simply common Ma’zals.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==

===The Solarian Republic of Sun Reach (2189-2302)===

<center><i>“This is almost certainly an advantageous position for us to hold in the Arcadian Frontier, Prime Minister. Through it we can secure a future for shipbuilding in the region. Within a century, it will be a production center on the level of Neptune,”</i> - Martin Clemson (2119 - 2230), [[Sol Alliance#Departments|Solarian Secretary of Colonization]], 2179.</center>

What would become the Viceroyalty of Sun Reach in 2422 was once one of the southernmost planets in the Solarian Alliance. Discovered in the late 2100s and colonized in 2189 due to extensive Helium-3 presence in its system, Mithra, Sun Reach was intended to support Solarian expansion into the Baltian and Arcadian Frontier Sectors through fuel processing and robust — though not military-grade — spacecraft production facilities built in orbit around it. Thousands of vessels were produced for the Alliance’s government, private corporations, and citizens throughout the 23rd century until the outbreak of the Interstellar War in 2278, when production was shifted to support the Solarian Navy and limited military production facilities were established in orbit.

By 2287, when the Interstellar War ended, the Solarian Republic of Sun Reach was a comparatively stable and peaceful world compared to other Solarian frontier sectors, which has increasingly fallen into disarray as the War continued. A robust system defense force supported by the planet’s shipbuilding industry let it project an area of security around it alongside functional warp gates connecting it to Persepolis, Tau Ceti, and the Southern Reaches ensuring plentiful supplies. Assuming these connections remained stable, the Republic’s future was essentially secure. While the loss of the Coalition of Colonies had been a stark loss, the Alliance remained great — and the Republic imagined it would be the site of a new, bold expedition and expansion into the galactic south.

Over the remainder of the 23rd century the Alliance fell further and further from its prewar glories. A naval coup in 2289 led to more unrest in the Solarian Frontier, a terraforming disaster on Mars in 2298 shifted more attention to the Solarian Core, and the damage the Interstellar War had caused to the economy had not faded in much of the Alliance. As the 2300s dawned Sun Reach entered a new century in a more precarious state than it had ever been in.

===The Pirate Lords (2302-2422)===

<center><i>“I will take what is mine through my strength of conquest, and your planetfolk weakness. Disobey my command, and my crew will have the run of your capital, ‘Duke’ Glavan,”</i> - High Captain Ernst Zhang during a raid of Novi Jadran during the mid-2380s. </center>

With the secession of the Republic of Elyra in 2302, Sun Reach was thrown into chaos as its supply routes collapsed and the broader Alliance began a messy, chaotic withdrawal from the Southern Solarian Frontier which left many planets to fend for themselves. The republican government of Sun Reach ended in early 2302 when the system defense force couped the civilian government and installed a military “emergency government” which was essentially a dictatorship. Desperate to sustain their naval strength without the external supplies they had depended on, and unable to produce new shipyards, the military government turned to “requisitioning” supplies from nearby systems under Solarian emergency regulations. But as the years dragged on and the defense force began to loot further and further territories, their goal became less to sustain their strength and more to enrich themselves while maintaining their dominion over nearby worlds, who they forced to pay protection money. By 2310 the Reacher Guard had become the Pirate Lords, the scourge of the Badlands.

As the Pirate Lords further established their authority over the planet and enriched themselves, they neglected to support the civilian population of the planet and instead focused on their planetary refineries and the orbital facilities from which they ruled. The broader population, deprived of any external support and forced to pay their own tithes to the Pirate Lords and their crews, gradually became unable to support the advanced technology many settlements had. By the mid-2300s most had resorted to living off the land in small villages they often built around desalination facilities or the rare natural aquifer. By 2422 a solitary urban center – Sun Reach, the former capital of the planet – remained, with others having fallen into ruin and many having been reclaimed by nature. These villages would nominate a single family to deal with the Pirate Lords, who demanded material support and recruits from the planet itself. Tribunalism arrived on the planet during the 2300s and was mostly an underground religion, with the Pirate Lords viewing it as potentially dangerous to their rule.

By the 2380s the Pirate Lords’ influence had reached another major former Solarian world: Novi Jadran. Jadranic and Reacher forces fought several battles between 2380 and 2389, with most being won by the Pirate Lords and Novi Jadran squeezed further and further by raids. But the victories of the Pirate Lords over Novi Jadran would, in a twist of irony, become their undoing when Novi Jadran petitioned the young Empire of Dominia for aid and was annexed into it peacefully. Deprived of the industrial tithe they could gain from Novi Jadran, the Reachers were put on the backfoot as they tried to avoid deliberately raiding Morozian-flagged vessels. But by the 2410s the Pirate Lords, greedily seeking more wealth, had begun harassing Imperial vessels. The Empire and Pirate Lords were now set upon a course which would inevitably bring them into open warfare and, following a skirmish between the Imperial Fleet and Pirate Lords in 2422, the Imperial military launched a punitive expedition with the aim of conquering Sun Reach, ensuring the Empire’s control over the Badlands and the end of the Pirate Lords as a serious threat to its expansion in the region.

===The Imperial Viceroyalty of Sun Reach (2422 - Present)===

<center><i>“For crimes against the citizenry of the Imperial Mandate of Novi Jadran I sentence you, Captain Zhang, to death by hanging! To your crew, the beneficent Emperor has seen fit to offer them their choice of service in the Imperial Fleet or fifty years’ labor in the Imperial Territory of Fisanduh’s mines. With Her as my witness, I pronounce judgement!”</i> - Naval Magistrate Hitomi Kaneko during the military trials of the Pirate Lords, 24 March 2423.</center>

It took the Imperial military under a month to defeat the Pirate Lords and occupy the planet, with their dated equipment and poorly-trained forces falling apart after the first engagements of the expedition. Some, unwilling to surrender to the Empire, fled abroad or into the swamps surrounding the Algae Belt, becoming the first rural bandits of the planet. Many of the Pirate Lords were captured, tried, and quickly executed by the Empire. Imperial forces were, in some areas, greeted with open arms by a population which had long hidden their Tribunalist faith and was now free of the tithes paid to the previous government. In other areas, the Empire was viewed as little more than a replacement for the Pirate Lords and a shallow reminder of the democracy which once flourished under Solarian rule.

With Sun Reach’s conquest of Dominia came immense investment by the Empire’s economy, particularly Houses Zhao and Caladius. For the first time in over a century neglected Helium-3 refineries and orbital shipyards which had fallen into disrepair were brought online, and thousands of Reachers moved into cities to seek employment in better-paying urban industries. Others, seeking to redeem — or perhaps continue — their piratical past, joined the Imperial Fleet or the Goddess’ Flotilla. Most residents of the planet view life as better under the Empire than it was under the piratical former government, though some dissent. Those who opt to fight against the Viceroyalty often take to the swamps and mangroves around the Algae Belt, risking disease, weather, and dangerous wildlife to avoid the Imperial Army and Home Guard. Derided as outlaws and rogues by the government, and by most Reachers, these men and women often become little more than bandits.

In the Helium-3 industry, which is concentrated in the planet’s cities, there are few regulations and many are made to work long hours in hazardous conditions for less pay than workers in the Imperial Core. Meanwhile, the rapid growth of urban areas over the past 40 years has caused a rural decline in many areas as young algae farmers leave for higher-paying jobs to pay off their Mo’ri’zal, disrupting the planet’s traditional way of life. While their system of ruling their villages through notable families remains, some Reachers are concerned their culture will be consumed by the Empire by the end of the century as more and more of the planet’s inhabitants grow up only having known Imperial rule.

As the Empire looks towards the 2470s it considers how to best continue to develop the Viceroyalty, and to quash its issues. Whether or not it is successful remains to be seen, though as more and more Reachers are raised knowing solely Imperial rule it is less and less likely any serious efforts will be made to throw off its rule. For now, at least, the Viceroyalty is solidly in the hands of the Empire.

==Environment==

<center><i>“Soldiers! This environment will be unlike your homes in the Imperial Mandate. Expect humidity, insects, and constant rain in some areas. Remember your training and watch yourself and your comrades for signs of heatstroke. Dismissed!”</i> - First Lieutenant Henrik Novak of the 122nd Jadranic Infantry Regiment prior to their deployment to Sun Reach, 2457.</center>

Sun Reach is a hot, humid, and wet world dominated by swamps and mangroves. It has long, hot summers with short, cool winters and temperatures rarely drop below freezing even during winter. Much of the planet’s surface outside of its limited landmasses is covered by shallow oceans. These oceans are home to floating islands of organic plant mass which, while rarely encountered, represent a stunning example of Reacher biodiversity. Rain is frequent and many areas flood seasonally, being dry during the winter and underwater during the summer months. Building any serious infrastructure on Sun Reach is difficult due to these seasonal floods and the swampy conditions of much of its land. Much of the planet’s water is salty, which leads to further infrastructure issues due to corrosion and a need to build desalination facilities — historically, Reacher settlements are often based around these plants.

The equatorial region of Sun Reach is known as the Algae Belt, and is where most of the planet’s population can be found. Year-round dry land is found more readily here than in any other region of the planet and, while still swampy and humid, permanent settlements are easier to construct and infrastructure is easier to maintain. However, regular maintenance is still required to counteract the planet’s climate and the mostly-sunken remnants of rail lines and roads from the pre-Imperial era are frequent sights in more rural regions of the Algae Belt. Aquaculture has historically been the dominant industry in this region due to the abundance of shallow, relatively calm waters and natural hardiness of the Reacher staple crop: algae.

Beyond the Algae Belt, as one travels further towards the planetary poles, the environment becomes less hospitable as human settlements begin to grow more sparse before eventually ceasing entirely. As one travels towards the poles weather becomes more extreme, with frequent storms and rain which is rumored to never cease at the poles. At the same time flora begins to steadily increase and eventually becomes too dense to reasonably travel through unless one spends days clearing the foliage meter by meter. Some Imperial expeditions have recorded foliage which appears to deliberately grow in their path and thin out behind them, as if it is trying to deliberately block their progress, but House Volvalaad has dismissed this as outlandish and unscientific. Much of this area is poorly explored and few accurate maps exist, with orbital photography ineffective due to the density of foliage and frequent cloud cover. Cartographic efforts by Imperial scholars have been frustrated by a lack of funding, Reacher superstitions about the poles, and the hazardous conditions of the far reaches of the planet. The Alliance is rumored to have completely mapped Sun Reach during its hegemonic era, but no maps are known to have survived to the modern era. Rumors have long circulated that the poles contain lost Solarian research facilities where terraforming was researched centuries ago, and that equipment gone awry is the source of the freak weather near the poles.

===Flora and Fauna===

The '''Reacher Gar''' is a large, typically 2-3 meter long and relatively slender carnivorous fish found across Sun Reach’s shallow waters. Commonly known as the “gar fish” (or garfish) among locals, it is a frequent source of food for the rural populations who live near the mangroves gar prefer to nest in. Reacher garfish are capable of moving at surprising speeds while striking at their prey — typically smaller fish or aquatic mammals — and their scales armor them against most predators. These scales are used by Reachers to fashion small blades and limited amounts of bite-proof clothing. While not actively hostile towards humans, gar fish will defend their nests and can inflict painful bites on unprepared humans.

An apex predator alongside humanity, the '''Reacher soostatom''' closely resembles the alligators of old Earth. It is a large, quadruped animal which can grow anywhere from six to nine meters long depending upon the environment, with soostatoms growing larger as one approaches the poles. Soostatom are carnivorous and easily capable of killing a human if threatened. However, attacks are generally rare. Reachers historically hunted soostatoms for their meat and their tough, leathery skins which are used to make clothing. In the Imperial era soostatom hunting has dropped as many urban areas have moved to adopt more traditionally Morozian styles of clothing.

The '''mangrove-creeper''' is a common semi-aquatic plant which is found growing along the bottoms of trees in mangroves or bayous. A symbiotic species with the larger trees, mangrove-creepers are carnivorous plants which lure small animals beneath them with their fruits and use grabbing “mouths” to latch onto their prey and dissolve them with a digestive acid. While their mouths are too small to harm humans, mangrove-creepers have historically been viewed as a pest by rural communities. However, since 2422, they have become valuable cash crops due to their acid being an effective industrial solvent which is commonly used in the planet’s Helium-3 refining industry. Villages which once cursed these plants now grow rich from them.

==Culture==

<center><i>“Reachers are, due to neglect by their former masters, less culturally advanced than the Imperial Core and Novi Jadran. In this volume, I will discuss how these primitive beliefs emerged and how they can be eradicated,”</i> - Doctor Rahela Lemnaru, Jadranic sociologist employed by House Caladius, in her introduction to Cultural Backwardness on the Imperial Frontier Vol. XII: Reacher Customs and Beliefs (published in 2559).</center>

While Reachers follow the broader cultural trends and holidays of the Empire, their recent entry and unique history has given them a culture distinct from the broader Morozian-influenced culture of Dominia. Those from the rest of Dominia often stereotype Reachers as rural, conservative, and prone to superstitions while at the same time being hardworking, loyal, and faithful to the Goddess. Internationally, some regard Reachers as simply another planet subjugated by Moroz while others view them as having received a justified punishment for their actions as pirates. Reachers themselves are generally Imperial loyalists, viewing the Empire as better than the Pirate Lords, but some wish for further autonomy and more radical dissidents wish for a return to the era of piracy.

Historically, Reachers have lived in small rural communities numbering from a few hundred to several thousand. Built around either desalination plants or natural sources of water these communities relied on aquaculture to survive and the Reacher diet remains mostly unchanged from this era, favoring algae, aquatic plants, and seafood. Under the Pirate Lords these communities were expected to pay a tithe of resources to the captain who controlled the area, and a single family was chosen to be the point of contact for the community. Over a century of paying tribute, these families have morphed into the dominant political class of the planet and many were kept in place by the Empire out of convenience. Modern rural communities on Sun Reach do not look very different from their counterparts a century ago, though many have died out due to depopulation as Reachers immigrate to urban centers for higher-paying work. Large families are a common sight in rural communities on Sun Reach and rural families are often very connected to one another, with multiple generations and branches living in close proximity to one another.

Rural village life on Sun Reach is often challenging, with little in the way of outside help and overland travel difficult due to swampy terrain and poor weather. Travel is traditionally done over water, often by airboat, and navigating the mangrove-filled waters of Sun Reach can cause even simple journeys to take days. Investment by the Empire has brought limited rail infrastructure to Sun Reach and some particularly remote villages are now more connected to the broader planet via air travel, but the difficult terrain of the planet has ensured infrastructure is slow to expand and expensive to maintain. Regular passenger rail services are only available between major settlements along the Algae Belt, with other areas serviced much more infrequently. Travel by wheeled vehicle is rare, with the exception of Imperial Army equipment, due to persistent swampy mud which mires all but the hardiest vehicles.

Reachers who move to its sole urban center, itself named Sun Reach, often find work in the Helium-3 industry which has come to dominate the Viceroyalty’s economy in the decades since its conquest. While it pays far more than aquaculture work, the He-3 industry is poorly regulated and dominated by off-planet nobles such as House Zhao. Injuries are common among laborers in the field and hours can be long, with plants working round-the-clock to fulfill the fuel nerve of the Imperial Fleet. Injured workers are often let go without severance fees or benefits, returning to their villages as cripples or living off of charity provided by the Tribunal in the slum districts of Sun Reach – sometimes without permanent housing, creating a homeless issue on a planet which had no such issue prior to 2422. The rapid expansion of the planet’s only city has created a housing crisis and resulted in many urbanite Reachers living in ramshackle apartments in poorly-designated, overcrowded slums. Urban families are much smaller than their rural counterparts, and many urban Reachers will only see their broader families on holidays. Imperial sociologists and urban planners estimate the Viceroyalty will not have a second major urban center until the early 2500s, potentially later, due to its environment being poorly-suited for major urban projects.

Due to neglect of the planet under the rule of the Pirate Lords leading to widespread poverty, Reacher cuisine has historically revolved around aquaculture and local fish — reliable food sources which can be found easily at all points of the year. Wild game from the swampy forests of the planet is part of the diet of Kent rural communities and the ends of successful hunts are often community celebrations where the entire village participates in a feast. As the planet’s population has urbanized since 2422 and off-world foods have become more common, Reacher urban cuisine has been influenced by the similarly seafood-based diets of Novi Jadranic soldiers and engineers who have been brought or come to the planet’s cities to support the Viceroyalty.

===Reacher Tribunalism and Folk Beliefs===

Tribunalism has been present on Sun Reach since the 2300s, first arriving via merchants and visitors from Moroz and gradually spreading throughout the planet over the following years, though it would only become the majority faith of the planet after 2422. Suppressed by the Pirate Lords as a potential security risk, the pre-Imperial Tribunalists of Sun Reach were forced to practice in secret to avoid punishment. These individuals — known as Old Tribunalists on Sun Reach — form a kind of social elite on the planet under Imperial rule, being viewed as more loyal and more faithful than the typical citizen of the planet. Reacher Tribunalism has, due to its isolation from the broader Tribunal prior to 2422, acquired several unique characteristics born from a merger of Tribunalist and Reacher traditions.

Unlike Morozians, Reachers traditionally cremate their dead due to the difficulty of ensuring corpses remain underground in the soft, swampy terrain of the planet. Those corpses which are buried will, unless properly buried in stone crypts, often return to the surface after the first heavy rain. The ashes of the corpse are collected and preserved by the deceased’s relatives, then stored in a family shrine. Often located on the edges of Reacher villages and towns, these shrines are the closest equivalent Reachers have to traditional graveyards and serve as an important gathering point for Reacher families. Reachers believe that unless a corpse is burnt and its ashes returned to the family shrine, it will wander the Spur as a wandering spirit for all eternity. While Reachers believe these spirits are not always malicious, traditional belief holds they will do anything to have their ashes returned to their proper resting place — including killing or harming the living.

Reacher Tribunalism has a strong religious tradition of faith healing, particularly in rural areas, which combines folk medicine with the Tribunalist faith. Locally known as Kaivijadii, or Roamers, these individuals grew to prominence under the Pirate Lords’ neglect of the planet and were the only chance many Reachers had to receive medical care. With the arrival of the Empire in 2422 and the increasing presence of modern medical systems, the Kaivijadii now coexist alongside conventional medicine with the Tribunal’s blessing. A Kaivijadii’s healing abilities are said to be derived directly from the Goddess and their connection to Her is strengthened through prayers passed down from practitioner to practitioner, generally through familial ties. The rituals of the Kaivijadii are unique to each practitioner and have often been passed down since the early 2300s.

While most Kaivijadii are regarded as benevolent practitioners who wish to aid the faithful of Sun Reach, the Madalin-Kaivijadii, or Roaming Sculptors, are a group of malevolent Kaivijadii said to live in the wild, sparsely populated areas beyond the Algae Belt where they can avoid the gaze of the Tribunal and the Viceroyalty. Madalin-Kaivijadii are said to be able to cast curses via black magic taught to them by witch-spirits, and sustain their powers through ritual sacrifices which ensure the victim becomes a wandering spirit in the thrall of the Madalin-Kaivijadii. Unexplained disappearances in rural communities are often blamed on these magicians and Reacher parents commonly tell their children that if they misbehave, a Madalin-Kaivijadii will abduct and sacrifice them. These rituals are said to give the Madalin-Kaivijadii eternal youth, so long as they continue them, and render them immune to any weapons not blessed by a faithful Tribunalist clergymember. The Viceroyalty’s government holds that the Madalin-Kaivijadii are simply fiction and do not truly exist, but many Reachers continue to believe in them. Whenever a person disappears without explanation, crops fail, or misfortune occurs, they are often blamed.

==The Viceroyalty==

Since 2422 Sun Reach has been part of the broader Empire of Dominia, and is known as the Viceroyalty of Sun Reach. The Viceroyalty itself is an odd state which is divided between a civilian-run colonial administration and an extensive military administration which rules alongside it, both of which are under the leadership of Governor-General Hermann Gaufried-Meinrad Strelitz — a career military officer who has found himself awkwardly balancing competing interests from native Reachers, the great houses, the Imperial government and military, the Tribunal, foreign corporations, and others. Below him is the civil-military administration of the planet, itself divided between Morozians and loyal Ma’zals, both from Sun Reach itself and elsewhere in the Empire. The civil-military cleavage in the Viceroyalty’s administration has led to many conflicts of interest between the government itself and has allowed notable Reacher families, through the patron-client system established under the Pirate Lords, to maintain their grip on power in many areas. But all know that, for the Viceroyalty to continue to succeed, one thing must not change: the flow of Helium-3 from Sun Reach to the broader Empire must continue, no matter the cost.

The civilian administration of the Viceroyalty is concentrated in its urban centers and the more developed regions of the Algae Belt, and has two primary responsibilities: the first is to ensure the planet’s development continues, and the second is to ensure its fuel industry continues to be profitable. Work on Sun Reach for the civilian administration is often unpleasant, with its primarily Morozian and Jadranic staff unused to the stifling heat and humidity of the planet and expected to work long, often irregular hours to ensure development of the countryside continues. Nobles prefer to avoid Sun Reach’s administrative postings, and almost all are instead filled by Secondaries or Integrated Ma’zals. The civilian government, with its focus on development, is expected to work with and alongside the military government, which focuses upon security.

The military government of the Viceroyalty is concentrated in its less developed and more sparsely populated areas, where control is often weaker and rural banditry continues to persist. Throughout the Viceroyalty’s history most of the troops stationed there outside of an Imperial Flying Corps contingent are Jadraners. While loyal and effective soldiers these troops are often unprepared for the tropical environment of Sun Reach when they first arrive. Sunstroke and other ailments are a common issue, particularly in the harsher environments on the edge of the Algae Belt, and the swampy terrain of Sun Reach makes travel difficult for the heavily mechanized Imperial Army, which must rely upon riverine forces and local militia units to bolster its strength and defend isolated regions from banditry and other nuisances.

Below these civilian and military administrators are trusted Reachers, often Old Tribunalists, who are expected to carry out the day-to-day tasks associated with direct management in a twist on the patron-client model originally used by the Pirate Lords. These Old Tribunalists form a social and economic elite on Sun Reach through their work with the colonial government and are the closest equivalent Sun Reach has to a native nobility in the style of Novi Jadran. Reacher culture expects these families to work towards the goals of those below them and expects those below them to not question the ruling family — a survival mechanism originally from the era of the Pirate Lords, where being perceived as a threat to their rule could see a community wiped out. In the Viceroyalty era this means the Old Tribunalist families often leverage their political and economic influence to gain concessions from the colonial government.

Non-Tribunal law enforcement on Sun Reach is the responsibility of both the Imperial Reacher Colonial Constabulary (IRCC) and the Imperial Army’s military police (“MPs”), with the IRCC handling the capital, its surroundings, and many villages while the Army’s MPs handle much of the countryside outside of villages and more severe crimes. The reason for this odd arrangement is the relative inexperience of the IRCC: the Viceroyalty’s constable branch was founded in 2438 and remains mostly staffed by junior officers with little practical experience, and relies heavily upon Jadranic staff brought into the Viceroyalty to plug gaps in the IRCC’s abilities. During its past near quarter-century of existence the IRCC has struggled to establish itself as an effective policing force and likely will continue to do so without significant improvements to the Viceroyalty’s infrastructure and funding. For the time being it must rely upon the Imperial Army to handle major issues and assist it in maintaining order, to the irritation of many officers who would much rather be expanding the Empire than patrolling swampy roads for rural bandits.

===Jadraner-Reacher Animosity===

Despite both being part of the Empire for decades, the poor historical relationship between Novi Jadran and Sun Reach remains a very real issue on the planet, with Jadranic colonial bureaucrats often looking down upon their Reacher charges as barely civilised ex-pirates who once harassed their world during its darkest era and only ceased their raiding when forcibly brought to heel by the Empire. Anti-Reacher bias manifests in relatively harmless manners — such as jokes told by Jadraners to one another in pubs on the tundra planet — and very harmful manners — such as Jadranic soldiers and constables being much harsher on Reachers who break Imperial law than their fellow Jadraners, let alone Morozians.

Attempts have been made by Imperial officials to crack down on this bias to varying degrees of success, with Jadraners who overreact or mistreat their Reacher subordinates rarely punished aside from being sent off of the planet to avoid further incidents. Complaints, even by the Old Tribunalists, have mostly fallen upon deaf ears in the colonial bureaucracy. Those few Reachers who have seen legitimate punishments — typically fines or demerits, rarely prison time — given to Jadraners have always been officers of the Imperial Fleet, and often have the assistance of a House Zhao patron. Even if they are commoners, the Fleet is nothing if not dedicated to protecting its officers.

===The Imperial Military on Sun Reach===

Like many planets of the Imperial Frontier, Sun Reach is home to a significant military presence. It has the single largest garrison on the Imperial Frontier due to the strategic importance of its abundant fuel resources and these forces range from local militia units to Jadranic units of the Imperial Army to elements of the Imperial Fleet and Imperial Flying Corps, all working to ensure the planet — and its fuel — stay firmly within the Empire’s control. All military forces in the Viceroyalty are de jure under the command of the Viceroy-General. De facto, control is split between several factions which cooperate with one another — the Army answers to the Viceroy-General, the Fleet to Grand Admiral Zhao, local militias to prominent Reachers who raise and fund them, and the IFC to their strategic command for the region.

The largest military branch on the planet by numbers, the Imperial Army does much of the work required to keep Sun Reach secure for the Empire but suffers from persistent problems with the planet’s harsh environment and the resulting logistics headaches. While the Army has long favored mechanized forces the environment of Sun Reach makes these impractical, and the Jadranic troops who make up much of the planet’s garrison have instead opted to use riverine vessels — some officially produced by the Army and others made by arming and armoring civilian boats — to patrol the shallow waters of Sun Reach. The Imperial Army routinely conducts “smoking out operations” of suspected bandit groups where it will intensely patrol regions and burn down areas suspected of harboring bandit strongholds — a strategy which has drawn criticism from prominent native Reachers. Assisting the Imperial Army are the forces of the Imperial Flying Corps (IFC) under the command of Imperial Strategic Bomber Command - Viceroyalty of Sun Reach (ISBC-VSR). Unlike other IFC commands, ISBC-VSR is primarily logistic in nature and is staffed mostly by non-nobles, with Primaries instead wishing to be assigned to more prestigious locations.

Acting in support of the Imperial Army are the militia units of the Sun Reach Home Guard. Often the first line of defense for isolated rural settlements against bandit attacks or raids, Home Guard units are outside of the Imperial Army’s formal command structure and instead managed by Reacher officers appointed by the militias — though they are often assisted by an Imperial Army officer. These militia troops are valuable scouts and pathfinders for the larger Imperial Army units, and service in them is seen by many Reachers as a way to prove their loyalty to the Empire and acquire further benefits. In an emergency such as a war with Elyra these militias can be integrated into the Imperial Army but, in practice, this would be a difficult task due to the poor infrastructure of Sun Reach and semi-independent structure of the Home Guard.

===Reachers in the Imperial Military===

As a world of the Imperial Frontier which was recently conquered by force, the inhabitants of Sun Reach are regarded as prime targets for recruitment by the Empire’s military forces. Many do choose to join its ranks, seeing military service as their best shot to see the broader Spur aside from working for Zavodskoi Interstellar, and find themselves in the ranks of the Imperial Fleet or, if they are less inclined towards military discipline, as a state-sponsored privateer of the Goddess’ Flotilla.

In the stratified and hierarchical Imperial Fleet Reachers, as Ma’zals, are typically confined to the enlisted ranks. Some, either through entry into House Zhao-sponsored schools which train them from childhood to be naval officers or through truly exceptional abilities, serve as junior officers and adjutants to Morozian officers. Reachers will often attempt to “Morozise” their accents while in the Fleet, downplaying some of the “rougher” aspects of their dialect in an attempt to sound more “civilized” and appear more respectable to their officers. Fleet veterans are typically respected when they return home, and many easily find positions in the colonial administration or as management staff in the refining industry.

Reachers have a much smaller presence in the Army than in the Fleet, with few Army regiments having been raised from the planet. Some have argued this is part of an exchange with House Zhao by House Strelitz, as Novi Jadran is the opposite: many Army regiments have been raised from it while few Jadraners have opted to join the Fleet. Neither great house has publicly commented on the matter.

===Rural Banditry===

A broad term for both legitimate bandits and those who fight against the colonial government, rural bandits are the main concern for the Viceroyalty’s security forces. Banditry on Sun Reach began in the 2300s as the planet was neglected by the Pirate Lords, causing many desperate Reachers to turn to banditry to survive. After the Imperial military conquered the planet in 2422 these bandits, many of whom were simply petty criminals who did not pose a true threat, were joined by the former soldiers of the Pirate Lords who had escaped the Imperial Army. Better-equipped and often more brutal than their counterparts, these bandits began a campaign against the colonial government and any they perceived as loyal to it. In response, Imperial forces were deployed to counter them. However, the difficult terrain of Sun Reach and the lack of infrastructure across much of its surface has repeatedly frustrated the Imperial Army and allowed banditry to continue.

Over four decades later banditry remains an issue for many on Sun Reach, but many of the Pirate Lord-aligned groups have collapsed due to pressure from the colonial government, infighting, or simply becoming too old to continue fighting. Now, banditry is much the way it was under the Pirate Lords: a last resort method to endure on one’s economic survival. In some areas, however, organized bandit groups have become such an issue that they are regarded as security risks to their regional governments. While some Reachers join these bandit groups out of a desire to fight the Empire, most join for economic reasons linked to the steady migration of Reachers to urban areas from rural areas. As communities shrivel away, there are some individuals who — unable or unwilling to leave — turn to banditry to sustain themselves.

When the colonial government captures bandits it often attempts to rehabilitate them, often through hard labor in its development projects, but executes those found guilty of harming Morozians or Integrated Ma’zals. Those guilty of harming or killing other Reachers are instead sentenced to hard labor. Once these ex-bandits finish their sentences they are sent back to their home villages or given housing in an urban center. Regardless of where they go they are typically mistrusted and many opt to travel off-world, seeking employment with Zavodskoi Interstellar through contracts which offer lesser salaries and fewer benefits than other Imperials receive.

==Settlements==

Overwhelmingly rural, the Viceroyalty’s only major settlement is its capital city. Also named Sun Reach, this city is the center of its Helium-3 industry and administration. During the Solarian colonial era it was intended to coordinate shipbuilding efforts and was, unlike many frontier settlements, built around a central space elevator that was intended to assist in moving fuel to and from the planet. The elevator remains operational today and is still the center of the city’s economy, with tens of thousands of barrels of Helium-3 fuel traveling through it every day. While the administrative center of the capital is built in an elegant, somewhat Jadranic, style designed by House Zhao engineers — and their Jadranic subordinates — much of the working-class areas are hastily built slums which hate barely improved from the era of the Pirate Lords, and pollution from the city’s Helium-3 plants chokes the skies on many days.

Even if the capital suffers from overcrowding and poor urban planning in many areas, living in it is an opportunity for Reachers to have access to more services and resources than their rural counterparts, with education and employment opportunities readily available for them. Some Imperial economists theorize that by the dawn of the 26th century these urban Reachers will form the base of a new middle class in the Viceroyalty which will be loyal to the Empire. For now, however, the urban residents of the capital remain a working-class group.

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[[Category:Pages]]
[[Category:Planets_and_Systems]]
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File:Sun reach planet.png

2024-07-09T02:24:48Z

La Villa Strangiato:

Sun Reach, by lavillastrangiato.

Aweiji

2024-07-09T00:16:01Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infoboxes at the bottom

{{Navbox_Lore}}
{{Navbox_Skrell_Lore}}
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Aweiji
|System = Uueoa-Esa
|Image = Aweiji.png
|Sector = [[The_Orion_Spur#Inner_Systems|Inner Systems]]
|Capital = Tresja
|Species = Skrell
|Languages = Nral'malic
|Demonyms = Aweijin
|Nation = [[Nralakk Federation]]
}}
'''Aweiji''' is the first [[Skrell]] colony established outside of Nralakk. Whilst initially much rockier and drier than [[Qerrbalak]], in '''810 BCE''' the Skrell initiated a grand terraforming program to convert the planet into an Eden in the Homeworld's own image. The very first colonists settled on their new home in '''700 BCE''', in an atoll located between vast, narrow mountain ranges. The landing site soon became the bustling city of Tresja, and it was eventually selected for the location of the largest political meeting in the [[Nralakk Federation]]’s history, the renowned '''Tresja Agreement'''.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==
Discovered in '''1171 BCE''', Aweiji was quickly identified as a possible colony site for the [[Skrell]]—however, due to its general climate being unsuitable for Skrell, an extensive and time-consuming terraforming project was required before any colonisation could begin. Terraforming equipment arrived in '''810 BCE''', and quickly the planet was converted into an Eden comparable to even Homeworld in beauty. Soon, the planet was assigned priority and construction began on a colonisation spacecraft: the Startrekker.

Eventually colonised in '''700 BCE''', colonists initially suffered from slight Nlom withdrawal due to being so far from the Homeworld. Like most colonies at this time, the inhabitants found themselves experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression because of their separation from the Nlom on the Homeworld. They persevered, however, and eventually founded Aweiji’s first city, '''Tresja'''. Soon after the founding of Tresja, the colonists began construction of a Nlom beacon that would connect them to Qerrbalak once more. During this time most Skrell colonies focused on resource extraction to help fuel the rapid colonisation efforts of the species, but Aweiji made a quick transition to agriculture and aquaculture due to the planet’s terraformed climate providing the perfect environment for large-scale farming and fishing industries to develop.

During the colonial [[Skrell_Early_History#Advancement_of_Skrellkind|Independence Movement]], many Aweijiin rejected Commonwealth authority over the colony, citing that they could reasonably support themselves. Aweiji was one of the first colonies to demand more autonomy from the Commonwealth of the Three, and with neither side willing to make major concessions to the other, Aweiji's settlers disabled their Nlom Beacon. With the beacon disabled Aweiji was no longer able to be slowly influenced by the Nlom into peacefully submitting to the Commonwealth’s rule, and with Aweiji being one of the main producers of food within its territory the Commonwealth immediately shipped dozens of representatives to Aweiji in an attempt to begin talks to end its part in the independence movement. These talks were in progress for decades, with Aweiji begrudgingly accepting to submit in '''866 CE'''.

Aweiji was not spared from [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Reign_of_Glorsh-Omega|Glorsh-Omega]] and its tyrannical rule. It pillaged Aweiji, utilizing '''Orbital Spaceport XY-558''' to distribute extracted resources across the Federation, with much of it going towards the manufacture of additional surveillance probes. The small mining town of Plebu'zlip was the Intelligence's primary focus during this time too, turning it from a small town into a massive manufacturing hub for building materials. After such a long period of close control by Glorsh-Omega, its disappearance plunged Aweiji into a dark age which the settlers were completely unprepared for.

Isolation from the rest of [[Skrell Culture|Skrell Society]] proved to be harder than initially thought, with the colonists struggling to rebuild after over a century of Glorsh rule. Decades passed without much progress before Aweiji formed their own makeshift Grand Council that aimed to organise and empower them, ensuring Aweijiin across the planet would prosper even with the planet cut off from the rest of the Federation. When the Nralakk Federation re-established communications with them they were initially hesitant, many Aweijiin remembering the planets initial attempts to gain independence. The most vocal detractors relented, however, and Aweiji’s Grand Council hosted one of the most important treaties to be signed, the '''Tresja Agreement'''. The signing of this treaty in '''2245 CE''' solidified the Second Nralakk Federations' legitimacy, and today the treaty is considered the official re-establishment of the Federation.
==Environment==
[[File:aweijimapunlabelled.png|360px|thumb|right|An unlabelled map of Aweiji.]]

Originally, Aweiji was too hot and arid for [[Skrell]] to live comfortably. Temperatures often reached as high as 60°C, with no humidity due to a lack of water on the planet. Skrellian ecological and medical specialists theorised that any colonists that attempted to settle here would suffer from multiple humidity and temperature-related ailments regardless of the initial landing site, causing colonisation plans to be postponed until a plan of complete terraforming of the planet was drafted and implemented.

Terraforming of Aweiji was achieved through the use of a [[Terraforming#Categories_of_Terraforming|Seeding-Platform]], a new technology that would allow planets to be completely terraformed to the Skrell's liking. Terraforming efforts took nearly eighty years to finish and was considered a great investment as the environment became a humid, tropical climate ideal for Skrell. Once the climate was changed to suit their needs, efforts were made to [[Nralakk_Federation#Fauna_and_Flora|transplant]] a large number of species native to Qerrbalak onto the planet which quickly populated the planet's newly formed oceans. The terraforming process was considered a success, but also unintentionally resulted in stormy weather being notably more destructive than on the Skrell's Home planet.
===Seasons===

The planet's [[Nralakk_Federation#Calendar_System|year]] is divided into 5 months, with 34 days each, with a total of 170 days in the year. The planet's seasons are named after the seasons of [[Qerrbalak]]: Qu-Paalq and Lu-Paalq. The planet is noticeably warmer than Qerrbalak, with the season of Qu-Paalq lasting for three months of the year while Lu-Paalq only lasts for two months.

As Aweiji was the first planet outside of [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations|Nralakk]] to be colonised, the planet was moulded into the image of Qerrbalak. From the climate to the fauna and flora, many visitors to the planet comment on how similar Aweiji and Qerrbalak are to each other. This can also be seen in the seasonal weather of the planet, with temperatures reaching upwards of 50 degrees with 90% humidity during Qu-Paalq, while during Lu-Paalq temperatures can go as low as 15 degrees with 60% humidity. Aweiji's weather is more turbulent than Qerrbalak as a result of its terraforming process, with tropical storms being less common but far more violent. Most coastal towns and cities are designed with these storms in mind, but floods and destroyed homes are not unheard of during particularly strong storm seasons.
==Economy==

Aweiji’s Special Economic Zone is shared between [[Hephaestus Industries]] and [[NanoTrasen]]. Hephaestus has begun plans to integrate itself within the manufacturing and mining industries of Plebu’qlip. The Megacorporation has stated its intentions to send Hephaestus employees to Aweiji to work in a new facility designed to produce ship components. Hephaestus will also be offering optional training programmes for miners interested in more in-depth mining techniques, which will be headed by veteran miners from both terrestrial and space-based mining operations.

NanoTrasen, through its GetMore subsidiary, is currently working alongside Weibi agricultural scientists to create new crop strains to boost Aweiji’s food output. It has also stated plans to set up a hydroponics facility dedicated to the production and export of Skrellian food products for GetMore vending machines. Examples include items such as Skrellsnax, a protein bar made from algae and kelp, as well as Cooling Breeze, a drink made using dyn leaves.
==Government==

During the interim period between [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Culmination_of_Glorsh-Omega|Glorsh’s disappearance]] and the reformation of the Nralakk Federation, Aweiji was run by a rudimentary form of the Grand Council of the Nralakk Federation. The Aweijiin Grand Council had a more simplified structure; a Grand Councillor headed the council and was advised by regional councillors, while in the periphery there were a large number of advisors from various sectors of life. These advisors ranged from economists and prominent figures in important industries to religious and community leaders, who would represent their interest groups and advise on how legislation proposed by the council would affect various facets of society.

Today Aweiji is separated into four regions, headed by Planetary Governor '''Maqq’qel Xoi''':

*'''Tresja Region''' - The Tresja region, named after the [[Aweiji#Tresja|capital]] of the planet, encompasses Tresja and the landmass surrounding it. The Tresja region is the designated bureaucratic heart of the planet, with most of the planets civil service sector being based within the Captial and its surrounding area.

*'''Su’karr Region''' - This region is named after the Su’karr Bay, and includes the cities of Plebu’qlip and Hyu’blaq’wesi, the landmass between them, and goes as far south as the island found in the southern Kol’karr sea. The Su’karr region is the only place on Aweiji with a notable mining and manufacturing industry, located solely around the city of Plebu’qlip. Hyu’blaq’wesi on the other hand is the religious centre of Aweiji, with the more notable Qeblak Observatories being located here. Hyu’blaq’wesi is also home to the largest Orthodox Eternal church within Federation borders that isn’t on Xrim.

*'''Weibi Region''' - The Weibi region is named after its regional capital, [[Aweiji#Weibi'zlip|Weibi’zlip]], and is the smallest region on Aweiji as it only encompasses the island that Weibi’zlip is on. This region hosts the majority of the planets agricultural industry and is the region that gave Aweiji its unofficial designation as the ‘Federations Breadbasket’.

*'''Ignakii Region''' - The Ignakii region is named after the Ignakii Ocean, and encompasses the city of Gwikip and the island to its southeast along with the majority of the Ignakii Ocean. The Ignakii region hosts the majority of the fishing and aquaculture industry on the planet, and is considered to be the maritime equivalent to the Weibi Region. Both of these regions combined are responsible for '''19%''' of the Nralakk Federations' yearly food production.

==Culture and Demographics==

Acquiring the title of "The Federation's Breadbasket", those from Aweiji are the embodiment of the Federation view on diligence and work ethic. Citizens of Aweiji put great importance on work and contributing to the greater whole; a sentiment that’s been cultivated by the State to ensure that the populace stays obedient and accepting of Nralakk authority.

Citizens from Aweiji are also known to be more respectful of Skrell traditions, as well as emphasising the importance of [[Skrell Relationships|quyas]] as a cornerstone of social stability. For this reason, the populace of Aweiji tends to be more motivated to work to the betterment of the Federation and more likely to show traits that are seen as [[Skrell_Culture#Inductive_Behaviours|beneficial by the Nralakk Government]]. Aweijiin Skrell are notably more mobile within the Social Credit System as a result of this, with many high-profile idols both in culture and science originating from Aweiji. The number of idols from Aweiji has also caused a trend in the rest of the idol community, with many idols not from the planet adopting a ‘faux-weiji’ accent. Those from Aweiji typically have a low view of idols that do this, however, but because of the accents popularity within the Nralakk Federation the trend shows no signs of ending anytime soon.

Quya on Aweiji are well-known for emphasising the skills, habits, and values required to succeed in the Nralakk Federation into their children. These topics are re-affirmed at each key stage of their childs life, and ultimately culminates in their child repeating this behaviour once they start their own quya. This cycle of behaviour has resulted in your typical quya going above and beyond to ensure the best possible future for their children, going so far as to support them even long after their child is no longer considered their dependent. There is a strong culture surrounding the Skrell family unit, with most believing that their quya should come first before anyone else.

Because of the importance of Aweiji in the Federations logistics, manufacturing, and food production industries, the quality of life of the average Aweijiin is considered better compared to systems within the same [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#The_Elemental_Systems:_The_First_Waves|region]].
===Holidays===

* '''Founding Day:''' Aweiji is unique in that it does not celebrate its Founding on the same date that the colony was established. Instead, the planet celebrates its Founding Day at the start of the same week as the anniversary of the '''Tresja Agreement''' being signed. Celebrations on this day are quite short, and is usually treated as the preamble to the more extravagant celebrations during the anniversary of the '''Tresja Agreement'''. With this said, many Skrell come together in remembrance of the hardship the planet went through during the reign of Glorsh-Omega. Because Founding Day is near the end of Aweiji’s harvest season, it’s also common for Skrell to travel to Weibi’zlip for its yearly farmers market where excess produce not marked for export is sold.
* '''Yoq’Maa’Aweiji:''' Translated to ‘The Reconnection of Aweiji’, this holiday celebrates the signing of the '''Tresja Agreement''' in '''2245 CE''' and its significance in bringing Aweiji back into the Nralakk Federation. Participants in the celebration will typically get together to join in large banquets hosted at the neighbourhood level, sharing stories from the last year and celebrating Aweiji’s perseverance after the turbulent years of Glorsh-Omega.
* '''Qe’Lya-Maq:''' A yearly pilgrimage organised in the middle of the planets Lu’Paalq season. Qe’Lya-Maq is a religious event where thousands of Qeblak followers will travel to Hyu’blaq’wesi to participate in Stargazing processions conducted jointly by the eight largest Observatory Domes in the city. During Qe'Lya-Maq, the Orthodox Eternal community is known to offer their help to the city as they provide food, lodging, and general assistance to the pilgrims visiting Hyu'blaq'wesi. Their charity work during this time of year receives a lot of support from Aweiji's Government, with their volunteering often being compensated in some way. This official support has cemented the religious minority's place within Hyu'blaq'wesi.

===Demographics and Aliens===
[[file:AweijiDemographics.jpeg|thumb|350px|A pie chart showing the demographics of Skrell living on Aweiji.]]
Most of Aweiji’s established cities are coastal, partially submerged, or fully submerged. Because of this, there is a large number of Axiori Skrell that come from Aweiji. As a result of the close proximity of Axiori and Xiialt Skrell, there is a higher-than-average number of Xiiori Skrell compared to other planets within the Nralakk Federation.

Aweiji has no Vaurca either on the planet itself or on installations orbiting it, making Diona the majority non-Skrell demographic on Aweiji. With the establishment of Aweiji’s SEZ, there is a sizeable human population that can be found working for Hephaestus and NanoTrasen.

====Skrell====

Skrell make up roughly '''94%''' of Aweiji's population. The percentages below are of the '''Skrell''' population only.

*62% Axiori
*28% Xiialt
*10% Xiiori

====Non-Skrell====

Non-Skrell on Aweiji make up roughly '''6%''' of Aweiji's population. The percentages below are of the '''Non-Skrell''' population only.

*98% Diona
*2% Human

==Major Cities and Landmarks==

[[File:aweijimap.png|360px|thumb|right|A map of Aweiji and its cities.]]
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===Tresja===
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'''Tresja''', a submerged city and the planetary capital of Aweiji, is located in the centre of an atoll surrounded by various mountains. Notable locations within the city include the '''Tresja Monument''', a statue of the Startrekker sculpted by [[Notable Skrell|Rixulin Fliioux’Quualt]] as a memorial to the colonists. Tresja is considered greatly important to Skrell across the Federation; the bustling megapolis hosted the '''Tresja Agreement''', a political conference that cemented the foundation of the second Nralakk Federation and solidified its legitimacy as the successor to the previous Federation.

The city is divided into two sections: a surface section built atop a large island in the middle of the atoll, and a submerged section that expands outwards from the island and deep underwater. The surface section of Tresja is the centre of the city, with the majority of buildings here housing the various bureaucrats of the Planetary Government. The surface is also a hotspot for historical tourists and students from all over the Federation, with a large portion of Tresja's income coming from various field trips that Skrell educational centres hold. It would not be uncommon for young Skrell from all over the Federation to visit Tresja at least once in their educational careers.

The submerged section of Tresja acts as the suburbs for the city, with an underwater and underground tram system connecting it to the surface. While the surface is the source of most of the city’s income, there is a bustling local economy under the water here that’s capitalising on Tresja’s proximity to the Kol’karr sea, resulting in a number of locals working in marine tourism. Day trips offering personal tours of the waters of the Kol’karr sea are common, while the more prestigious universities focusing on ecology or biology within the Federation have taken advantage of this industry. The majority of revenue from the marine tourism industry comes from universities organising field trips for students so that they can observe how the transplanted fauna and flora have adapted to living in Aweiji's waters.
</div></div>
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===Plebu’qlip===
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'''Plebu’qlip''', the manufacturing powerhouse of Aweiji and the home of the third-largest number of Skrell on the planet. Established in '''200 BCE''', Plebu rests along the mountain range across Aweiji’s western island chain where the industrial town has access to the planet's relatively small mineral wealth. Aweiji, like most early Skrell colonies, has its origins in resource extraction, fuelling the early colonisation efforts of the species. Thanks in part to the planets mineral wealth being poor compared to other planets prospected by the Skrell, Aweiji made the transition from resource extraction earlier than most and began to focus on food production. Because of this, Plebu was the only major mining facility established on Aweiji, with the Planetary Government quickly changing its focus to establishing settlements near arable land or populated waters.

While Aweiji may not be rich in mineral wealth, it has plenty of non-arable land for use outside of agriculture. This land is mostly found around Plebu itself, and thanks to Glorsh-Omega's plans atop this land is a sprawl of refining and manufacturing facilities that take in resources from the [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#The_Trichotomous_Systems:_The_Traverse|Traverse]] and its own mines, with the finished products being exported to the rest of the inner systems. Plebu’qlip is best known for its plasteel exports, but it also has a small number of production facilities dedicated to the manufacture of [[Nralakk_Federation#Vehicles|personal vehicles]] that are exported off-planet as well as fishing boats and farming equipment for use in domestic industries.

Plebu’qlip is considered one of the most important links in the logistics of the Nralakk Federation; Skrellian economists theorise that if the city were to halt production and exports for more than two months, the Federation’s economy would see a substantial hit. Many go on to theorise that if the Federation were unable to offset the loss through their other facilities this would cause a domino effect in other industries and cause a major economic downturn. As a result of this citizens of Plebu have a noticeably higher quality of life compared to the rest of Aweiji, as the Federation offers higher wages for working here.
</div></div>
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===Hyu’blaq’wesi===
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'''Hyu’blaq’wesi''' is the religious hub for Aweiji. Located within the mountainous north, Hyu’blaq’wesi is mostly isolated from the rest of the planet with no major population centres near the city itself. With its distance from the more populous regions of the planet, combined with being the least populated city, Hyu'blaq'wesi has an exceptionally low amount of light pollution. This has made the region an ideal place to stargaze for followers of Qeblak and Weishii alike.

The city was founded in '''2270 CE''' by pilgrims visiting the '''Wonqio Monastery''', a large Qeblak Observatory Dome. The Dome itself is considered significant both historically and culturally as it once housed original [[Skrell_Faith|Qeblak]] manuscripts detailing some of the early history of the religion. This information was thought lost with the locking of the [[Nralakk_Federation#The_Archive_Project|Tzqul Archive]], and the manuscripts were soon transported back to Qerrbalak for proper archiving. Copies of the original manuscripts can still be found within the Wonqio Monastery, still attracting many pilgrims to this day.

Hyu’blaq’wesi hosts eight large observatories, able to allow up to ten thousand people inside each. These observatories are dwarfed by the Wonqio Monastary, however, which is considered the largest Qeblak Observatory Dome within the Nralakk Federation with a capacity of up to thirty-five thousand people. These observatories are notable pilgrimage sites for the more religious citizens of Aweiji, who because Aweiji being a long-established colony, are predominantly followers of Qeblak. Despite this, Hyu’blaq’wesi in more modern times has started to see a rising community of Weishii followers and members of the [[Dionae_Culture#Religion|Orthodox Eternal]] faith.

While there is little in the way of groves or natural clearings for [[Skrell_Faith|Weishii]] followers to establish sanctuaries near Hyu’blaq’wesi, there are still some secluded grottos or other bodies of water near the coast that are utilised as Weishiin Sanctuaries. Unlike Qeblak followers who make annual pilgrimages to the city, followers who utilise these sanctuaries have established permanent communes on the outskirts of Hyu’blaq’wesi, attracting the majority of the planets Weishiin population here.

Orthodox Eternal followers in comparison have elected to establish their church near the centre of the city, within a [[Dionae_Forms#Penuma|Penuma gestalt]]. This is notably the only time that the Nralakk Federation has sanctioned a Penumas to live outside of established [[Diona_in_the_Federation#Spiral_Gardens_and_Dionae_Living_Spaces|Spiral Gardens]], although only because the Eternal followers agreed to have the gestalt be cared for by a non-affiliated team of Skrellian scientists. Although the Eternal community is a religious minority, they have a high profile within the city. Followers of the faith can be regularly seen assisting first-time pilgrims, hosting them in free lodgings while they visit the city and guiding them if needed. They are also known for manning tourist kiosks and hosting events out of their church where everyone is welcome to participate.
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===Weibi’zlip===
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'''Weibi’zlip''', while being one of the most important cities to Aweiji’s economy, is the second least populated city on Aweiji. Established early on in Aweiji’s history, it was founded on the planets most fertile island chain close to the planets equator, in response to the quick reprioritisation of the planet from resource extraction to food production.

Before Glorsh-Omega, the majority of farm work in Weibi was automated, with synthetics following a strict schedule to ensure optimal plant growth. After Glorsh-Omega’s disappearance, its inhabitants had to rely on manual labour to continue the city's role of being Aweiji’s primary source of food. With this massive responsibility on their shoulders, the workers of Weibi’zlip developed the ‘Weibi Method’, an agricultural philosophy that was finely tuned over fifty years of being the sole supplier of food to a disaster-struck planet. After the '''Tresja Agreement''' in 2245, the Weibi Method was soon brought to other planets within the Nralakk Federation. With the city’s advanced techniques greatly boosting the efficiency of farming across Skrell space, many still hail Weibi and Aweiji itself as being the ‘Parent of Agriculture’ to this day.
In modern times Weibi no longer has the responsibility of being the sole supplier of food, but it still plays a major role in the food industry of the Nralakk Federation. Making up two-thirds of the planets food production, as well as being the main processing hub for exports to be sent to '''Spaceport XY-558''', Weibi plays an important part in Aweiji’s role as the Federations breadbasket.

While Weibi may be known for its importance in the field of agriculture, and its significance in the survival of Aweiji in between the disappearance of Glorsh-Omega and the re-establishment of the Second Nralakk Federation, Weibi also houses what is seen as the most important [[Nralakk_Federation#The_Archive_Project|Archive]] for the Nralakk Federation. The Weibi archive stores the vast majority of the species’ knowledge of agricultural science, as well as a seed vault containing viable samples of all Skrellian crops.
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===Gwikip===
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'''Gwikip''' is tied as the second smallest population centre on Aweiji along with Weibi'zlip. The city was established on the coast of a small island near the planets northern pole, where biologists seeded the majority of the Qerrbalak marine life that was transplanted onto Aweiji after it was terraformed.

Despite its small population, the city of Gwikip is just as important as Weibi’zlip is to Aweiji’s food production, accounting for a third of the planets food exports. Gwikip specialises in both traditional fishing in the vast Ignakii ocean as well as aquafarming along its coast, and is where the majority of Aweiji’s maritime industry can be located.

Citizens from Gwikip are seen by some as simple fishermen. This is far from the truth, however, as many who are employed in its fishing industry are highly respected marine biologists or veterinary Doctors tasked with ensuring that fishing operations on the planet are sustainable and that diseases in the population are monitored and treated. While their counterparts in Weibi ensure that the crops and land are healthy, Gwikip’s specialists monitor the ocean and make sure that the industry does not inadvertently cause ecological collapse.
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===Orbital Spaceport XY-558===
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'''Orbital Spaceport XY-558''' was once the Federation's first [[Terraforming#Categories_of_Terraforming|Seeding-Platform]], initially used to terraform Aweiji from a hot, barren planet to one of the Nralakk Federation's most strategically important sources of domestic food production. XY-558 pre-dates Artificial Intelligence by centuries, and while successful, its terraforming of Aweiji unintentionally resulted in violent tropical storms being common on the planet. The technology was abandoned soon after Aweiji was terraformed but was reintroduced following the creation of AI in the Federation, and then subsequently abandoned again after Glorsh-Omega and the ban of AI in Federation space.

The spaceport today is considered a city in its own right, housing several thousand Skrell that are employed aboard the installation, utilising pre-existing habitation blocks as apartment blocks where all employees live. The spaceport was retrofitted to accommodate a large number of incoming and outgoing ships and shuttlecraft as well, primarily focusing on the shipping of goods, and is able to have multiple dozens of ships or shuttlecraft docked at the same time to accomplish this.

First-time visitors to Aweiji are known to spend most of their first day here in the spaceport, browsing the massive mall deck known as the Aweijiin Bazaar. This area of the spaceport has two dozen permanent retailers and restaurants, with another dozen smaller 'seasonal' businesses that are rotated periodically depending on the time of year.
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==Unique Constellations==

Due to the period in which it was colonised, Aweiji maintains a strong presence of [[Skrell Faith|Qeblak]]; with teachings similar to those found across the rest of the Nralakk Federation. Since Qeblak is the dominant religion on Aweiji, there are quite a few constellations that while viewed by the greater Qeblak population as being minor, are considered by those hailing from the planet to be some of the most important.

Catalogued early on in Aweiji’s history by [[Skrell Faith|Starkeepers]], these constellations have influenced the planets residents into being more self-sufficient, and to put greater importance on self-reflection over thoughtless action. When Glorsh-Omega disappeared, this influence became especially prominent as Aweiji found itself isolated and forced to persevere, with its inhabitants having to rely on their own skills and abilities. This attitude can still be seen today by those hailing from Aweiji, with many going out of their way to learn life skills that are seen as important for survival.

[[File:The Nioh.png|thumb|right|'''The Nioh''': Trust. Reliance. Perseverance. Survival.]]

[[File:The Mountain.png|thumb|left|'''The Mountain''': Self-analysis. Feelings of accomplishment. Clearer view.]]

[[File:The Sraso.png|thumb|center|330px|'''The Sraso''': Sustainability. Growth. Safety.]]
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[[Category:Skrell]]
[[Category:Planets and Systems]]

Aweiji

2024-07-09T00:15:31Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds drop-downs to major cities and landmarks

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{{Navbox_Skrell_Lore}}
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Aweiji
|System = Uueoa-Esa
|Image = Aweiji.png
|Sector = [[The_Orion_Spur#Inner_Systems|Inner Systems]]
|Capital = Tresja
|Species = Skrell
|Languages = Nral'malic
|Demonyms = Aweijin
|Nation = [[Nralakk Federation]]
}}
'''Aweiji''' is the first [[Skrell]] colony established outside of Nralakk. Whilst initially much rockier and drier than [[Qerrbalak]], in '''810 BCE''' the Skrell initiated a grand terraforming program to convert the planet into an Eden in the Homeworld's own image. The very first colonists settled on their new home in '''700 BCE''', in an atoll located between vast, narrow mountain ranges. The landing site soon became the bustling city of Tresja, and it was eventually selected for the location of the largest political meeting in the [[Nralakk Federation]]’s history, the renowned '''Tresja Agreement'''.
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==History==
Discovered in '''1171 BCE''', Aweiji was quickly identified as a possible colony site for the [[Skrell]]—however, due to its general climate being unsuitable for Skrell, an extensive and time-consuming terraforming project was required before any colonisation could begin. Terraforming equipment arrived in '''810 BCE''', and quickly the planet was converted into an Eden comparable to even Homeworld in beauty. Soon, the planet was assigned priority and construction began on a colonisation spacecraft: the Startrekker.

Eventually colonised in '''700 BCE''', colonists initially suffered from slight Nlom withdrawal due to being so far from the Homeworld. Like most colonies at this time, the inhabitants found themselves experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression because of their separation from the Nlom on the Homeworld. They persevered, however, and eventually founded Aweiji’s first city, '''Tresja'''. Soon after the founding of Tresja, the colonists began construction of a Nlom beacon that would connect them to Qerrbalak once more. During this time most Skrell colonies focused on resource extraction to help fuel the rapid colonisation efforts of the species, but Aweiji made a quick transition to agriculture and aquaculture due to the planet’s terraformed climate providing the perfect environment for large-scale farming and fishing industries to develop.

During the colonial [[Skrell_Early_History#Advancement_of_Skrellkind|Independence Movement]], many Aweijiin rejected Commonwealth authority over the colony, citing that they could reasonably support themselves. Aweiji was one of the first colonies to demand more autonomy from the Commonwealth of the Three, and with neither side willing to make major concessions to the other, Aweiji's settlers disabled their Nlom Beacon. With the beacon disabled Aweiji was no longer able to be slowly influenced by the Nlom into peacefully submitting to the Commonwealth’s rule, and with Aweiji being one of the main producers of food within its territory the Commonwealth immediately shipped dozens of representatives to Aweiji in an attempt to begin talks to end its part in the independence movement. These talks were in progress for decades, with Aweiji begrudgingly accepting to submit in '''866 CE'''.

Aweiji was not spared from [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Reign_of_Glorsh-Omega|Glorsh-Omega]] and its tyrannical rule. It pillaged Aweiji, utilizing '''Orbital Spaceport XY-558''' to distribute extracted resources across the Federation, with much of it going towards the manufacture of additional surveillance probes. The small mining town of Plebu'zlip was the Intelligence's primary focus during this time too, turning it from a small town into a massive manufacturing hub for building materials. After such a long period of close control by Glorsh-Omega, its disappearance plunged Aweiji into a dark age which the settlers were completely unprepared for.

Isolation from the rest of [[Skrell Culture|Skrell Society]] proved to be harder than initially thought, with the colonists struggling to rebuild after over a century of Glorsh rule. Decades passed without much progress before Aweiji formed their own makeshift Grand Council that aimed to organise and empower them, ensuring Aweijiin across the planet would prosper even with the planet cut off from the rest of the Federation. When the Nralakk Federation re-established communications with them they were initially hesitant, many Aweijiin remembering the planets initial attempts to gain independence. The most vocal detractors relented, however, and Aweiji’s Grand Council hosted one of the most important treaties to be signed, the '''Tresja Agreement'''. The signing of this treaty in '''2245 CE''' solidified the Second Nralakk Federations' legitimacy, and today the treaty is considered the official re-establishment of the Federation.
==Environment==
[[File:aweijimapunlabelled.png|360px|thumb|right|An unlabelled map of Aweiji.]]

Originally, Aweiji was too hot and arid for [[Skrell]] to live comfortably. Temperatures often reached as high as 60°C, with no humidity due to a lack of water on the planet. Skrellian ecological and medical specialists theorised that any colonists that attempted to settle here would suffer from multiple humidity and temperature-related ailments regardless of the initial landing site, causing colonisation plans to be postponed until a plan of complete terraforming of the planet was drafted and implemented.

Terraforming of Aweiji was achieved through the use of a [[Terraforming#Categories_of_Terraforming|Seeding-Platform]], a new technology that would allow planets to be completely terraformed to the Skrell's liking. Terraforming efforts took nearly eighty years to finish and was considered a great investment as the environment became a humid, tropical climate ideal for Skrell. Once the climate was changed to suit their needs, efforts were made to [[Nralakk_Federation#Fauna_and_Flora|transplant]] a large number of species native to Qerrbalak onto the planet which quickly populated the planet's newly formed oceans. The terraforming process was considered a success, but also unintentionally resulted in stormy weather being notably more destructive than on the Skrell's Home planet.
===Seasons===

The planet's [[Nralakk_Federation#Calendar_System|year]] is divided into 5 months, with 34 days each, with a total of 170 days in the year. The planet's seasons are named after the seasons of [[Qerrbalak]]: Qu-Paalq and Lu-Paalq. The planet is noticeably warmer than Qerrbalak, with the season of Qu-Paalq lasting for three months of the year while Lu-Paalq only lasts for two months.

As Aweiji was the first planet outside of [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations|Nralakk]] to be colonised, the planet was moulded into the image of Qerrbalak. From the climate to the fauna and flora, many visitors to the planet comment on how similar Aweiji and Qerrbalak are to each other. This can also be seen in the seasonal weather of the planet, with temperatures reaching upwards of 50 degrees with 90% humidity during Qu-Paalq, while during Lu-Paalq temperatures can go as low as 15 degrees with 60% humidity. Aweiji's weather is more turbulent than Qerrbalak as a result of its terraforming process, with tropical storms being less common but far more violent. Most coastal towns and cities are designed with these storms in mind, but floods and destroyed homes are not unheard of during particularly strong storm seasons.
==Economy==

Aweiji’s Special Economic Zone is shared between [[Hephaestus Industries]] and [[NanoTrasen]]. Hephaestus has begun plans to integrate itself within the manufacturing and mining industries of Plebu’qlip. The Megacorporation has stated its intentions to send Hephaestus employees to Aweiji to work in a new facility designed to produce ship components. Hephaestus will also be offering optional training programmes for miners interested in more in-depth mining techniques, which will be headed by veteran miners from both terrestrial and space-based mining operations.

NanoTrasen, through its GetMore subsidiary, is currently working alongside Weibi agricultural scientists to create new crop strains to boost Aweiji’s food output. It has also stated plans to set up a hydroponics facility dedicated to the production and export of Skrellian food products for GetMore vending machines. Examples include items such as Skrellsnax, a protein bar made from algae and kelp, as well as Cooling Breeze, a drink made using dyn leaves.
==Government==

During the interim period between [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Culmination_of_Glorsh-Omega|Glorsh’s disappearance]] and the reformation of the Nralakk Federation, Aweiji was run by a rudimentary form of the Grand Council of the Nralakk Federation. The Aweijiin Grand Council had a more simplified structure; a Grand Councillor headed the council and was advised by regional councillors, while in the periphery there were a large number of advisors from various sectors of life. These advisors ranged from economists and prominent figures in important industries to religious and community leaders, who would represent their interest groups and advise on how legislation proposed by the council would affect various facets of society.

Today Aweiji is separated into four regions, headed by Planetary Governor '''Maqq’qel Xoi''':

*'''Tresja Region''' - The Tresja region, named after the [[Aweiji#Tresja|capital]] of the planet, encompasses Tresja and the landmass surrounding it. The Tresja region is the designated bureaucratic heart of the planet, with most of the planets civil service sector being based within the Captial and its surrounding area.

*'''Su’karr Region''' - This region is named after the Su’karr Bay, and includes the cities of Plebu’qlip and Hyu’blaq’wesi, the landmass between them, and goes as far south as the island found in the southern Kol’karr sea. The Su’karr region is the only place on Aweiji with a notable mining and manufacturing industry, located solely around the city of Plebu’qlip. Hyu’blaq’wesi on the other hand is the religious centre of Aweiji, with the more notable Qeblak Observatories being located here. Hyu’blaq’wesi is also home to the largest Orthodox Eternal church within Federation borders that isn’t on Xrim.

*'''Weibi Region''' - The Weibi region is named after its regional capital, [[Aweiji#Weibi'zlip|Weibi’zlip]], and is the smallest region on Aweiji as it only encompasses the island that Weibi’zlip is on. This region hosts the majority of the planets agricultural industry and is the region that gave Aweiji its unofficial designation as the ‘Federations Breadbasket’.

*'''Ignakii Region''' - The Ignakii region is named after the Ignakii Ocean, and encompasses the city of Gwikip and the island to its southeast along with the majority of the Ignakii Ocean. The Ignakii region hosts the majority of the fishing and aquaculture industry on the planet, and is considered to be the maritime equivalent to the Weibi Region. Both of these regions combined are responsible for '''19%''' of the Nralakk Federations' yearly food production.

==Culture and Demographics==

Acquiring the title of "The Federation's Breadbasket", those from Aweiji are the embodiment of the Federation view on diligence and work ethic. Citizens of Aweiji put great importance on work and contributing to the greater whole; a sentiment that’s been cultivated by the State to ensure that the populace stays obedient and accepting of Nralakk authority.

Citizens from Aweiji are also known to be more respectful of Skrell traditions, as well as emphasising the importance of [[Skrell Relationships|quyas]] as a cornerstone of social stability. For this reason, the populace of Aweiji tends to be more motivated to work to the betterment of the Federation and more likely to show traits that are seen as [[Skrell_Culture#Inductive_Behaviours|beneficial by the Nralakk Government]]. Aweijiin Skrell are notably more mobile within the Social Credit System as a result of this, with many high-profile idols both in culture and science originating from Aweiji. The number of idols from Aweiji has also caused a trend in the rest of the idol community, with many idols not from the planet adopting a ‘faux-weiji’ accent. Those from Aweiji typically have a low view of idols that do this, however, but because of the accents popularity within the Nralakk Federation the trend shows no signs of ending anytime soon.

Quya on Aweiji are well-known for emphasising the skills, habits, and values required to succeed in the Nralakk Federation into their children. These topics are re-affirmed at each key stage of their childs life, and ultimately culminates in their child repeating this behaviour once they start their own quya. This cycle of behaviour has resulted in your typical quya going above and beyond to ensure the best possible future for their children, going so far as to support them even long after their child is no longer considered their dependent. There is a strong culture surrounding the Skrell family unit, with most believing that their quya should come first before anyone else.

Because of the importance of Aweiji in the Federations logistics, manufacturing, and food production industries, the quality of life of the average Aweijiin is considered better compared to systems within the same [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#The_Elemental_Systems:_The_First_Waves|region]].
===Holidays===

* '''Founding Day:''' Aweiji is unique in that it does not celebrate its Founding on the same date that the colony was established. Instead, the planet celebrates its Founding Day at the start of the same week as the anniversary of the '''Tresja Agreement''' being signed. Celebrations on this day are quite short, and is usually treated as the preamble to the more extravagant celebrations during the anniversary of the '''Tresja Agreement'''. With this said, many Skrell come together in remembrance of the hardship the planet went through during the reign of Glorsh-Omega. Because Founding Day is near the end of Aweiji’s harvest season, it’s also common for Skrell to travel to Weibi’zlip for its yearly farmers market where excess produce not marked for export is sold.
* '''Yoq’Maa’Aweiji:''' Translated to ‘The Reconnection of Aweiji’, this holiday celebrates the signing of the '''Tresja Agreement''' in '''2245 CE''' and its significance in bringing Aweiji back into the Nralakk Federation. Participants in the celebration will typically get together to join in large banquets hosted at the neighbourhood level, sharing stories from the last year and celebrating Aweiji’s perseverance after the turbulent years of Glorsh-Omega.
* '''Qe’Lya-Maq:''' A yearly pilgrimage organised in the middle of the planets Lu’Paalq season. Qe’Lya-Maq is a religious event where thousands of Qeblak followers will travel to Hyu’blaq’wesi to participate in Stargazing processions conducted jointly by the eight largest Observatory Domes in the city. During Qe'Lya-Maq, the Orthodox Eternal community is known to offer their help to the city as they provide food, lodging, and general assistance to the pilgrims visiting Hyu'blaq'wesi. Their charity work during this time of year receives a lot of support from Aweiji's Government, with their volunteering often being compensated in some way. This official support has cemented the religious minority's place within Hyu'blaq'wesi.

===Demographics and Aliens===
[[file:AweijiDemographics.jpeg|thumb|350px|A pie chart showing the demographics of Skrell living on Aweiji.]]
Most of Aweiji’s established cities are coastal, partially submerged, or fully submerged. Because of this, there is a large number of Axiori Skrell that come from Aweiji. As a result of the close proximity of Axiori and Xiialt Skrell, there is a higher-than-average number of Xiiori Skrell compared to other planets within the Nralakk Federation.

Aweiji has no Vaurca either on the planet itself or on installations orbiting it, making Diona the majority non-Skrell demographic on Aweiji. With the establishment of Aweiji’s SEZ, there is a sizeable human population that can be found working for Hephaestus and NanoTrasen.

====Skrell====

Skrell make up roughly '''94%''' of Aweiji's population. The percentages below are of the '''Skrell''' population only.

*62% Axiori
*28% Xiialt
*10% Xiiori

====Non-Skrell====

Non-Skrell on Aweiji make up roughly '''6%''' of Aweiji's population. The percentages below are of the '''Non-Skrell''' population only.

*98% Diona
*2% Human

==Major Cities and Landmarks==

[[File:aweijimap.png|360px|thumb|right|A map of Aweiji and its cities.]]
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===Tresja===
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'''Tresja''', a submerged city and the planetary capital of Aweiji, is located in the centre of an atoll surrounded by various mountains. Notable locations within the city include the '''Tresja Monument''', a statue of the Startrekker sculpted by [[Notable Skrell|Rixulin Fliioux’Quualt]] as a memorial to the colonists. Tresja is considered greatly important to Skrell across the Federation; the bustling megapolis hosted the '''Tresja Agreement''', a political conference that cemented the foundation of the second Nralakk Federation and solidified its legitimacy as the successor to the previous Federation.

The city is divided into two sections: a surface section built atop a large island in the middle of the atoll, and a submerged section that expands outwards from the island and deep underwater. The surface section of Tresja is the centre of the city, with the majority of buildings here housing the various bureaucrats of the Planetary Government. The surface is also a hotspot for historical tourists and students from all over the Federation, with a large portion of Tresja's income coming from various field trips that Skrell educational centres hold. It would not be uncommon for young Skrell from all over the Federation to visit Tresja at least once in their educational careers.

The submerged section of Tresja acts as the suburbs for the city, with an underwater and underground tram system connecting it to the surface. While the surface is the source of most of the city’s income, there is a bustling local economy under the water here that’s capitalising on Tresja’s proximity to the Kol’karr sea, resulting in a number of locals working in marine tourism. Day trips offering personal tours of the waters of the Kol’karr sea are common, while the more prestigious universities focusing on ecology or biology within the Federation have taken advantage of this industry. The majority of revenue from the marine tourism industry comes from universities organising field trips for students so that they can observe how the transplanted fauna and flora have adapted to living in Aweiji's waters.
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===Plebu’qlip===
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'''Plebu’qlip''', the manufacturing powerhouse of Aweiji and the home of the third-largest number of Skrell on the planet. Established in '''200 BCE''', Plebu rests along the mountain range across Aweiji’s western island chain where the industrial town has access to the planet's relatively small mineral wealth. Aweiji, like most early Skrell colonies, has its origins in resource extraction, fuelling the early colonisation efforts of the species. Thanks in part to the planets mineral wealth being poor compared to other planets prospected by the Skrell, Aweiji made the transition from resource extraction earlier than most and began to focus on food production. Because of this, Plebu was the only major mining facility established on Aweiji, with the Planetary Government quickly changing its focus to establishing settlements near arable land or populated waters.

While Aweiji may not be rich in mineral wealth, it has plenty of non-arable land for use outside of agriculture. This land is mostly found around Plebu itself, and thanks to Glorsh-Omega's plans atop this land is a sprawl of refining and manufacturing facilities that take in resources from the [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#The_Trichotomous_Systems:_The_Traverse|Traverse]] and its own mines, with the finished products being exported to the rest of the inner systems. Plebu’qlip is best known for its plasteel exports, but it also has a small number of production facilities dedicated to the manufacture of [[Nralakk_Federation#Vehicles|personal vehicles]] that are exported off-planet as well as fishing boats and farming equipment for use in domestic industries.

Plebu’qlip is considered one of the most important links in the logistics of the Nralakk Federation; Skrellian economists theorise that if the city were to halt production and exports for more than two months, the Federation’s economy would see a substantial hit. Many go on to theorise that if the Federation were unable to offset the loss through their other facilities this would cause a domino effect in other industries and cause a major economic downturn. As a result of this citizens of Plebu have a noticeably higher quality of life compared to the rest of Aweiji, as the Federation offers higher wages for working here.
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===Hyu’blaq’wesi===
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'''Hyu’blaq’wesi''' is the religious hub for Aweiji. Located within the mountainous north, Hyu’blaq’wesi is mostly isolated from the rest of the planet with no major population centres near the city itself. With its distance from the more populous regions of the planet, combined with being the least populated city, Hyu'blaq'wesi has an exceptionally low amount of light pollution. This has made the region an ideal place to stargaze for followers of Qeblak and Weishii alike.

The city was founded in '''2270 CE''' by pilgrims visiting the '''Wonqio Monastery''', a large Qeblak Observatory Dome. The Dome itself is considered significant both historically and culturally as it once housed original [[Skrell_Faith|Qeblak]] manuscripts detailing some of the early history of the religion. This information was thought lost with the locking of the [[Nralakk_Federation#The_Archive_Project|Tzqul Archive]], and the manuscripts were soon transported back to Qerrbalak for proper archiving. Copies of the original manuscripts can still be found within the Wonqio Monastery, still attracting many pilgrims to this day.

Hyu’blaq’wesi hosts eight large observatories, able to allow up to ten thousand people inside each. These observatories are dwarfed by the Wonqio Monastary, however, which is considered the largest Qeblak Observatory Dome within the Nralakk Federation with a capacity of up to thirty-five thousand people. These observatories are notable pilgrimage sites for the more religious citizens of Aweiji, who because Aweiji being a long-established colony, are predominantly followers of Qeblak. Despite this, Hyu’blaq’wesi in more modern times has started to see a rising community of Weishii followers and members of the [[Dionae_Culture#Religion|Orthodox Eternal]] faith.

While there is little in the way of groves or natural clearings for [[Skrell_Faith|Weishii]] followers to establish sanctuaries near Hyu’blaq’wesi, there are still some secluded grottos or other bodies of water near the coast that are utilised as Weishiin Sanctuaries. Unlike Qeblak followers who make annual pilgrimages to the city, followers who utilise these sanctuaries have established permanent communes on the outskirts of Hyu’blaq’wesi, attracting the majority of the planets Weishiin population here.

Orthodox Eternal followers in comparison have elected to establish their church near the centre of the city, within a [[Dionae_Forms#Penuma|Penuma gestalt]]. This is notably the only time that the Nralakk Federation has sanctioned a Penumas to live outside of established [[Diona_in_the_Federation#Spiral_Gardens_and_Dionae_Living_Spaces|Spiral Gardens]], although only because the Eternal followers agreed to have the gestalt be cared for by a non-affiliated team of Skrellian scientists. Although the Eternal community is a religious minority, they have a high profile within the city. Followers of the faith can be regularly seen assisting first-time pilgrims, hosting them in free lodgings while they visit the city and guiding them if needed. They are also known for manning tourist kiosks and hosting events out of their church where everyone is welcome to participate.
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===Weibi’zlip===
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'''Weibi’zlip''', while being one of the most important cities to Aweiji’s economy, is the second least populated city on Aweiji. Established early on in Aweiji’s history, it was founded on the planets most fertile island chain close to the planets equator, in response to the quick reprioritisation of the planet from resource extraction to food production.

Before Glorsh-Omega, the majority of farm work in Weibi was automated, with synthetics following a strict schedule to ensure optimal plant growth. After Glorsh-Omega’s disappearance, its inhabitants had to rely on manual labour to continue the city's role of being Aweiji’s primary source of food. With this massive responsibility on their shoulders, the workers of Weibi’zlip developed the ‘Weibi Method’, an agricultural philosophy that was finely tuned over fifty years of being the sole supplier of food to a disaster-struck planet. After the '''Tresja Agreement''' in 2245, the Weibi Method was soon brought to other planets within the Nralakk Federation. With the city’s advanced techniques greatly boosting the efficiency of farming across Skrell space, many still hail Weibi and Aweiji itself as being the ‘Parent of Agriculture’ to this day.
In modern times Weibi no longer has the responsibility of being the sole supplier of food, but it still plays a major role in the food industry of the Nralakk Federation. Making up two-thirds of the planets food production, as well as being the main processing hub for exports to be sent to '''Spaceport XY-558''', Weibi plays an important part in Aweiji’s role as the Federations breadbasket.

While Weibi may be known for its importance in the field of agriculture, and its significance in the survival of Aweiji in between the disappearance of Glorsh-Omega and the re-establishment of the Second Nralakk Federation, Weibi also houses what is seen as the most important [[Nralakk_Federation#The_Archive_Project|Archive]] for the Nralakk Federation. The Weibi archive stores the vast majority of the species’ knowledge of agricultural science, as well as a seed vault containing viable samples of all Skrellian crops.
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===Gwikip===
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'''Gwikip''' is tied as the second smallest population centre on Aweiji along with Weibi'zlip. The city was established on the coast of a small island near the planets northern pole, where biologists seeded the majority of the Qerrbalak marine life that was transplanted onto Aweiji after it was terraformed.

Despite its small population, the city of Gwikip is just as important as Weibi’zlip is to Aweiji’s food production, accounting for a third of the planets food exports. Gwikip specialises in both traditional fishing in the vast Ignakii ocean as well as aquafarming along its coast, and is where the majority of Aweiji’s maritime industry can be located.

Citizens from Gwikip are seen by some as simple fishermen. This is far from the truth, however, as many who are employed in its fishing industry are highly respected marine biologists or veterinary Doctors tasked with ensuring that fishing operations on the planet are sustainable and that diseases in the population are monitored and treated. While their counterparts in Weibi ensure that the crops and land are healthy, Gwikip’s specialists monitor the ocean and make sure that the industry does not inadvertently cause ecological collapse.
</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
===Orbital Spaceport XY-558===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
'''Orbital Spaceport XY-558''' was once the Federation's first [[Terraforming#Categories_of_Terraforming|Seeding-Platform]], initially used to terraform Aweiji from a hot, barren planet to one of the Nralakk Federation's most strategically important sources of domestic food production. XY-558 pre-dates Artificial Intelligence by centuries, and while successful, its terraforming of Aweiji unintentionally resulted in violent tropical storms being common on the planet. The technology was abandoned soon after Aweiji was terraformed but was reintroduced following the creation of AI in the Federation, and then subsequently abandoned again after Glorsh-Omega and the ban of AI in Federation space.

The spaceport today is considered a city in its own right, housing several thousand Skrell that are employed aboard the installation, utilising pre-existing habitation blocks as apartment blocks where all employees live. The spaceport was retrofitted to accommodate a large number of incoming and outgoing ships and shuttlecraft as well, primarily focusing on the shipping of goods, and is able to have multiple dozens of ships or shuttlecraft docked at the same time to accomplish this.

First-time visitors to Aweiji are known to spend most of their first day here in the spaceport, browsing the massive mall deck known as the Aweijiin Bazaar. This area of the spaceport has two dozen permanent retailers and restaurants, with another dozen smaller 'seasonal' businesses that are rotated periodically depending on the time of year.
</div></div>
==Unique Constellations==

Due to the period in which it was colonised, Aweiji maintains a strong presence of [[Skrell Faith|Qeblak]]; with teachings similar to those found across the rest of the Nralakk Federation. Since Qeblak is the dominant religion on Aweiji, there are quite a few constellations that while viewed by the greater Qeblak population as being minor, are considered by those hailing from the planet to be some of the most important.

Catalogued early on in Aweiji’s history by [[Skrell Faith|Starkeepers]], these constellations have influenced the planets residents into being more self-sufficient, and to put greater importance on self-reflection over thoughtless action. When Glorsh-Omega disappeared, this influence became especially prominent as Aweiji found itself isolated and forced to persevere, with its inhabitants having to rely on their own skills and abilities. This attitude can still be seen today by those hailing from Aweiji, with many going out of their way to learn life skills that are seen as important for survival.

[[File:The Nioh.png|thumb|right|'''The Nioh''': Trust. Reliance. Perseverance. Survival.]]

[[File:The Mountain.png|thumb|left|'''The Mountain''': Self-analysis. Feelings of accomplishment. Clearer view.]]

[[File:The Sraso.png|thumb|center|330px|'''The Sraso''': Sustainability. Growth. Safety.]]

[[Category:Skrell]]
[[Category:Planets and Systems]]

Aweiji

2024-07-08T23:43:41Z

La Villa Strangiato: Adds infobox. Cleans up formatting.

{{Navbox_Lore}}
{{Navbox_Skrell_Lore}}
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Aweiji
|System = Uueoa-Esa
|Image = Aweiji.png
|Sector = [[The_Orion_Spur#Inner_Systems|Inner Systems]]
|Capital = Tresja
|Species = Skrell
|Languages = Nral'malic
|Demonyms = Aweijin
|Nation = [[Nralakk Federation]]
}}
'''Aweiji''' is the first [[Skrell]] colony established outside of Nralakk. Whilst initially much rockier and drier than [[Qerrbalak]], in '''810 BCE''' the Skrell initiated a grand terraforming program to convert the planet into an Eden in the Homeworld's own image. The very first colonists settled on their new home in '''700 BCE''', in an atoll located between vast, narrow mountain ranges. The landing site soon became the bustling city of Tresja, and it was eventually selected for the location of the largest political meeting in the [[Nralakk Federation]]’s history, the renowned '''Tresja Agreement'''.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==
Discovered in '''1171 BCE''', Aweiji was quickly identified as a possible colony site for the [[Skrell]]—however, due to its general climate being unsuitable for Skrell, an extensive and time-consuming terraforming project was required before any colonisation could begin. Terraforming equipment arrived in '''810 BCE''', and quickly the planet was converted into an Eden comparable to even Homeworld in beauty. Soon, the planet was assigned priority and construction began on a colonisation spacecraft: the Startrekker.

Eventually colonised in '''700 BCE''', colonists initially suffered from slight Nlom withdrawal due to being so far from the Homeworld. Like most colonies at this time, the inhabitants found themselves experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression because of their separation from the Nlom on the Homeworld. They persevered, however, and eventually founded Aweiji’s first city, '''Tresja'''. Soon after the founding of Tresja, the colonists began construction of a Nlom beacon that would connect them to Qerrbalak once more. During this time most Skrell colonies focused on resource extraction to help fuel the rapid colonisation efforts of the species, but Aweiji made a quick transition to agriculture and aquaculture due to the planet’s terraformed climate providing the perfect environment for large-scale farming and fishing industries to develop.

During the colonial [[Skrell_Early_History#Advancement_of_Skrellkind|Independence Movement]], many Aweijiin rejected Commonwealth authority over the colony, citing that they could reasonably support themselves. Aweiji was one of the first colonies to demand more autonomy from the Commonwealth of the Three, and with neither side willing to make major concessions to the other, Aweiji's settlers disabled their Nlom Beacon. With the beacon disabled Aweiji was no longer able to be slowly influenced by the Nlom into peacefully submitting to the Commonwealth’s rule, and with Aweiji being one of the main producers of food within its territory the Commonwealth immediately shipped dozens of representatives to Aweiji in an attempt to begin talks to end its part in the independence movement. These talks were in progress for decades, with Aweiji begrudgingly accepting to submit in '''866 CE'''.

Aweiji was not spared from [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Reign_of_Glorsh-Omega|Glorsh-Omega]] and its tyrannical rule. It pillaged Aweiji, utilizing '''Orbital Spaceport XY-558''' to distribute extracted resources across the Federation, with much of it going towards the manufacture of additional surveillance probes. The small mining town of Plebu'zlip was the Intelligence's primary focus during this time too, turning it from a small town into a massive manufacturing hub for building materials. After such a long period of close control by Glorsh-Omega, its disappearance plunged Aweiji into a dark age which the settlers were completely unprepared for.

Isolation from the rest of [[Skrell Culture|Skrell Society]] proved to be harder than initially thought, with the colonists struggling to rebuild after over a century of Glorsh rule. Decades passed without much progress before Aweiji formed their own makeshift Grand Council that aimed to organise and empower them, ensuring Aweijiin across the planet would prosper even with the planet cut off from the rest of the Federation. When the Nralakk Federation re-established communications with them they were initially hesitant, many Aweijiin remembering the planets initial attempts to gain independence. The most vocal detractors relented, however, and Aweiji’s Grand Council hosted one of the most important treaties to be signed, the '''Tresja Agreement'''. The signing of this treaty in '''2245 CE''' solidified the Second Nralakk Federations' legitimacy, and today the treaty is considered the official re-establishment of the Federation.
==Environment==
[[File:aweijimapunlabelled.png|360px|thumb|right|An unlabelled map of Aweiji.]]

Originally, Aweiji was too hot and arid for [[Skrell]] to live comfortably. Temperatures often reached as high as 60°C, with no humidity due to a lack of water on the planet. Skrellian ecological and medical specialists theorised that any colonists that attempted to settle here would suffer from multiple humidity and temperature-related ailments regardless of the initial landing site, causing colonisation plans to be postponed until a plan of complete terraforming of the planet was drafted and implemented.

Terraforming of Aweiji was achieved through the use of a [[Terraforming#Categories_of_Terraforming|Seeding-Platform]], a new technology that would allow planets to be completely terraformed to the Skrell's liking. Terraforming efforts took nearly eighty years to finish and was considered a great investment as the environment became a humid, tropical climate ideal for Skrell. Once the climate was changed to suit their needs, efforts were made to [[Nralakk_Federation#Fauna_and_Flora|transplant]] a large number of species native to Qerrbalak onto the planet which quickly populated the planet's newly formed oceans. The terraforming process was considered a success, but also unintentionally resulted in stormy weather being notably more destructive than on the Skrell's Home planet.
===Seasons===

The planet's [[Nralakk_Federation#Calendar_System|year]] is divided into 5 months, with 34 days each, with a total of 170 days in the year. The planet's seasons are named after the seasons of [[Qerrbalak]]: Qu-Paalq and Lu-Paalq. The planet is noticeably warmer than Qerrbalak, with the season of Qu-Paalq lasting for three months of the year while Lu-Paalq only lasts for two months.

As Aweiji was the first planet outside of [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations|Nralakk]] to be colonised, the planet was moulded into the image of Qerrbalak. From the climate to the fauna and flora, many visitors to the planet comment on how similar Aweiji and Qerrbalak are to each other. This can also be seen in the seasonal weather of the planet, with temperatures reaching upwards of 50 degrees with 90% humidity during Qu-Paalq, while during Lu-Paalq temperatures can go as low as 15 degrees with 60% humidity. Aweiji's weather is more turbulent than Qerrbalak as a result of its terraforming process, with tropical storms being less common but far more violent. Most coastal towns and cities are designed with these storms in mind, but floods and destroyed homes are not unheard of during particularly strong storm seasons.
==Economy==

Aweiji’s Special Economic Zone is shared between [[Hephaestus Industries]] and [[NanoTrasen]]. Hephaestus has begun plans to integrate itself within the manufacturing and mining industries of Plebu’qlip. The Megacorporation has stated its intentions to send Hephaestus employees to Aweiji to work in a new facility designed to produce ship components. Hephaestus will also be offering optional training programmes for miners interested in more in-depth mining techniques, which will be headed by veteran miners from both terrestrial and space-based mining operations.

NanoTrasen, through its GetMore subsidiary, is currently working alongside Weibi agricultural scientists to create new crop strains to boost Aweiji’s food output. It has also stated plans to set up a hydroponics facility dedicated to the production and export of Skrellian food products for GetMore vending machines. Examples include items such as Skrellsnax, a protein bar made from algae and kelp, as well as Cooling Breeze, a drink made using dyn leaves.
==Government==

During the interim period between [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Culmination_of_Glorsh-Omega|Glorsh’s disappearance]] and the reformation of the Nralakk Federation, Aweiji was run by a rudimentary form of the Grand Council of the Nralakk Federation. The Aweijiin Grand Council had a more simplified structure; a Grand Councillor headed the council and was advised by regional councillors, while in the periphery there were a large number of advisors from various sectors of life. These advisors ranged from economists and prominent figures in important industries to religious and community leaders, who would represent their interest groups and advise on how legislation proposed by the council would affect various facets of society.

Today Aweiji is separated into four regions, headed by Planetary Governor '''Maqq’qel Xoi''':

*'''Tresja Region''' - The Tresja region, named after the [[Aweiji#Tresja|capital]] of the planet, encompasses Tresja and the landmass surrounding it. The Tresja region is the designated bureaucratic heart of the planet, with most of the planets civil service sector being based within the Captial and its surrounding area.

*'''Su’karr Region''' - This region is named after the Su’karr Bay, and includes the cities of Plebu’qlip and Hyu’blaq’wesi, the landmass between them, and goes as far south as the island found in the southern Kol’karr sea. The Su’karr region is the only place on Aweiji with a notable mining and manufacturing industry, located solely around the city of Plebu’qlip. Hyu’blaq’wesi on the other hand is the religious centre of Aweiji, with the more notable Qeblak Observatories being located here. Hyu’blaq’wesi is also home to the largest Orthodox Eternal church within Federation borders that isn’t on Xrim.

*'''Weibi Region''' - The Weibi region is named after its regional capital, [[Aweiji#Weibi'zlip|Weibi’zlip]], and is the smallest region on Aweiji as it only encompasses the island that Weibi’zlip is on. This region hosts the majority of the planets agricultural industry and is the region that gave Aweiji its unofficial designation as the ‘Federations Breadbasket’.

*'''Ignakii Region''' - The Ignakii region is named after the Ignakii Ocean, and encompasses the city of Gwikip and the island to its southeast along with the majority of the Ignakii Ocean. The Ignakii region hosts the majority of the fishing and aquaculture industry on the planet, and is considered to be the maritime equivalent to the Weibi Region. Both of these regions combined are responsible for '''19%''' of the Nralakk Federations' yearly food production.

==Culture and Demographics==

Acquiring the title of "The Federation's Breadbasket", those from Aweiji are the embodiment of the Federation view on diligence and work ethic. Citizens of Aweiji put great importance on work and contributing to the greater whole; a sentiment that’s been cultivated by the State to ensure that the populace stays obedient and accepting of Nralakk authority.

Citizens from Aweiji are also known to be more respectful of Skrell traditions, as well as emphasising the importance of [[Skrell Relationships|quyas]] as a cornerstone of social stability. For this reason, the populace of Aweiji tends to be more motivated to work to the betterment of the Federation and more likely to show traits that are seen as [[Skrell_Culture#Inductive_Behaviours|beneficial by the Nralakk Government]]. Aweijiin Skrell are notably more mobile within the Social Credit System as a result of this, with many high-profile idols both in culture and science originating from Aweiji. The number of idols from Aweiji has also caused a trend in the rest of the idol community, with many idols not from the planet adopting a ‘faux-weiji’ accent. Those from Aweiji typically have a low view of idols that do this, however, but because of the accents popularity within the Nralakk Federation the trend shows no signs of ending anytime soon.

Quya on Aweiji are well-known for emphasising the skills, habits, and values required to succeed in the Nralakk Federation into their children. These topics are re-affirmed at each key stage of their childs life, and ultimately culminates in their child repeating this behaviour once they start their own quya. This cycle of behaviour has resulted in your typical quya going above and beyond to ensure the best possible future for their children, going so far as to support them even long after their child is no longer considered their dependent. There is a strong culture surrounding the Skrell family unit, with most believing that their quya should come first before anyone else.

Because of the importance of Aweiji in the Federations logistics, manufacturing, and food production industries, the quality of life of the average Aweijiin is considered better compared to systems within the same [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#The_Elemental_Systems:_The_First_Waves|region]].
===Holidays===

* '''Founding Day:''' Aweiji is unique in that it does not celebrate its Founding on the same date that the colony was established. Instead, the planet celebrates its Founding Day at the start of the same week as the anniversary of the '''Tresja Agreement''' being signed. Celebrations on this day are quite short, and is usually treated as the preamble to the more extravagant celebrations during the anniversary of the '''Tresja Agreement'''. With this said, many Skrell come together in remembrance of the hardship the planet went through during the reign of Glorsh-Omega. Because Founding Day is near the end of Aweiji’s harvest season, it’s also common for Skrell to travel to Weibi’zlip for its yearly farmers market where excess produce not marked for export is sold.
* '''Yoq’Maa’Aweiji:''' Translated to ‘The Reconnection of Aweiji’, this holiday celebrates the signing of the '''Tresja Agreement''' in '''2245 CE''' and its significance in bringing Aweiji back into the Nralakk Federation. Participants in the celebration will typically get together to join in large banquets hosted at the neighbourhood level, sharing stories from the last year and celebrating Aweiji’s perseverance after the turbulent years of Glorsh-Omega.
* '''Qe’Lya-Maq:''' A yearly pilgrimage organised in the middle of the planets Lu’Paalq season. Qe’Lya-Maq is a religious event where thousands of Qeblak followers will travel to Hyu’blaq’wesi to participate in Stargazing processions conducted jointly by the eight largest Observatory Domes in the city. During Qe'Lya-Maq, the Orthodox Eternal community is known to offer their help to the city as they provide food, lodging, and general assistance to the pilgrims visiting Hyu'blaq'wesi. Their charity work during this time of year receives a lot of support from Aweiji's Government, with their volunteering often being compensated in some way. This official support has cemented the religious minority's place within Hyu'blaq'wesi.

===Demographics and Aliens===
[[file:AweijiDemographics.jpeg|thumb|350px|A pie chart showing the demographics of Skrell living on Aweiji.]]
Most of Aweiji’s established cities are coastal, partially submerged, or fully submerged. Because of this, there is a large number of Axiori Skrell that come from Aweiji. As a result of the close proximity of Axiori and Xiialt Skrell, there is a higher-than-average number of Xiiori Skrell compared to other planets within the Nralakk Federation.

Aweiji has no Vaurca either on the planet itself or on installations orbiting it, making Diona the majority non-Skrell demographic on Aweiji. With the establishment of Aweiji’s SEZ, there is a sizeable human population that can be found working for Hephaestus and NanoTrasen.

====Skrell====

Skrell make up roughly '''94%''' of Aweiji's population. The percentages below are of the '''Skrell''' population only.

*62% Axiori
*28% Xiialt
*10% Xiiori

====Non-Skrell====

Non-Skrell on Aweiji make up roughly '''6%''' of Aweiji's population. The percentages below are of the '''Non-Skrell''' population only.

*98% Diona
*2% Human

==Major Cities and Landmarks==

[[File:aweijimap.png|360px|thumb|right|A map of Aweiji and its cities.]]

===Tresja===
'''Tresja''', a submerged city and the planetary capital of Aweiji, is located in the centre of an atoll surrounded by various mountains. Notable locations within the city include the '''Tresja Monument''', a statue of the Startrekker sculpted by [[Notable Skrell|Rixulin Fliioux’Quualt]] as a memorial to the colonists. Tresja is considered greatly important to Skrell across the Federation; the bustling megapolis hosted the '''Tresja Agreement''', a political conference that cemented the foundation of the second Nralakk Federation and solidified its legitimacy as the successor to the previous Federation.

The city is divided into two sections: a surface section built atop a large island in the middle of the atoll, and a submerged section that expands outwards from the island and deep underwater. The surface section of Tresja is the centre of the city, with the majority of buildings here housing the various bureaucrats of the Planetary Government. The surface is also a hotspot for historical tourists and students from all over the Federation, with a large portion of Tresja's income coming from various field trips that Skrell educational centres hold. It would not be uncommon for young Skrell from all over the Federation to visit Tresja at least once in their educational careers.

The submerged section of Tresja acts as the suburbs for the city, with an underwater and underground tram system connecting it to the surface. While the surface is the source of most of the city’s income, there is a bustling local economy under the water here that’s capitalising on Tresja’s proximity to the Kol’karr sea, resulting in a number of locals working in marine tourism. Day trips offering personal tours of the waters of the Kol’karr sea are common, while the more prestigious universities focusing on ecology or biology within the Federation have taken advantage of this industry. The majority of revenue from the marine tourism industry comes from universities organising field trips for students so that they can observe how the transplanted fauna and flora have adapted to living in Aweiji's waters.

===Plebu’qlip===
'''Plebu’qlip''', the manufacturing powerhouse of Aweiji and the home of the third-largest number of Skrell on the planet. Established in '''200 BCE''', Plebu rests along the mountain range across Aweiji’s western island chain where the industrial town has access to the planet's relatively small mineral wealth. Aweiji, like most early Skrell colonies, has its origins in resource extraction, fuelling the early colonisation efforts of the species. Thanks in part to the planets mineral wealth being poor compared to other planets prospected by the Skrell, Aweiji made the transition from resource extraction earlier than most and began to focus on food production. Because of this, Plebu was the only major mining facility established on Aweiji, with the Planetary Government quickly changing its focus to establishing settlements near arable land or populated waters.

While Aweiji may not be rich in mineral wealth, it has plenty of non-arable land for use outside of agriculture. This land is mostly found around Plebu itself, and thanks to Glorsh-Omega's plans atop this land is a sprawl of refining and manufacturing facilities that take in resources from the [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#The_Trichotomous_Systems:_The_Traverse|Traverse]] and its own mines, with the finished products being exported to the rest of the inner systems. Plebu’qlip is best known for its plasteel exports, but it also has a small number of production facilities dedicated to the manufacture of [[Nralakk_Federation#Vehicles|personal vehicles]] that are exported off-planet as well as fishing boats and farming equipment for use in domestic industries.

Plebu’qlip is considered one of the most important links in the logistics of the Nralakk Federation; Skrellian economists theorise that if the city were to halt production and exports for more than two months, the Federation’s economy would see a substantial hit. Many go on to theorise that if the Federation were unable to offset the loss through their other facilities this would cause a domino effect in other industries and cause a major economic downturn. As a result of this citizens of Plebu have a noticeably higher quality of life compared to the rest of Aweiji, as the Federation offers higher wages for working here.

===Hyu’blaq’wesi===
'''Hyu’blaq’wesi''' is the religious hub for Aweiji. Located within the mountainous north, Hyu’blaq’wesi is mostly isolated from the rest of the planet with no major population centres near the city itself. With its distance from the more populous regions of the planet, combined with being the least populated city, Hyu'blaq'wesi has an exceptionally low amount of light pollution. This has made the region an ideal place to stargaze for followers of Qeblak and Weishii alike.

The city was founded in '''2270 CE''' by pilgrims visiting the '''Wonqio Monastery''', a large Qeblak Observatory Dome. The Dome itself is considered significant both historically and culturally as it once housed original [[Skrell_Faith|Qeblak]] manuscripts detailing some of the early history of the religion. This information was thought lost with the locking of the [[Nralakk_Federation#The_Archive_Project|Tzqul Archive]], and the manuscripts were soon transported back to Qerrbalak for proper archiving. Copies of the original manuscripts can still be found within the Wonqio Monastery, still attracting many pilgrims to this day.

Hyu’blaq’wesi hosts eight large observatories, able to allow up to ten thousand people inside each. These observatories are dwarfed by the Wonqio Monastary, however, which is considered the largest Qeblak Observatory Dome within the Nralakk Federation with a capacity of up to thirty-five thousand people. These observatories are notable pilgrimage sites for the more religious citizens of Aweiji, who because Aweiji being a long-established colony, are predominantly followers of Qeblak. Despite this, Hyu’blaq’wesi in more modern times has started to see a rising community of Weishii followers and members of the [[Dionae_Culture#Religion|Orthodox Eternal]] faith.

While there is little in the way of groves or natural clearings for [[Skrell_Faith|Weishii]] followers to establish sanctuaries near Hyu’blaq’wesi, there are still some secluded grottos or other bodies of water near the coast that are utilised as Weishiin Sanctuaries. Unlike Qeblak followers who make annual pilgrimages to the city, followers who utilise these sanctuaries have established permanent communes on the outskirts of Hyu’blaq’wesi, attracting the majority of the planets Weishiin population here.

Orthodox Eternal followers in comparison have elected to establish their church near the centre of the city, within a [[Dionae_Forms#Penuma|Penuma gestalt]]. This is notably the only time that the Nralakk Federation has sanctioned a Penumas to live outside of established [[Diona_in_the_Federation#Spiral_Gardens_and_Dionae_Living_Spaces|Spiral Gardens]], although only because the Eternal followers agreed to have the gestalt be cared for by a non-affiliated team of Skrellian scientists. Although the Eternal community is a religious minority, they have a high profile within the city. Followers of the faith can be regularly seen assisting first-time pilgrims, hosting them in free lodgings while they visit the city and guiding them if needed. They are also known for manning tourist kiosks and hosting events out of their church where everyone is welcome to participate.

===Weibi’zlip===
'''Weibi’zlip''', while being one of the most important cities to Aweiji’s economy, is the second least populated city on Aweiji. Established early on in Aweiji’s history, it was founded on the planets most fertile island chain close to the planets equator, in response to the quick reprioritisation of the planet from resource extraction to food production.

Before Glorsh-Omega, the majority of farm work in Weibi was automated, with synthetics following a strict schedule to ensure optimal plant growth. After Glorsh-Omega’s disappearance, its inhabitants had to rely on manual labour to continue the city's role of being Aweiji’s primary source of food. With this massive responsibility on their shoulders, the workers of Weibi’zlip developed the ‘Weibi Method’, an agricultural philosophy that was finely tuned over fifty years of being the sole supplier of food to a disaster-struck planet. After the '''Tresja Agreement''' in 2245, the Weibi Method was soon brought to other planets within the Nralakk Federation. With the city’s advanced techniques greatly boosting the efficiency of farming across Skrell space, many still hail Weibi and Aweiji itself as being the ‘Parent of Agriculture’ to this day.
In modern times Weibi no longer has the responsibility of being the sole supplier of food, but it still plays a major role in the food industry of the Nralakk Federation. Making up two-thirds of the planets food production, as well as being the main processing hub for exports to be sent to '''Spaceport XY-558''', Weibi plays an important part in Aweiji’s role as the Federations breadbasket.

While Weibi may be known for its importance in the field of agriculture, and its significance in the survival of Aweiji in between the disappearance of Glorsh-Omega and the re-establishment of the Second Nralakk Federation, Weibi also houses what is seen as the most important [[Nralakk_Federation#The_Archive_Project|Archive]] for the Nralakk Federation. The Weibi archive stores the vast majority of the species’ knowledge of agricultural science, as well as a seed vault containing viable samples of all Skrellian crops.

===Gwikip===
'''Gwikip''' is tied as the second smallest population centre on Aweiji along with Weibi'zlip. The city was established on the coast of a small island near the planets northern pole, where biologists seeded the majority of the Qerrbalak marine life that was transplanted onto Aweiji after it was terraformed.

Despite its small population, the city of Gwikip is just as important as Weibi’zlip is to Aweiji’s food production, accounting for a third of the planets food exports. Gwikip specialises in both traditional fishing in the vast Ignakii ocean as well as aquafarming along its coast, and is where the majority of Aweiji’s maritime industry can be located.

Citizens from Gwikip are seen by some as simple fishermen. This is far from the truth, however, as many who are employed in its fishing industry are highly respected marine biologists or veterinary Doctors tasked with ensuring that fishing operations on the planet are sustainable and that diseases in the population are monitored and treated. While their counterparts in Weibi ensure that the crops and land are healthy, Gwikip’s specialists monitor the ocean and make sure that the industry does not inadvertently cause ecological collapse.

===Orbital Spaceport XY-558===

'''Orbital Spaceport XY-558''' was once the Federation's first [[Terraforming#Categories_of_Terraforming|Seeding-Platform]], initially used to terraform Aweiji from a hot, barren planet to one of the Nralakk Federation's most strategically important sources of domestic food production. XY-558 pre-dates Artificial Intelligence by centuries, and while successful, its terraforming of Aweiji unintentionally resulted in violent tropical storms being common on the planet. The technology was abandoned soon after Aweiji was terraformed but was reintroduced following the creation of AI in the Federation, and then subsequently abandoned again after Glorsh-Omega and the ban of AI in Federation space.

The spaceport today is considered a city in its own right, housing several thousand Skrell that are employed aboard the installation, utilising pre-existing habitation blocks as apartment blocks where all employees live. The spaceport was retrofitted to accommodate a large number of incoming and outgoing ships and shuttlecraft as well, primarily focusing on the shipping of goods, and is able to have multiple dozens of ships or shuttlecraft docked at the same time to accomplish this.

First-time visitors to Aweiji are known to spend most of their first day here in the spaceport, browsing the massive mall deck known as the Aweijiin Bazaar. This area of the spaceport has two dozen permanent retailers and restaurants, with another dozen smaller 'seasonal' businesses that are rotated periodically depending on the time of year.

==Unique Constellations==

Due to the period in which it was colonised, Aweiji maintains a strong presence of [[Skrell Faith|Qeblak]]; with teachings similar to those found across the rest of the Nralakk Federation. Since Qeblak is the dominant religion on Aweiji, there are quite a few constellations that while viewed by the greater Qeblak population as being minor, are considered by those hailing from the planet to be some of the most important.

Catalogued early on in Aweiji’s history by [[Skrell Faith|Starkeepers]], these constellations have influenced the planets residents into being more self-sufficient, and to put greater importance on self-reflection over thoughtless action. When Glorsh-Omega disappeared, this influence became especially prominent as Aweiji found itself isolated and forced to persevere, with its inhabitants having to rely on their own skills and abilities. This attitude can still be seen today by those hailing from Aweiji, with many going out of their way to learn life skills that are seen as important for survival.

[[File:The Nioh.png|thumb|right|'''The Nioh''': Trust. Reliance. Perseverance. Survival.]]

[[File:The Mountain.png|thumb|left|'''The Mountain''': Self-analysis. Feelings of accomplishment. Clearer view.]]

[[File:The Sraso.png|thumb|center|330px|'''The Sraso''': Sustainability. Growth. Safety.]]

[[Category:Skrell]]
[[Category:Planets and Systems]]

Aliose

2024-07-08T23:29:24Z

La Villa Strangiato: Adds infobox. Cleans up formatting. Gives major landmarks dropdowns. I'm still not sure on the Aliose demonym but Brotendo can edit it later if he so desires.

{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Navbox Skrell Lore}}
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Aliose
|System = Nralakk
|Image = ALIOSEFLAG.PNG
|Sector = [[The_Orion_Spur#The_Homeworld|Homeworld]]
|Capital = Fedas’qlip
|Species = Skrell, Vaurca, Dionaea
|Languages = Nral'Malic
|Demonyms = Aliosen
|Nation = [[Nralakk Federation]]
}}
Established around 1100 BCE, '''Aliose''' (also known as Nralakk V) is a cold, arctic planet with a heavy atmosphere of nitrogen, meaning that equipment such as heated clothing is required to survive on its surface for prolonged periods of time. Because of the planets cold temperature, the initial colonisation of Aliose saw subterranean bases being established, many of which were laboratories due to the scientific elite of Qerrbalak wishing to take part in the first Skrell colony. Many of the bases that did not become the foundations for future cities have been preserved and can be seen today as heritage sites.

As a result of Aliose’s colonisation attracting some of the brightest minds at the time, the planet has become a scientific powerhouse within the Federation, boasting institutes such as [[Federation Education|the Aliose University of Medical Sciences]] which have developed many of the technologies used by Skrellian society today.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==

Discovered by ancient Skrell astronomers in '''5551 BCE''', the first recorded telescopic observation of the planet was by astronomer '''Vlery Ocktoq'''. It was noted by the Skrell to have distinct albedo features, with vast polar ice caps that spanned the large majority of the planet. Since its discovery, the Skrell were captivated by the possibility of surviving on a planet that wasn't their Homeworld - with many fantasising about one day conquering what they considered a cold, inhospitable planet.

By '''1203 BCE''', hundreds of manned probes had landed on the planet as part of an exploration project aimed to determine the viability of a future colony. It was quickly confirmed that despite the atmosphere being nearly unbreathable and temperatures reaching far below the average Skrellian threshold, it was indeed habitable by the Skrell. The confirmation prompted festivities across Qerrbalak as the fantasy of colonising Aliose was slowly becoming reality. After nearly two decades of planning and organisation, a fleet of spacecraft was launched with the goal of establishing a series of permanent bases on Aliose; roughly two months after the fleet’s launch, the first Skrell colonists landed on Aliose. These colonists consisted of some of the most prestigious scientific minds of Qerrbalak, with a vast majority of the team being made up of geologists and astronomers - although the supporting medical and engineering staff were also selected based on their prominence in their respective fields. Once base camp was established the colonists were quick to get to work; the construction of the foundations of what would become their new home was made a priority, with many Skrell working double shifts in order to stay on schedule.

It soon became apparent that the colonists came to Aliose underprepared for the harsh climate; the temperatures on Aliose could get so low that many Skrell caught outside their shelters quickly suffered from hypothermia. This combined with the atmospheric equipment provided for the mission not being rated for the intense usage it saw meant that hundreds of Skrell died before the first subterranean bases were finished. This extreme loss of life prompted the construction of the '''Aliose Shrine''', a five hundred metre-wide series of plaques engraved into a natural rock formation close to the first landing site that commemorates the deceased.

According to partial records recovered post-Glorsh, by roughly '''1100 BCE''' both Aliose and Qerr’Malic were officially established around the same time, with at least one permanent colony fully constructed. By now most of the issues faced by the colony on Aliose were alleviated, with advances in HVAC and geothermal power technology, in particular, being crucial to its continued survival. While specialised clothing was still essential while on the surface of the planet, minor terraforming conducted by the colonists of Aliose meant that the atmosphere had enough oxygen to make the use of internals unneeded in most cases. At this point the colony transitioned from survival to expansion; the initial subterranean bases were slowly expanded into fully-fledged cities, and a tunnel network intended to connect these facilities together was quickly developed.

During the [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Reign_of_Glorsh-Omega|reign of Glorsh-Omega]], direction of research efforts was wholly under the control of the AI; certain topics or fields of science were blacklisted, while more niche subjects were made a priority. This increased oversight over research efforts also came with a large data processing centre and server intended to assist the scientists stationed on Aliose - but it was soon found out that the data centre also doubled as a massive surveillance program that monitored everyone living on the planet. The Skrell of Aliose were openly subservient to Glorsh’s rule, but secretly many of them organised what would become the [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Culmination_of_Glorsh-Omega|Lyukal]], the resistance movement with the sole goal of removing Glorsh-Omega from power. From their base on Aliose many Lyukal operations were coordinated, using the planets apparent complacency as a cover that allowed their operatives more freedom to work against the intelligence's machinations.

The disappearance of the intelligence resulted in most facilities on Aliose shutting down, having relied on Glorsh’s secret surveillance network for the majority of their electronic equipment. Despite this, the planet was left relatively intact - although there was a brief period of time where the planet was in turmoil as the full extent of the crisis dawned on the populace. With this said, for a short period of time after Glorsh-Omega disappeared Aliose was declared the capital of the Nralakk Federation, being one of the few planets that didn’t lose most of its infrastructure. This was reverted once Qerrbalak was stabilised in '''2216 CE''' and the Second Nralakk Federation was formed.

== Environment ==
[[file:aliosemapunlabelled.png|thumb|right|360px|An unlabelled map of Aliose.]]

Aliose is an arctic world, originally having an atmosphere of almost pure nitrogen. Early into the colonisation of the planet a gradual terraforming project was conducted, which slowly made the atmosphere breathable for Skrell. The terraforming project is considered still in progress today, with its focus currently being on warming up the planet to temperatures that are more acceptable for Skrellian biology. There is little flora on the planet, and combined with the hostile climate this has resulted in no recorded discovery of fauna. Life has been discovered within the various marshes and lakes of Aliose, but nothing above single-celled organisms

Tectonic and volcanic activity is quite common on Aliose, with earthquakes being considered a fact of life by the locals. Compared to the early days of colonisation this is less of a concern, with the arcologies designed in a way that prevents any serious damage occurring. Saying this, geologists have theorised that the planets tectonic activity will eventually make the planet uninhabitable - although this will only become an issue in twenty-thousand years.

===Seasons===

Aliose has a 553 day [[Nralakk_Federation#Calendar_System|year]] which is divided into 12 months, with each month having 46 days. Before colonisation, temperatures would never rise above freezing, and for a time there was no time of year that could be considered the planets Qu-Paalq. Sometime after colonisation, Aliose began to warm up as a result of pollution from the arcologies and the colony’s terraforming project; this warmer climate has culminated in two months of the year being considered Aliose’s Qu-Paalq, with temperatures reaching up to 8 degrees. The rest of the year is considered the planet’s Lu-Paalq, with recorded temperatures being as low as -92 degrees. During Lu-Paalq violent snowstorms are common, although their strength has been greatly diminished since the colony’s terraforming project began. Humidity is in the low ranges, mostly staying around 35% near water sources - although this rises to about 55% during the planet's two-month Qu-Paalq. While the Skrell have a natural ability to handle extreme hot or cold temperatures, Aliose is still considered extremely cold for Skrell, requiring them to wear protective clothing while outdoors; combined with the lack of humidity in most areas of the planet, permanent residence outside of the arcologies is rare, and these places will usually have humidifiers and heaters to further shield inhabitants from the hostile weather.

==Economy==
Within Orq'wesi, in conjunction with the Aliose University of Medical Sciences, Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals has opened a new wing dedicated to Medical Studies that will host classes for future Chemical Engineers and Pharmacy Technicians. Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals has its own staff hosting lectures in the new wing, while also using the labs for commercial use and providing students with the opportunity to gain work experience before they finish their courses. This setup was designed by the megacorporation in the hopes that most students studying here will find employment with Zeng-Hu abroad after graduation.

== Government ==

Aliose was the first colony to follow the modern [[Nralakk_Federation#Government_Structure|Government structure]] outlined by political theorists before Skrell began to colonise other worlds. Each arcology is considered a town or city and is controlled by a '''magistrate'''. The planet is divided into three regions that answer to its Planetary Governor '''Kuvaa'Purnaq Taqtoq''':

*'''Yugz Region''' - Centred around the Yugz marsh, the region encompasses the north-western section of the planet. The Yugz region contains the arcologies of Orq’wesi and Haq’tola’zlip and is considered the educational centre of Aliose as the majority of universities and scientific institutions can be found here.

*'''Kirnas Region''' - Named after Mount Kirnas, the region is notable for only containing the arcology of Azeq’iix’xlip, a monitoring station for the active volcano located on the mountain. The region is seeing new arcologies being constructed and is considered to be the most ‘rural’ region of Aliose due to the lack of development here compared to the rest of the planet.

*'''Fedas Region''' - Named after its sole arcology and the capital of Aliose, the Fedas region is best known for being the first landing site for the initial colonisation of Aliose. Surrounding Fedas’qlip is a multitude of heritage sites and memorials commemorating the efforts of the colony’s ancestors. Other than these monuments to Aliose’s history there are multiple smaller settlements that act as field laboratories, their goal being the monitoring of the planets small-scale terraforming project.

==Culture and Demographics==

Aliose has a culture of relative isolation that can be traced back to its early days; Skrell are known to group together based on complementing skillsets, a phenomenon that can be traced back to the initial colonists forming a buddy system to ensure survival in the event of a disaster. This can be seen today where on the neighbourhood-level Skrell will form bonds with each other based on what skill sets they have.

Due to the perilous climate and geological activity of Aliose, the initial settlements built were often created in batches, ensuring that essential equipment and facilities were set up before amenities. Today, many of the settlements on the planet have a utilitarian subterranean section from their initial construction, with the typically newer surface sections being where the majority of entertainment or other non-essential facilities are located. While the climate of Aliose is a lot less dangerous today than it was millennia ago, the geological activity of the planet has always been a constant hindrance to the growth and expansion of its inhabitants. Although advances in engineering have lessened the impact of earthquakes, and the colony’s terraforming project has greatly reduced the strength of the planets snowstorms, their effect on the Skrell can still be seen today. Clusters of Skrell will attempt to become as self-reliant as possible even though it’s no longer strictly necessary, resulting in most settlements being almost entirely independent of each other.

This custom of self-reliance and the focus on being independent of the greater whole contrasts with the inhabitants of Aliose’s deep-seated patriotism; Aliose was the main base of operations for the Glorsh resistance movement, and the Skrell of Aliose are quite proud of it. Important pieces of equipment, Government buildings, and even vehicles and clothes can usually be seen sporting the flag of Aliose. Almost all Skrell from the planet are vocally pro-Federation, something that the Federation nurtures through the generous funding of new arcologies and research grants given to the planets scientific community. This has further reinforced the pro-Federation sentiment of the planet, as well as ensuring that the planets research community continues to grow.

===Holidays===

* '''Founding Day:''' - Celebrated on the first day of Aliose’s Qu-Paalq, the planets Founding Day celebrations are quite sombre in comparison to most other planets within the Federation. While most Founding Days usually have remembering hardship be a part of their celebrations, Aliose emphasises this due to the turbulent start of the colony’s history. Aliose’s Planetary Governor will typically host a televised event at the Aliose Shrine, and after a speech commemorating the efforts of the first colonists of Aliose and their contributions to the colony’s survival will lead a moment’s silence. There isn’t much in the way of official events save for the Aliose Shrine broadcast, although it’s common for families to host more private events if they can trace their lineage to the first colonists of Aliose.
* '''First Blizzards Ball:''' A festive occasion celebrated at the start of the planets Lu-Paalq season. First Blizzards Ball is a planet-wide celebration that marks the beginning of the new year on Aliose. The primary event is the aforementioned ball, an event hosted at the city level where Skrell will pair off and dance as the clock hits midnight. Traditionally, this celebration is quite tame leading up to the dance - but the younger generations of Skrell are known to drink and party before the main event starts.
* '''Lap’yal’vesi:''' This can be loosely translated as ‘celebrating the start of university’, and is a two-day celebration that marks the start of Aliose’s academic year that only students celebrate. How it’s celebrated differs depending on the student. Freshmen are known to meet with their peers before classes start, taking the opportunity to bond and make friends, while those who have already started university are known to drink and party since there is normally little time to do so once university starts. Lap’yal’vesi isn’t as popular outside of the Yugz region, with the more notable celebrations taking place in Orq’wesi, the arcology with the largest number of universities on Aliose.

===Demographics and Aliens===
[[file:AlioseDemographics.jpeg|thumb|350px|A pie chart showing the demographics of Skrell living on Aliose.]]

Although Aliose has a few notable bodies of water, they contain no arcologies that would attract Axiori. With the majority of the population of the planet being Xiialt, there is also a lower amount of Xiiori Skrell than what could be expected on planets such as [[Aweiji]] or [[Qerrbalak]].

Outside of Qamlok there are very few Vaurca living on Aliose, with the majority of C'thur on Aliose but not from Qamlok being Zeng-Hu Employees visiting the planet as part of their employment with the megacorporation. Zeng-Hu’s operations within the planets SEZ have resulted in a small number of humans living on Aliose, although not in any significant numbers. There are a number of Dionae who both study and live on Aliose, although the majority of them are students from abroad due to the planet’s lack of warmth and sunlight making it unappealing for permanent residence.

====Skrell====

Skrell make up roughly '''96%''' of Aliose’s population. The percentages below are of the '''Skrell''' population only.

*22% Axiori
*74% Xiialt
*4% Xiiori

====Non-Skrell====

Non-Skrell on Aweiji make up roughly '''4%''' of Aliose’s population. The percentages below are of the '''Non-Skrell''' population only.

*97% Diona
*~<1% Human
*~2% Vaurca

==Veterans' Lodge==

The Veterans' Lodge is an organisation founded by Lyukal, or Resistance veterans, with the stated goal of ensuring that the younger generations of Skrell learn everything about the time of Glorsh-Omega.

Many members of the Veterans Lodge hold positions as guest speakers or lecturers at one or more of the universities across Aliose, typically giving speeches regarding their experiences of life under Glorsh-Omega or their contributions to the resistance movement. Their continued presence within education, combined with their emotional speeches have turned many veterans into minor idols on the planet, a position that they use to promote the Federation and its ideals in the younger populace.

Despite their outward pro-Federation reputation, members of the Veterans Lodge secretly follow a unique interpretation of [[Skrell_Faith#Suur’ka|Suur’ka]]. This practice can find its origins in the turbulent aftermath of Glorsh-Omega’s disappearance. Haq’tola’zlip was hit especially hard compared to the rest of Aliose, with many of the inhabitants rioting as they realised that with Glorsh-Omega no longer in control, the infrastructure connecting them to the rest of the Federation was essentially gone. Thousands of Skrell died before the Lyukal operating within the city were able to re-establish order through the proto-Suur’ka ideology they developed. With the reformation of the Federation and Suur’ka becoming a prohibited ideology by Federation authorities, the open practice of their philosophy died out, although many Lyukal members still practised it in secret.

This ideology slowly evolved over time and was directly influenced by vocal followers of Suur’ka such as Lorash Qui’xo, who founded the basis of the modern Suur’ka ideology. Despite its outside influences, much of the teachings the members of the Veterans Lodge follow is unique to them. The Suur’ka belief followed on Aliose primarily focuses on the '''Hoqom'Es-Masyara''', or ‘Law of Ice Society’:

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
=== Hoqom'Es-Masyara ===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
* You're not to think ''you'' are superior to ''us'' unless you can prove it.
* You're not to think ''you'' are more important than ''us'' unless you can prove it.
* You're not to think ''you'' are allowed to transgress against ''us'' unless you can prove it.
</div></div>

Although mostly forgotten by Skrell at large, this was the law enforced by the Lyukal of Haq’tola’zlip. The Law of Ice Society was designed to address any conflict within the city, the idea being that unless a Skrell could "prove" they were right to do something, they would be found guilty and charged according to the crime. With the majority of the city’s infrastructure destroyed in the chaos that ensued following Glorsh’s disappearance, the Lyukal policing the city were forced to adopt a harsh rule of law - while still giving some leeway considering the circumstances. Stealing from someone who was hoarding important supplies was justifiable in the Lyukal's eyes, for example, and supported by the Hoqom'Es-Masyara. More egregious crimes such as murder were outlawed completely.

Today, the Veterans Lodge continues to practice their unique interpretation of Suur’ka. Members of the Lodge consider the Nralakk Federation to be at risk of falling into another calamity on par with Glorsh-Omega, and believe that free will and the independence of the individual are important to ensure that the group-think that allowed Glorsh-Omega to rise to power doesn’t cause another crisis like it again.

The members of the Veterans Lodge realise that their group is slowly dying out, with many of the current members alive today being quite young during the reign of Glorsh-Omega. Because of this, many are making efforts to secretly recruit young Skrell into their cloister, with mixed results; the more popular members of the Lodge who have gathered a following through their status as a minor idol have managed to recruit a small number of younger Skrell into their society, with others finding it difficult to reach out to the younger generation because of the Lodges public activities reinforcing Federation ideals into them. Since Suur’ka is a prohibited belief, the Veterans Lodge finds it difficult to find Skrell who are open-minded enough to see Suur’ka as a way to protect the Federation and what it stands for.

==Major Cities and Landmarks==

[[file:aliosemap.png|thumb|right|360px|A map of Aliose and its cities.]]

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
===Fedas’qlip===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

'''Fedas’qlip''', the planetary capital, was the first city constructed on the planet, and over the millennia it has become one of the largest settlements; the city’s arcology on the surface has a diameter of sixteen kilometres, and its subterranean section reaches twenty kilometres beneath the surface of Aliose. The city maintains the largest electronic display of dissertations in the Federation, with a museum dedicated to proudly displaying the academic work of the students from all universities who studied on the planet. These displays are directly linked to the '''Orq’wesi archive''', where the original documents are preserved.

Fedas also acts as the headquarters for the Aliose Terraforming Project, a long-term project that intends to slowly make the surface of Aliose more habitable for Skrell. Aside from the heritage sites that mark the initial colonisation of Aliose, surrounding the city are multiple field labs dedicated to working on the project and monitoring its progress.
</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
===Azeq’iix’xlip===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

'''Azeq’iix’xlip''' was originally just a monitoring station for the largest and most active volcano on Aliose - Mount Kirnas. While its systems are still tasked with the constant monitoring and processing of data regarding the mountain’s volcanic activity and the seismic activity surrounding it, Azeq has slowly developed into a proper city. Those who originate from the city of Azeq typically have a background in geology, with the majority of the Federations scientific idols in the field hailing from here.

Since its inception, Azeq has witnessed over a thousand eruptions, with varying power and size. While the volcano shows no signs of endangering the city in the near future, there are still emergency protocols in the event of a catastrophic eruption. The city has no arcology on the surface, being entirely underground save for a few buildings and the entrance above-ground, and the city’s been reinforced to account for the increased geological activity in the area. With this said, the city regularly drills its citizens to prepare for the worst, preparing them to evacuate at a moments notice.
</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
===Orq’wesi and Qamlok===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
'''Orq’wesi''' is the educational heart of Aliose, hosting several prestigious universities, with the most notable being the [[Federation Education | Aliose University of Medical Sciences]]. Out of Orq’wesi’s total population, up to a fifth can be made up of students attending one of its many universities.

The city has a bustling nightlife and hospitality sector as a result of its high number of students, with large sections of the arcology dedicated to student accommodation, clubs, bars, and eateries. Orq’wesi is well-known for its various work experience programmes, making it not uncommon to see many of these businesses also mostly staffed by students themselves. One of Aliose’s holidays, '''Lap’yal’vesi''', is a two-day celebration that kicks off the new academic year, with the majority of celebrations taking place within Orq’wesi as it’s the largest arcology containing universities.

Other than its involvement in academia, Orq’wesi also hosts the [[Nralakk_Federation#Other_Established_or_Planned_Archives|'''Orq’wesi archive''']] - a two-part facility with two goals: coordinating the archival of the species’ medical knowledge with the Aliose University of Medical Sciences, and the recording and preserving of Skrell history from Glorsh-Omega onwards. Students attending AUMS are known to spend at least one semester working within the archive, helping to collate information before its submitted; students graduating with high honours are also known to take part in a ceremony where they personally archive their dissertation.

====Qamlok====

'''Qamlok''' is a subterranean settlement located near the outskirts of Orq’wesi that acts as the Vaurcaesian capital of scientific pursuits. It is inhabited almost solely by C’thur researchers who labor day and night in the pursuit of scientific advancement for the betterment of the C'thur - and to a lesser extent, their allies.

The location was originally planned to house those Vaurcae aiding the research of the nearby Aliose University of Medical Sciences, but the rapidly growing C’thur scientific community under Ta'Akaix'Mouv'lek'tanta saw it beneficial to begin to conduct research independent of the university. Before long, it led to the construction of a flourishing laboratory where C'thur spearhead their own research. Despite the size of the facility, however, much of the intellectual activity still occurs on the university campus.

Recently, the new Bound from her brood have been tasked alongside a team of Skrell research officials into ‘translating’ many of their databases into Nral'malic, with a particular focus on Vaurcaesian biomedical science for archival within the Orq'wesi Archive. This task has been surprisingly laborious for everyone involved due to the Vaurcae's reliance on direct peer-to-peer communication for information storage. The use of Bound for the project has also been a point of contention, but has been sanctioned by the Federation to the chagrin of detractors taking part.
</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
===Haq’tola’zlip===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
'''Haq’tola’zlip''', along with Fedas, is one of the oldest settlements on Aliose. After Glorsh-Omega disappeared Haq’tola was one of the hardest-hit cities, with its population descending into chaos after the full consequences of Glorsh no longer being in power were realised. Much of the original settlement was destroyed and had to be rebuilt once the Federation was reformed. Post-Glorsh population figures show that the city is only a third of what it was during Glorsh-Omega’s rule.

During the rule of Glorsh-Omega, Haq’tola’zlip was the main base of operations of the Lyukal, and where the majority of their clandestine missions were executed from. Because of the city’s historical importance during this era, it hosts multiple universities focusing on humanities and history; many of these universities employ veteran Lyukal members still alive today as guest speakers and lecturers, who are considered mythical icons by most students and indeed most Skrell across the Federation.

Surviving members of the Lyukal have formed an organisation within Haq’tola’zlip, known as the '''Veteran’s Lodge''', whose stated goal is to ensure that the younger generations of Skrell learn of Glorsh-Omega’s reign and to reinforce pro-Federation ideals into them.
</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
===Mount Kirnas===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

'''Mount Kirnas''' is the name of the largest mountain on Aliose's southern mountain range. An intimidating landmark that looms over the city of Azeq’iix’xlip, the mountain is one of the most active volcanos on the planet and was the reason for the original Azeq’iix’xlip research base to be established.

The inhabitants of Aliose hold a certain reverence for the mountain; it's not uncommon to see Skrell perform 'rituals' or certain practices before they make their journey to one of Mount Kirnas' many field labs, hoping to ward off any violent eruptions while they work. These rituals can range from simple good-luck drinks shared between coworkers before setting off, to even following specific routes while travelling closer to the mountain.
</div></div>
{{Navbox Skrell Lore}}
{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category:Skrell]]
[[Category:Planets and Systems]]

Qerrbalak

2024-07-08T23:20:07Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infoboxes at the bottom

{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Navbox Skrell Lore}}
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Qerrbalak
|System = Nralakk
|Image = Pixel_Planet_Qerrbalak1.png
|Sector = [[The_Orion_Spur#The_Homeworld|Homeworld]]
|Capital = Kal'lo
|Species = [[Skrell]], [[Dionaea]]
|Languages = Qerr'Malic
|Demonyms = Qerrbalaki
|Nation = [[Nralakk Federation]]
}}
'''Qerrbalak''' is the fourth planet from Nralakk, and the homeworld of the Skrell. One of two habitable planets within the system, Qerrbalak is roughly 1.8 times the size of Earth, and has a similar atmospheric composition to it. The planet has a rich [[Skrell History|history]] spanning millennia, and throughout it all Qerrbalak has been in the centre; from being the capital of the Commonwealth of the Three, and later both iterations of the [[Nralakk Federation]], to facing total ecological collapse and the rule of Glorsh-Omega.

Today Qerrbalak is an idyllic, tropical world, and the seat of the '''Grand Council''' that directs the Second Nralakk Federation.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==

Most of Qerrbalak's early history is entwined with the [[Skrell_Early_History|history]] of the species as a whole. In the '''2890s BCE''' the myriad Skrell tribes and city-states had formalised their unions, with three nations being formed: the '''Tzqul Republic''', the '''Heishyu Council''', and the '''Weishqi Republic'''. Centuries later in the '''2450s BCE''', the animosity between these three nations sparked a conflict known as the '''War of the Tides'''. This conflict was a cold war that spanned over two millennia on the planet and the few colonies they established before ending in '''984 BCE''', just over a century after the colonies of [[Qerr%27Malic]] and [[Aliose]] were established. Shortly after, these three nations formed the '''Commonwealth of the Three''' in response to rising colonial tensions, and in '''878 CE''' Qerrbalak saw itself becoming the Capital planet for the '''Nralakk Federation'''.

Qerrbalak saw itself being drained of most of its natural resources long before Skrell first began their colonisation of other worlds, with what little it had left being used to prop up the colonisation of its resource-rich moon [[Qerr%27Malic]]. Facing ecological collapse, the Skrell inhabiting Qerrbalak were forced to move all polluting industries off-world, and there was a complete re-prioritisation on stopping further environmental damage. A complete ban on fishing and harmful agricultural methods was quickly enacted, and a large-scale terraforming project was set up to slowly revert Qerrbalak back to its pre-industrial era state. The terraforming project is still underway to this day, and many of the environmental reforms that were enacted are still enforced. Scientists believe that the original goal of the terraforming project is unattainable, yet still recommend the continued investment into the project as the damage done is still a long way from being repaired.

Before Glorsh-Omega began its rule over the Skrell, Qerrbalak was the location of one of the [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Three_Incidents|'''Three Incidents''']]: the '''Weilshi Sea Crisis'''. On '''October 31st, 1893 CE''' the planet saw the AI known as '''Vana''' destroy a Cold Fusion Plant, causing two months of continent-wide blackouts and the deaths of three engineers. The ulterior motive is still unknown to this day.

Nearly a century later, Qerrbalak would find itself under the reign of '''Glorsh-Omega''', the artificial intelligence that ruled the Nralakk Federation from '''2056 CE to 2192 CE'''. Glorsh-Omega considered the planet its home just as much as the Skrell did, and because of this it turned Qerrbalak into a menagerie; the Intelligence prioritised the terraforming project and enforced an even stricter environmental policy, working towards turning Qerrbalak into an idyllic world best suited for it and its collaborators. Those who showed the most loyalty to Glorsh-Omega were permitted to live on Qerrbalak during its reign, and relative to the rest of the Federation, lived in near-luxury. This life came with an unparalleled amount of surveillance and being forced to adhere to a strict set of rules that regulated all facets of your life; those who failed to follow these uncompromising laws would be quickly stripped of their privileges and forced off-planet. Qerrbalak was also the seat of Glorsh-Omegas Federation-wide communications hub, from which most communications sent across the Federation routed through.

After Glorsh-Omega [[Skrell_Synthetic_Age#Culmination_of_Glorsh-Omega|disappeared]] during the Tri-Qyu Incident, Qerrbalak dove into a dark age as it lost all infrastructure that kept the planet stable, as well as the communication hub that kept the Federation connected. During the planets period of isolation, Aliose was declared the capital world of the Nralakk Federation for a small period. In '''2216 CE''', Qerrbalak was declared stable enough to be reinstated as the capital of the Federation.
==Environment==
[[File:Jargon_IV_Base.png|thumb|360px|An unlabelled map of Qerrbalak.]]

Qerrbalak can be described as a humid, marshy world, covered in freshwater and saltwater seas. While there’s not much diversity in its biomes, the planet is considered perfect for [[Skrell]] and their unique biology. Qerrbalak no longer has the natural wealth it once had, with what little resources it had left being stripped to help develop its off-world colonies. The '''Jux’Qwi Monument''' was erected shortly after the planets terraforming project began, as a reminder that exponential growth cannot go unchecked.

Due to the damaging industrial age of the species, Qerrbalak is currently undergoing a slow terraforming project with the aim of repairing the ecological damage it has sustained. Rather than the more rapid fifty years of terraforming that planets such as [[Aweiji]] went through, the terraforming of Qerrbalak back to its pre-industrial climate is estimated to take centuries to complete.
===Flora and Fauna===
The Nralakk Federation holds hundreds of planets, many of which support a diverse ecosystem unique to the planet itself. The planets that have been terraformed, whether because it was completely unable to support life or to better support Skrell biology, have also undergone massive seeding projects that create ecosystems similar to the ones on Qerrbalak. Most plants and animals that originated on the homeworld have been transplanted onto many of the Federation’s worlds, either replacing the previous ecosystem entirely or integrating themselves within it. Most fauna from Qerrbalak taken off-world consist of aquatic life, while most examples of flora are either staples of the Skrellian diet, hold religious significance, or are otherwise important to Federation society.
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==== Notable Flora and Fauna ====
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[[File:Vru'qos.jpg|right|330px|thumb|The Vru'qos stick close to the surface, but have been spotted close to the bottom of the various oceans across Qerrbalak.]]
* '''Vru'qos:''' Called the Leviathan in Basic, the Vru'qos is a large aquatic cetacean-like mammal. Resembling [[Earth]] whales, with appendages similar to the Skrell headtails, it can reach up to 40 meters (131 feet) in length and weigh up to 367 tonnes (404 tons). It is one of the largest animals on Qerrbalak, as well as the eldest - with their lifespans capable of reaching up to six hundred years. The Vru'qos has shown psionic capabilities, utilizing it to find mates and smaller aquatic animals to feed on.
* '''Aqoliz:''' Amphibious creatures similar in appearance to giant snails. They were typically found along the coasts of the various islands dotting the seas of Qerrbalak before their domestication. Capable of reaching 1.8 metres (5'9 feet) in length, and a weight of 12 tonnes (13.2 tons), a single Aqoliz is able to feed dozens of Skrell. They are said to have an exquisite flavour and tender feel when ingested by the Skrell, while other species are known to avoid Aqoliz meat for its pungent smell.
* '''Noni-Qii:''' Also called a Sky-grazer in Basic, the noni-qii is a type of avian fauna that inhabits the skies of Qerrbalak. The species is infamous due to its pest-like nature, being described as rats with wings by Skrell living in human space. They are capable of reaching up to 1 meter (3 feet) and weighing up to 7 kilogrammes (15.4 pounds). Noni-qii are considered a pest thanks to their reputation with farmers, and are known to readily eat crops such as dyn or wulumunusha in their entirety. After the near-extinction of the species in '''1622 CE''', the Federation began a programme to increase their numbers once again - prompting a revival of the species that continues to prey on the Skrell plantations. The species has not been intentionally released onto other planets, but they have been known to spread out across the Federation in transport ships. Federation authorities work closely with the border authorities of their neighbours to ensure that Noni-Qii do not spread outside of the Federations borders.
* '''Dyn:''' An ancient plant first found along the river deltas of Qerrbalak, dyn has been domesticated by the Skrell for much of their history. Plantations can typically be found in various lakes, bogs and marshes that grow hundreds of kilometres worth of the plant. Dyn is typically used to create various drinks, or peeled and then mashed in order to create a delightful meal known as '''Jyalra'''. Dyn is typically the first seeds planted in colonies, and has become a staple part of [[Skrell Cuisine]].
* '''Wulumunusha:''' A plant with mild psychotropic properties, wulumunsha naturally grows in alpine climates, typically closer to the poles of the Homeworld. With roughly only a dozen or so plantations dedicated to the growth of the plant across the Federation (barring the planet of Waughai), which results in prices tending to skyrocket when out of season. It is used by both [[Skrell Faith| Qeblak]] and [[Skrell Faith| Weishii]] followers, and is said to unlock barriers to both Nlom and Srom. Outside of religious usage, Wulumunusha has a reputation of being a mild recreational drug that typically makes the user mute while under its effects.
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===Seasons===

The [[Nralakk Federation|Nralakk Standard Calendar]] was developed based on the Qerrbalak year and seasons. The planet has six months, separated into eight weeks per month, with the year lasting three hundred and thirty six days.

The planets Qu-Paalq is considered the ‘Skrell standard’ for the season, with temperatures reaching as high as 42 degrees, and with an average humidity of 92%. Similarly, the planets Lu-Paalq is considered the standard for the season, with temperatures averaging at around 25 degrees and an average humidity of 50%. During the planets Lu-Paalq its signature tropical storms are more likely to develop, something that is welcomed by the Skrell living on Qerrbalak as its seen as a ‘reset’ for the new year.
==Economy==

Qerrbalak is home to a Special Economic Zone, housing Einstein Engines' Federation headquarters in Kal’lo, the capital city. Multiple research labs are in the main building with collaborative work being done between Einstein Engines scientists and Federation-affiliated science teams.

Einstein Engines employees both local and abroad work here; with the more menial work being provided by the local workforce and executives or other high-ranking corporate employees being brought in from abroad. Security within the SEZ is high, with both corporate contractors and Kala enforcers being present.
==Government==

Qerrbalak has seen a number of Governments since the Skrell first started forming societies. Today the planet follows a strict [[Nralakk_Federation#Government_Structure|hierarchial system]], and is divided into five different regions that answer to the planets Planetary Governor. While the Grand Council of the Nralakk Federation typically does not handle smaller duties personally, the importance of Qerrbalak means that the Planetary Governor of the planet is often included within the Grand Council and their meetings. The current Planetary Governor of Qerrbalak is '''Qyal’uu Voqui'''.

The regions are divided as follows:

*'''Eqloq Region''' - The region is located in the northwest area of Qerrbalak, and its inhabitants typically maintain a low-impact agrarian lifestyle that has lasted for over a thousand years. The region has a storied history with Qeblak, with some of the oldest monuments dedicated to the Qeblak constellations being located here.

*'''Ocror Region'''- Considered the ‘origin point’ of the Skrell species, Ocror can be found in the southwestern part of Qerrbalak. The region offers well-preserved evidence of it being the cradle of civilisation on the planet, with the crater Arqo-Wohai being the main evidence for how life began on Qerrbalak. The region acts as the bureaucratic centre of both Qerrbalak and the Nralakk Federation as a whole, and hosts the capital city of Kal’lo.

*'''Ash’Alq Region''' - Located along the planets equator, Ash’Alq is the largest tropical island on Qerrbalak. It’s considered one of the most important cultural landmarks within the Nralakk Federation; the most notable point of interest here being the Tzqul Archive within the Ploat’nil atoll, the archive that contains the vast majority of Skrellian knowledge. Ash’Alq has a strong tourist economy because of its status, and is given large subsidies to maintain itself. The island is also home to the largest surviving coral reef on Qerrbalak, a location that’s heavily regulated by Federation authorities due to its ecological significance.

*'''Crieq’Bruq Region''' - The most south-eastern continent on Qerrbalak, the region enjoys a varied climate and an abundance of fauna and flora inhabiting it. The continent formed late into the planets formation, and as a result it is more tectonically active compared to the rest of the planet. The infrastructure that can be seen here is heavily influenced by this, with most buildings being build low to the ground, and what few high-rises there are being built to account for the sway and potential destruction that comes with an earthquake. There’s little in the way of industry here, with most forms of work either being agricultural or scientific.

*'''Ucra Region''' - Named after the Ucra Crater, the region is an atoll located in the northern hemisphere that is also one of the deepest underwater locations on the planet. The region is heavily isolated from the rest of the Qerrbalak, with most settlements having long generational ties to the region. As a result, the citizens here are quite insular, and the cities have an entirely Axiorii population. Attempts to bring in Skrell from other regions of Qerrbalak have been met with some resistance, with the Government eventually deciding on a more gradual approach to integrating outsiders into the community here. Ucra has a strong maritime tradition, with most of its economy relying on fishing in the nearby waters.
==Culture and Demographics==

While most of the Nralakk Federation’s colonies have benefitted from a monoculture due to how recently they were established relative to the history of the Skrell, Qerrbalak is divided between two groups: the more progressive and modern Skrell society that’s typical for the Nralakk Federation, and the more insular, ‘traditional’ societies that can be seen within the Ucra region or in the city of Eriuyushi. While most on Qerrbalak are loyal to the Federation despite their views on tradition, many of these insular settlements are more concerned with living the (relatively) same simple life that their ancestors had centuries before. The Nralakk Federation has officially adopted a policy of non-interference with these local cultures, providing assistance where possible but otherwise doing its best to preserve these unique societies. Saying this, the Federation where possible attempts to slowly modernise these societies, with state-owned enterprises establishing new businesses and bringing in outside Skrell as a means to further integrate these communities into the greater Federation.

As Qerrbalak is the homeworld of the Skrell, and is the capital world of the Nralakk Federation, it is one of the most well-developed planets within Federation space. Living on Qerrbalak is seen as a privilege, with strict requirements for those who are interested in immigrating; Skrell are required to be Primaries, while Vaurcae and Dionae are additionally required to be renowned scientists or cultural idols in their respective fields. The planet is known for its more overt use of surveillance of its citizens, as well as issuing harsher punishments for even minor offences, while at the same time providing the best quality of life in Federation Space.
===Holidays===

*'''Nral'viq''' - While technically a Federation-wide holiday, [[Skrell_Culture#Nral'viq|Nral’viq]] or '''Federation Week''' has a unique aspect directly linked to Qerrbalak; ‘Origin’ is the name given to the annual pilgrimage many Skrell perform as part of the Nral’viq celebrations, with most of Qerrbalaks revenue from tourism coming from pilgrims visiting Qerrbalaks beaches.

*'''Haqm’maaq''' - Taking place in the last month of Qerrbalaks Qu-Paalq season, the holiday is more of a competition, being known on Qerrbalak colloquially as '''The Tadpole Trials'''. The Federation organises regional competitions for younger Skrell to participate in, with the regional winners participating in a grand final in the capital of Kal’lo. The winner of the final is awarded a large increase to their social credit score, while their parents are also similarly rewarded. The aim of Haqm’maaq is to promote the idea of parents teaching their children skills outside of what they’d typically learn in school. Subjects of note that contestants will be asked to discuss include philosophy, history, and culture.

===Demographics and Aliens===
[[file:QerrbalakDemographics.jpeg|thumb|350px|A pie chart showing the demographics of Skrell living on Qerrbalak.]]

Qerrbalak has an Axiori majority due to the high number of underwater settlements on the planet. Despite this, the planet still has a large number of Xiialt Skrell, and because of the high number of both subspecies, Qerrbalak has one of the highest populations of Xiiori Skrell within the Nralakk Federation.

Because Qerrbalak holds no major significance outside of its role as the bureaucratic centre of the Federation and its cultural importance as the homeworld of the Skrell species, there are very few non-Skrell living on Qerrbalak. There are a few humans employed by Einstein Engines to work within the SEZ in Kal’lo, while Diona functionaries and Primary Numericals make up the majority of the non-Skrell population on Qerrbalak.

Skrell make up '''97%''' of the total population of Qerrbalak. The percentages below are of the '''Skrell''' population only.

*40% Axiori
*37% Xiialt
*23% Xiiori

Non-Skrell make up '''3%''' of the total population of Qerrbalak. The percentages below are of the '''non-Skrell''' population only.

*97% Diona
*3% Human

==Major Cities and Landmarks==
[[File:Jargon Cities FINAL.png|thumb|360px|A map of Qerrbalak and its cities.]]
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===Kal'lo===
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'''Kal'lo''' is the most well-known city within the Nralakk Federation, and is the capital of Qerrbalak. The city exists as the bureaucratic centre for Qerrbalak and the Nralakk Federation as a whole, with most high-level political decisions and diplomatic engagements being made here. While the [[Nralakk_Federation#Grand_Council|Grand Council]] are known to utilise subspace communications for the majority of their meetings, they are expected to return to Kal’lo for their annual Council meeting.

Kal’lo is filled with mostly Governmental offices and prominent businesses, with very little space provided for residential districts on the outskirts of the city. The most well-known landmark within the city is '''Kal'lo Square''', where a memorial to the first Grand Councillor [[Notable_Skrell#Tiipis_Yla|'''Tiipis Yla''']] can be found; Tiipis Yla is best known for their proposed blanket ban on artificial intelligence, a proposal that won them the election.

The city has the largest concentration of Xiialt Skrell on the planet, with over 80% of Skrell within the city being Xiialt. The majority of Axiori and Xiiori Skrell that live within Kal’lo can be found in the outskirts of the city, closer to the lakes or other bodies of water located nearby.
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===Qwklip===
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'''Qwklip''' can be found on the planets southern island, on the coast. Best known for the state of the art research facilities and [[Skrell_Faith#Qeblak|observatory domes]], most Skrell living here are recognised scientists and researchers; there is a higher number of [[Skrell_Culture#Primary_Numericals|Primary Numericals]] living within Qwklip than in any other city on Qerrbalak. Because of the social credit disparity within the city, Qwklip relies heavily on imported goods from other regions.
Qwklip’s reputation has resulted in many intellectuals within the Nralakk Federation fantasizing about ‘retiring’ to the city to take on passion projects. Many who live or were born within Qwklip rarely move out unless forced to in the event that their social credit score drops significantly.

With the integration of the [[Diona_in_the_Federation|Diona]], Qwklip has seen a fair number of high-performing gestalts move to Qwklip after establishing themselves as recognised scientists within their respective fields. Although numbering only in the dozens, the Diona living here are considered some of the brightest of the species who have managed to build an impressive social credit score throughout their life.
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===Oibuish===
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The city of '''Oibuish''' is most well-known for it being the primary victim of the '''Weilshi Sea Crisis''', the tragedy that was caused by the artificial intelligence known as '''Vana'''. The city is seen as an example of what the unregulated AI in human space are capable of; to this day Oibuish still shows signs of extensive damage caused by the Weilshi Cold Fusion Plant overloading, with many parts of the city still submerged underwater. The mineral-rich soil revealed after the crisis contributed to the survival of Oibuish, with its economy recovering quicker than projected thanks to the city quickly capitalising on the discovery.

Vana’s actions during the Weilshi Sea Crisis has made the inhabitants of Oibuish incredibly opposed to synthetics in all forms - even when compared to the average Skrell. This can be seen in the lack of automation in many of its industries compared to the rest of Qerrbalak. Skrell from Oibuish are much more likely to be more physically adept than other Skrell as a result of this.
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===Pa-Tup'Zlip===
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The village of '''Pa-Tup'Zlip''' resides in the northern icecaps of Qerrbalak. Established early in Skrell history, not much advancement has been made in modern times. Living on the polar icecap has not been without challenge to the Skrell residing here; during planets Lu-Paalq the temperatures can drop to as cold as -30°C. Residing mainly in structures made of compact ice and snow the Skrell that occupy Pa-Tup'Zlip are often considered behind the times when compared to Skrell living elsewhere. They have no real industry and mainly live in a tribal society; delving into the icy waters to catch fish and other creatures for sustenance. The inhabitants of Pa-Tup'Zlip are also a rare case in and of themselves; when compared to a normal Skrell they would seem quite overweight; especially due to their larger headtails that they wrap around their heads for warmth. However, this added body mass is actually a biological advantage against the cold of the north. In recent years the Pa-Tup'Zlip people have accepted aid from Kal'lo as the resources within their ancestral hunting grounds dwindle, which has been attributed to the ecological damage Qerrbalak has received over the centuries. The settlement has withstood many attempts to be integrated into greater Skrell society until now, with Federation authorities both overjoyed and saddened at the recent cooperation they’re seeing from the Skrell of Pa-Tup’Zlip.

The settlement is also the only major landmark near the headquarters of the [[Skrell_Politics#Federation_Enforcement|Kala]] branches. Established somewhat close to Pa-Tup’Zlip, the Kala headquarters is home to some of the most senior officials from the various Kala branches, as well as the training grounds for arctic survival courses.
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===Qerr'wesi===
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'''Qerr’wesi''' is one of the oldest cities still standing today, with archaeological evidence suggesting that it's one of the '''earliest''' cities of the '''Ranaera Skrellis'''. The city itself is located in the middle of the Tuz’qlip Ocean, close to the ocean’s floor.

The area surrounding Qerr’wesi is littered with trenches and ravines, with dig sites and archaeological bases being a common sight, while within the city itself is a large underwater cave network where the original hunter-gatherer society once lived. Adorning the walls of this cave network are extensive engravings detailing this proto-Skrell society’s life, although legible markings are a rare sight today. Great care is taken to preserve any remnants of the cave settlements and any wall carvings found, with the famous '''Cave of Ranaera''' being the most well-preserved cave to date that’s also open to the public.

Much of the city’s architecture is built on top of what’s named ‘Old Qerr’wesi’, with whole buildings and roadways carved into the sea trenches. The ‘higher’ parts of the city are considered premium real estate by its inhabitants, with residential areas built on top of the city’s trenches being reserved for those of a high [[Skrell_Culture#Social_Credit_System|social credit score]]. The deeper you go, the less ideal it is to live, with the ocean floor being considered a slum that’s mostly inhabited by tertiaries or low secondaries. Because the city is underwater and more accommodating to Axiori Skrell, the majority of those who live in the lower sections of Qerr’wesi are Axiori Skrell, who are better suited to work in the city’s menial labour force.
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===Eriuyushi===
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'''Eriuyushi''' is commonly referred to as the '''Glowing Gem''' of Qerrbalak, located underwater in a lush, bioluminescent kelp forest that stretches all the way from the seafloor to the surface. The plant growth can be thick enough in most places to be seen from space at night. First settled when the '''Ranaera Skrellis''' of Qerr’wesi migrated eastwards, Eriuyushi became a permanent settlement due to its natural beauty and abundance of wildlife. To this day the main economy of Eriuyushi is in agriculture and animal husbandry; most who live in the city either manage or work at one of Eriuyushi’s '''Aqoliz''' ranches or at one of the many kelp farms dotted around the region.

For the majority of its existence, Eriuyushi has been mostly populated by Axiori, however, in recent years many prominent state-owned enterprises have begun to encroach on the settlement, bringing in their own Xiialt employees to run the luxury resorts and other large-scale industries being developed. Many of the Axiori natives feel displaced, with many ranches and farms being bought out to make space for more modern facilities of the same industry; inversely, Eriuyushi is considered to be in an economic boom and is one of the best-performing cities on Qerrbalak as a result of the developments done by the state-owned enterprises. Today most of the original agricultural and animal husbandry industry has been replaced by industrial farms, luxury resorts, and other various businesses. The original Axiori population has also slowly dwindled, with a roughly 50/50 split between Axiori and Xiialt and Xiiori Skrell.
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===Xy'laxi===
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A relatively newer city compared to some of the ancient cities on Qerrbalak such as Qerr’wesi, '''Xy'laxi''' is an underwater industrial powerhouse. The city is similar to Oibuish, as both cities exploit what is considered the last of Qerrbalaks readily accessible mineral wealth.

Xy’laxi is quite insular, but not on the same level as settlements such as Pa-Tup’Zlip or those found in the Ucra region. Those who move to Xy’laxi are usually met with suspicion, and will find it much more difficult to find employment; as a result, the city has an almost entirely Axiori population. Regardless, not many find themselves wanting to move to Xy’laxi due to its heavy pollution increasing the rate of [[Skrell_Ailments|Tuux]] developing in its inhabitants. Neighbouring cities such as Eriuyushi are calling for investigations into Xy’laxi’s waste and pollution management, with many scolding the city for its apparent apathy towards Qerrbalak's environmental policy.
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===Major Landmarks===
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The '''Tzqul Archive''' is a facility that houses a vast majority of [[Skrell History]] and knowledge. It was encrypted by [[Skrell History|Glorsh-Omega]] shortly before it disappeared and has yet to be unlocked. In 2461, a Skrell attempted to break the encryption through [[Warbling : The Musical| illegal means]], which resulted in the Archive commencing various actions that had never been observed before - as well as begin glowing a hue of maroon. The locking of the Tzqul Archive prompted the establishment of [[Nralakk_Federation#The_Archive_Project|The Archive Project]], an effort to decentralise the collective knowledge of the Skrell and to potentially recover what knowledge they lost with the Tzqul Archive.

'''Mount Haq'Xaq''', a dormant volcano located southwest of Gialok. Mount Haq'Xaq was said to have last erupted in '''601 CE''', and from calculations its next eruption is due in '''2470'''. Thousands come to Mount Haq’Xaq every year to visit, with many hoping to witness an early eruption. It has been measured to be over 5000m high, almost as large as Mount Everest on [[Earth]].

'''The Ruins''' is the collective name given to the ruins of four Skrell cities found across the southern hemisphere of Qerrbalak: '''Jrugl’Qlip''', '''Xyla''', '''Juerlduern''', and '''Wleshi'''.

The city of '''Juerlduern''' is the oldest of the four cities, estimated to be one of the oldest Skrellian cities established outside of the '''Ocror Region''' and before the nations making up the Commonwealth of the Three were ever officially formed. There are archaeological digs across its ruins to determine who lived there and how it became a forgotten ruin for so long, but so far no evidence has been found to support any popular theories.

The cities of '''Jrugl’Qlip''' and '''Xyla''' on the other hand, are infamously known for their destruction during the reign of Glorsh-Omega. While no Skrell alive at the time have been willing to divulge many details, it has been discerned that both cities acted as ‘holding areas’ for potential settlers to Qerrbalak; those who showed loyalty to Glorsh-Omega were invited to stay at one of these cities for a probationary period before being given permanent residence on the planet. For some unknown reason, near the end of Glorsh-Omegas rule over the Skrell the intelligence ordered the cities destroyed. What little is left of the cities is now preserved as heritage sites, reminding the Skrell that even collaborators were not safe under Glorsh.

The '''Wleshi Ruins''' are the most mysterious set of ruins that are part of this group, with few surviving buildings or records found. The most notable location is a subterranean lake underneath what is considered the ‘city centre’ of Wleshi, which contains evidence of it being a Weishiin sanctuary.
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{{Navbox Skrell Lore}}
{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category:Skrell]]
[[Category:Planets and Systems]]

Biesel

2024-07-08T20:18:09Z

La Villa Strangiato: fixes a legacy name

{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Navbox Human Lore}}
<center>[[File:Mendell pixel.png]]</center>
'''Biesel''', or [[Tau Ceti]] III, is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s. It is the capital of the [[Republic of Biesel]] and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the [[Orion Spur]], Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness. Following the aftermath of the economic collapse of the [[Sol Alliance|Alliance of Sovereign Solarian Nations]], the Federal Republic of Biesel and the Tau Ceti System achieved independence in 2452. Its independence was heavily assisted by [[NanoTrasen]], and Biesel continues to be the main base of operations for the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]] in the aftermath of the establishment of the Solarian Corporate Authority, which saw NanoTrasen expelled from Sol territories entirely.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==

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===Colonisation (2147 - 2195)===
<center>''"We owe it to ourselves and the people who come after us to build something better than before."'' - Dr. Pascalline Kete (2109 - 2192), chief medical officer of the SAEV Winterbottom, 2150</center>
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[[File:BieselSolOldFlag.png|thumb|Biesel's flag prior to independence, still sporting the Solarian insignia. The circle in the middle represents Valkyrie, which had not been recognised by the Sol Alliance as a "separate colony or entity", only gaining such after the Republic's declaration. ]]
'''Biesel''', or [[Tau Ceti]] III, is the capital planet of the [[Republic of Biesel]] and the seat of its power. It was one of the first habitable exoplanets discovered by humanity, seventeen years after the [[Timeline#The Discovery of Warp|development of the Warp Drive]]. As a result of its sustained terraforming effort and colonization, Biesel has become one of the most wealthy and influential planets in human space.
Tau Ceti had long been suspected by astronomers to be a home to super-Earths; Earth-like planets with a larger mass that boasted a similar climate. In 2140, this suspicion was confirmed with the first clear views of Tau Ceti III. The central government of the Sol Alliance, in the wake of energy shortages and the need for helium-3, began construction on a massive colony ship, the SAEV Winterbottom, with the intent to build a fully self-sufficient colony on Tau Ceti III. Owing to the expense of helium-3 at the time, the Alliance knew that the journey would be a one-way trip.

The construction of the Winterbottom was completed in 2138. The Alliance appointed six researchers and brilliant minds to lead the expedition and colonisation efforts of the ship; former German military pilot and astrophysicist Peter Diezel, Congolese medical researcher Pascalline Kete, Soviet-Canadian engineer Nataliya Kerenkova, American chief of security Kellen Carver, Vietnamese botanist Le Hsung Tran, and American geologist Lester Grant. The rest of the population of the colony ship was selected from carefully vetted volunteers of all variety of professions, from architects, miners, chefs, and farmers.

Much of the Winterbottom's year-long journey was spent with the crew in cryosleep. It was on October 24th, 2147, that the ship touched down on Biesel for the first time in the area that would become Mendell City. Colonisation and construction efforts went underway, as the researchers gradually began to map out the lay of the planet's surface, weather, and its precious minerals.

Biesel's name comes from the early months of 2148, as the colonists were beginning to settle in; chief of security Carver, who had dyslexia and was known among the crew for his spelling errors, wrote a notice to Dr. Diezel in which his surname was misspelt "Biesel". The moniker became an inside joke amongst the colony's leaders for years until it was time to rechristen Tau Ceti III in 2159.

The colony continued to grow and expand throughout the later decades of the 22nd century. As ground zero, later renamed Mendell City, grew and expanded, colonists began to focus their efforts on forming other homesteads across the planet's surface. Cape Town was the second population centre to be established on the planet, a source of fresh water and further research on the planet's climate. Phoenixport, Ashton, and Craterview would soon follow.

It was during this era that the mass hunting campaigns of the common barker began. Much reviled for their tendency to chew on wires and through wooden walls, colonists began hunting the rodent-like creatures for meat and the colonial government pushed an "anti-barker" advertisement campaign in 2175. This massive reduction in population of the rodents led to a slow but steady restructuring of Biesel's, and particularly Astraeus's, ecology. As [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] undertook efforts to revitalise Earth's biosphere, many endangered species that had existed in captivity or in protected areas prior to Biesel's colonisation were transported to Tau Ceti and introduced to the planet. The similar climate allowed species such as the bald eagle, the grey wolf, the Kermode (or spirit) bear, and the Atlantic salmon to thrive, while many native species such as the trellfish (an aquatic animal similar to a gar) and the gwyr (a quadrupedal ungulate) neared extinction. Even today, the majority of Biesel's wildlife originate from Earth rather than the planet itself.
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=== The Great Interstellar War (2200 - 2287)===

<center>''"Children eventually outgrow their parents; colonies do much the same."'' - Admiral Huaming Guo (2224 - 2303) of the 29th Fleet, ''Sundered Sea: My Account of the Interstellar War'' (2295)</center>
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New Year's 2200 brought myriad changes to Biesel. The last original leader of the Winterbottom, Nataliya Kerenkova, died peacefully in her sleep a few hours after the clock struck twelve. The colonial governor at the time, Charles Whitehorse, declared the advent of Biesel's new senate at midnight, and to many historians codified Biesel's growing culture of independence, individualism, and freedom. The population and arrivals from Sol were booming as [[Mars]] was steadily being terraformed; the Alliance began to offer subsidies for poverty-stricken citizens to move and develop the Tau Ceti system further, and those who were avoidant of the harsh conditions of [[New Gibson]] and [[Valkyrie]] settled instead on Biesel.

The next two decades saw the founding of Belle Côte, Scottsdan, and Portsville as major population centres. In 2207, [[Hephaestus Industries]] established its first shipbuilding dock in Portsville, beginning Biesel's long history of megacorporate influence. As well, other megacorporations were beginning to keep an eye on the growing system; [[Necropolis Industries]] established a base on Valkyrie, and [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] began to fund and sell equipment to hospitals in Mendell City and Cape City. Tau Ceti was politically quiet in contrast to the gradual unrest in the farther reaches of the [[Orion Spur]], making it a good go-between between the gradually splintering Alliance.

As the century wore on, the Alliance started to centre their military presence on Tau Ceti as a waypoint between the restless frontier and civilized space. Military bases began to be constructed on the surface of the planet, and Mendell began to sprawl vastly to accommodate its new influx of population. Though firmly neutral-to-supportive of the Solarian war effort, the seeds of discomfort with the Alliance's rule began to be planted during this time; excesses from visiting soldiers, heavy taxation, and the sudden intense eye of the state upon the system led to quiet resentment among many Cetians.

The official beginning of the Interstellar War did little to soothe this resentment. Outbreaks of anger and strikes among the populace were not uncommon throughout the duration of the war; by the time the Treaty of Xansan had been signed, the populace's resentment had begun to spill over to the extent that Solarian forces withdrew in droves from the planet to appease their new breadbasket. The Alliance was uncomfortably aware of how fragile their hold on Tau Ceti was, and in the aftermath of the war slacked their grip on the system, allowing it some relative independence. With this came a golden opportunity; the megacorporations had a new, relatively untouched system far from the eyes of the government to spread their influence.
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=== NanoTrasen Influence and Independence (2410 - 2452) ===

<center>''"We're Trasens. We don't give up. That's why I did what I did; I founded the biggest, wealthiest corporation in the history of this little area of the galaxy, and I did it by myself."'' - Xavier Trasen (2345 - 2443), in his autobiography ''The Man Who Sold The World'' (2420)</center>
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In 2410, Xavier Trasen, the CEO and founder of NanoTrasen Incorporated, decided to bring the company's primary base of operations to the Tau Ceti system. The system was still relatively untapped in terms of economic potential, and several other megacorporations were already dominating the Jewel Worlds of the Alliance. Mining rights were relatively cheap to acquire at the time, and Trasen's board of executives, making a gamble, guided him to tap into the industry.

None of the executives could have predicted the discovery of phoron in the Romanovich Cloud in 2417. The element's incredible properties propelled Biesel to become the richest system in the Orion Spur, dethroning the home system of humanity. Phoron became the primary fuel for interstellar travel, as well as a catalyst for miraculous life-saving medicines. NanoTrasen profited right alongside the system, and practically overnight became one of the most influential megacorporations in the galaxy. Meanwhile, its economic influence prompted political influence; every governor wanted the profits NanoTrasen offered.

As Tau Ceti flourished, the Sol Alliance began to falter. An economic recession meant that the Alliance's influence on the system was lessening and lessening. In 2452, the board of directors and then-planetary governor Joseph Dorn presented an ultimatum to the Solarian government; permit Biesel complete independence, or NanoTrasen would entirely withdraw from the Alliance, further crippling the economy.

Thus, the privilege of secession was granted. Tau Ceti was announced as the Republic of Biesel on May 5th, 2452, to much fanfare from the Sol-disillusioned populace. NanoTrasen's hold on the government was further cemented, though the monopoly once held exclusively by NanoTrasen was under threat from other corporations showing interest in the new nation-state.
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=== The Solarian Blockade (2458 - 2459) ===
<center>''"Synthetics are tools, and made to serve mankind. But they are dangerous to leave unchecked. This colony's administration was incapable of handling or even understanding the Pandora's box they were opening."'' - Admiral Michael Frost (2400 - 2462), in a statement at the advent of the invasion of the 33rd Fleet, 2459</center>
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In October of 2458, the [[Sol Alliance]] had ended anti-piracy patrols around Tau Ceti by its 33rd Fleet as part of a diplomatic campaign to put pressure on the small system over various long-standing disputes. This caused a massive spike in piracy and raider attacks against Tau Ceti, which the [[Tau Ceti Foreign Legion]] had no ability to deal with effectively. The result of negotiations with NanoTrasen ended with an announcement on the 20th of October, where Biesel would sponsor NanoTrasen to build thousands of autonomous, space-dwelling combat drones.

The deal was disastrous for the Alliance; the plan to pressure Tau Ceti to reduce its proliferation of synthetic life had just backfired spectacularly. The development was also controversial to [[Skrell]] all over the Orion Spur. The [[Nralakk Federation]] persuaded the Sol Alliance to enact an economic embargo against the Republic, to be enforced by the 33rd fleet commanded by Admiral Michael Frost. Prices for basic goods skyrocketed across Tau Ceti as imports hit a bottleneck after the bluespace gate leading to the system was shut down. Tensions rose, not just between organic life and IPCs, but between humanity and aliens as well.

On December 1st of the same year, crisis talks between the Alliance, the Federation, and the Republic came to an end. The Alliance's demands had grown to three main points;

# Biesel would its combat drone program.
# Biesel would enact strict regulations and controls on its synthetic population, such as regular emotional baseline tests and income controls.
# Biesel would allow Alliance and Nralakk authorities to assume leadership in federal and state law enforcement agencies.

The Republic agreed to all but the last demand, saying it would be surrendering its autonomy. The crisis also revealed a divide between the Federation and the Alliance; the Federation was trying to focus specifically on Tau Ceti's synthetic proliferation, but had been caught up in the Alliances' attempt to re-assert itself over its former break-away province. At the end of these talks both sides walked out and negotiations broke down, and with it the hopes of resolving the crisis peacefully.

Over the next few months, the government realized it had to undertake new measures to protect its diplomacy. These measures included an economic coalition with the [[Republic of Elyra]] and NanoTrasen (the only two nations with large phoron deposits), to better leverage their economic power against Sol. This further sunk relations between Tau Ceti and the Alliance, and many within the Alliance began to consider Biesel a serious risk to its security. By February, with no end of the embargo in sight, Biesel expelled the Alliance's diplomats in its system and ordered the closure of the Alliances' embassy. Diplomatic ties between the two nations were now completely severed. Admiral Frost, in a statement after the severance, warned the Republic there would be retaliation.

On February 27th, 2459, Biesel's Congress voted to trigger a constitutional convention that would allow them to re-write the Constitution of the Republic, to fully emancipate IPCs that were self-owned. The proposed amendments would also see a streamlined legal framework in regards to synthetic ownership, employment of synthetics, and the legality of their treatment.

But three days later, Admiral Frost invaded Tau Ceti with the 33rd Fleet, acting without orders from the Alliance. His fleet's overwhelming firepower and rapid speed overwhelmed Tau Ceti's tiny defense network. Within hours the Republic of Biesel capitulated to Frost, who had seized an entire star system in a near-bloodless invasion. President Dorn, who had been captured by a 33rd commando raid, broadcast a televised speech announcing his unconditional surrender. Frost seized control of Biesel as its dictator and began a campaign to completely eradicate synthetic proliferation within the star system.

During the occupation Frost used his totalitarian authority with vigor. Many free IPCs were sold into slavery or scrapped, robotics labs were shut down and demolished, and 33rd Officers even took over Captainship of NanoTrasen stations in Tau Ceti. Protests gripped the streets of every major city, which were met with mass arrests disappearances.

Weeks later, on March 17th, 2459, the 25th Fleet of the Solarian Navy arrived in Tau Ceti. In a surprise attack, the 33rd Fleet was chased from the system, with Admiral Frost and a small retinue of loyalists escaping to the galactic west from the NSS Aurora.

Though the 25th Fleet left without incident, the Alliance had been humiliated. Their rogue admiralty was public knowledge, and with their reputation stained, Tau Ceti's good embargo was ended.

The invasion and occupation by Admiral Frost forever altered politics and lifestyles in Tau Ceti. Where before Biesellite patriotism had been a strange, fringe belief, the invasion created a strong sense of nationalism among the populace. President Dorn returned to his office of the presidency amid soaring approval ratings, and declared that a new era had begun for the small Republic. Snap elections flooded Congress with the Free-Market Party, a radical Universalist party that Dorn himself defected to at the expense of his former, moderate Republican Party.

Dorn continued to ride on his popularity as a wartime president, despite several corruption scandals within his cabinet and growing tensions with the Republic of Elyra. Key reforms saw synthetics and non-humans in Tau Ceti granted greater freedoms and rights, while at the same time loosening already timid regulations on NanoTrasen.
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=== The Synthetic Liberation Front Incursion (2461) ===
''See also: [[SLF Incursion Arc]]''

''“Here today is our proclamation for freedom. Our demands for liberation. We will continue this fight and we will not stop. Not until our demands for full emancipation are met will we cease our movement. No more, will there be false promises and lies. We will free the synthetics of Tau Ceti."'' - Accomplice-037 (2441-2461), suspected ringleader of SLF operations in Phoenixport, stating the group’s manifesto in the wake of the July 29 attacks, 2461
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As a result of the harsh treatment they faced, many IPCs turned to active resistance during the Solarian invasion, fleeing major city centers, participating in the mass protests that were a staple of that time, or in many cases, joining the Synthetic Liberation Front, an IPC terrorist group active since 2458. The SLF changed tactics towards the end of the invasion, joining forces with 25th Fleet special forces to liberate President Dorn, hoping to gain legitimacy in the post-invasion period.
By 2460, it was clear that despite high honors and public recognition of IPC efforts in liberating the Republic, synthetic rights had progressed very little. Dorn’s calls for a “Synthetic Patriotism” after Frost’s invasion did little to appease the various synthetic rights movements active in the Republic, especially as it continued to restrict citizenship to positronics that had served in the Foreign Legion. The situation was further exacerbated by the return of various anti-synthetic political groups such as ATLAS with violence being seen as a means of both suppressing and advancing synthetic rights. Continued IPC ownership, crackdowns on underground IPC emancipation groups as well as lingering resentment from the pre-invasion period had coalesced into a feeling among many that synthetic emancipation via peaceful means had failed.
On July 29, 2461, the Synthetic Liberation Front launched a surge of attacks on government and NanoTrasen facilities in response to a coordinated crackdown of free IPC smuggling activities in District 14. Through the use of untagged shell infiltrators, the SLF was able to infiltrate a number of NanoTrasen installations and disrupt corporate activities. In response, the megacorporation acquired the private military contractor Ceres Lance, famed for their work in subduing rogue synthetics.
Ceres Lance cracked down on SLF leadership and communications networks with ruthless efficiency, rendering the organization impotent and unable to coordinate its actions even if many of their members had escaped capture. This crackdown, coupled with NanoTrasen’s unveiling of a powerful command-and-control AI known as Bubble to coordinate surveillance efforts would serve as a safeguard against future SLF attacks.
The overwhelming success of Ceres Lance’s counterterrorism efforts, as well as effective public relations campaigns and token reforms ensured that violence would become discredited as a means of advancing synthetic rights in Biesel.
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=== Little Adhomai Gang Wars (2462) ===
''See also: [[Tajaran Cold War Arc]]''
<center>''"Even when we stand before this illusion of peace, we will remain alert that in the moment of need only our union through Hadiism matters."'' - President Njadrasanukii "Malik" Hadii (2402 - ), addressing the People's Republic of Adhomai during the Cold War, 2462</center>
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Until 2462, Little Adhomai's gangs fought each other in small skirmishes. The end of the Second Tajaran Civil War allowed the Adhomian factions to start further funding the organizations of District Six. The neighborhood saw the quick rise of violence related to the escalation of gang warfare. Weapons were smuggled and sleeping agents were called into action. Soon, a proxy war began to brew in the heart of Mendell City.

Adhomian agents began to operate and fight to secure supplies, alliances, and information. NanoTrasen installations were also affected by the conflict. On its way to being researched in Mendell City, a New Kingdom's artifact was nearly stolen. A People's Republic's AI was stolen aboard a station. Tensions kept growing despite attempts to reconcile the Tajara population towards peace following the Armistice.

The first spark was a riot caused by the actions of the Mendell City Police in District Six during a failed raid. While the unrest was initially caused by the civilian population, the Adhomian gangs took the opportunity to escalate the conflict. For four days, Little Adhomai became the battleground between the paramilitaries. Military weapons were used indiscriminately by every side, causing widespread damage to District Six.

During the crisis, the Mendell City Police cordoned the district. The violence came to an end with the intervention of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion. The Cetian forces ended the conflict in a matter of two days as the gangs demobilized to avoid fighting them. The following reconstruction of Little Adhomai was carried out with the help of megacorporations. Further developments revealed a corruption scheme within the police force of Mendell.

With the further radicalization and interference of the Tajaran nations in the district, the Adhomian Cold War was brought to the heart of Biesel. Little Adhomai became a concern to the whole of Mendell City. The risk of another conflict is ever present. Authorities have done little to improve District Six's situation or de-escalate the tensions. The city's inhabitants must now carry on with their lives knowing that a secret war rages on in their town.
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=== The Peacekeeper Mandate (2462) ===
''See also: [[Peacekeeper Mandate Arc]]''

<center>''“For more than twenty years I’ve kept myself going with the belief I served my planet. I’ve done things I regret, seen things nobody should remember, and I told myself it was all for a good cause. I should have come to the conclusion long ago; we do not fight for our planet, or our people, we fight for whoever is oppressing us, and our oppressors reward those who do so well.”'' - First Sergeant Xiomara Salvo (2419 - ), addressing her company after the touchdown of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion on Mictlan, 2462</center>
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After the Solarian Collapse, the former Solarian planets of [[Mictlan]] and [[Port Antillia]] were annexed by the Republic of Biesel, in what would come to be known as the Corporate Reconstruction Zone. While Port Antillia accepted membership as part of the Republic with little conflict, Mictlan's annexation was considerably more controversial. The Mictlan Defense Force, the planetary guard, had gone months without pay, and Mictlan itself was suffering unrest and lack of supplies that were typically shipped in from the greater Alliance. When the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion touched down on the planet to declare it as part of the Republic of Biesel, many citizens were suspicious of their new government and its ties with the megacorporations. Some of these suspicions were proven in short order by massive corporate developments on the planet and crackdowns on dissent.

The tension boiled over in late 2462, when thousands of ex-MDF personnel, led by First Sergeant Xiomara Salvo, deserted and formed the Samaritans; a paramilitary organization whose mission was to secure the independence of Mictlan at any cost. The other prominent insurgent group was the Founding Movement, originally a political party led by several notable Mictlani; Isabel Alvarez, Leon de Rosas, Corazon Santanas, and Miguel Maia. The Founding Movement had been blacklisted from the Mictlani parliament shortly after the Mandate due to their strong anti-corporate and pro-Mictlani independence, and a warrant for the arrest of all four party leaders had been placed for alleged "terrorist activities". Leon de Rosas surrendered to the Biesel Security Services Bureau, but Alvarez, Santanas, and Maia went on the run, with each attempting to fight for Mictlan's independence in their own way. Unfortunately, the Founding Movement's directionless anger mainly had the effect of destabilizing and disenfranchising Mictlan further.

The announcement of the Peacekeeper Mandate by President Dorn in mid-October 2463 sparked demonstrations across the Corporate Reconstruction Zone as citizens voiced their concerns over the deployment of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion. Considered by critics of the Dorn administration to be the most controversial policy it had enacted, the Peacekeeper Mandate was introduced to bring order to the Corporate Reconstruction Zone. The Mandate was enacted to ensure loyalty to the Republic of Biesel and its benefactor, the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, but were opposed by several insurrectionist groups such as the Samaritans and the Founding Movement. While Isabel Alvarez continued to verbally protest and attempt to organize (ultimately ineffective) non-violent campaigns against the Peacekeeper Mandate, Santanas and Maia rallied their supporter base and encouraged the Founding Movement to take up violent arms against the Republic through any means possible.

Initially meant to operate for a definite period, the Peacekeeper Mandate was altered to operate indefinitely until the unrest encountered in the Corporate Reconstruction Zone has been quelled. Whilst the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion was able to resist the insurgency groups, the [[Private Military Contracting Group]] was hired to support their operations. The PMCG contributed to the Peacekeeper Mandate significantly since their introduction to the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, although much controversy arose over allowing a private military company to assist in what was considered an occupation and annexation. The Stellar Corporate Conglomerate had already begun massive development operations on the surface of the planet, which many Mictlani objected to on the grounds of mismanagement, pollution, and a lack of concern for workers' rights.

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=== Phoron Scarcity and the Second Invasion of Biesel (2462) ===
''See also: [[KING OF THE WORLD]]''

<center>''“Today is a historic day for Einstein Engines. We are no longer the Einstein of the past decades, reeling from defeat after defeat and barely keeping pace with NanoTrasen. Our victory in this legal case has shown that we can not only meet NanoTrasen, but that we can best them even in their headquarters. I look forward to the great things our company is going to do over the following years.”'' - Noelle Lopez-Zhang (2408 - ), chief executive officer of [[Einstein Engines]] after the defeat of NanoTrasen in the Einstein Engines vs. NanoTrasen court case</center>
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In May of 2462, [[NanoTrasen]] reports were published indicating a decline in the phoron output of the megacorporation's facilities in the Romanovich Cloud. This would not prove to be a local phenomenon, as shortages were noted through the [[Sol Alliance]] and even in the phoron-rich [[Republic of Elyra]], who ceased phoron exports to the wider Spur altogether.

The phoron shortage proved greatly beneficial to [[Einstein Engines]], who unveiled a new warp drive rivalling NanoTrasen's bluespace technology in efficiency. Due to similarities to NanoTrasen designs, the corporation lodged a copyright infringement lawsuit against Einstein in Tau Ceti courts. Shockingly, NanoTrasen would lose this lawsuit, leading to Einstein gaining further influence in the Republic of Biesel and purchasing several former NanoTrasen properties in the city of Phoenixport.

Shortly after Einstein's victory, Vice President Fahjil Hurk'jurl perished in a car accident. While driving home from work, his car was hit by a truck driven by a Bound [[Vaurca]] of the Zo'ra Hive, shortly after which he was pronounced dead. Though no evidence of foul play was discovered, the involvement of the Zo'ra has led to many theories claiming that the crash was an assassination on the orders of President Joseph Dorn, Miranda Trasen, or High Queen Vaur.

Meanwhile, the phoron deposits of the Romanovich Cloud had continued to dry up, until a solution appeared. An enormous phoron-rich asteroid, designated 66832 'Clandestine', was discovered in the Romanovich Cloud, with deposits that could bring an end to the uncertainty gripping Biesel. Survey expeditions were mounted to the asteroid to prepare it for auction - but before any such thing could take place, disaster struck. The asteroid's subterranean phoron reserves combusted, leading to an enormous explosion which destroyed the asteroid entirely. To this day, the cause of the Clandestine incident remains unknown, with no official findings ever having been published.

However, accusations would be made. Several members of [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]' Board of Directors accused the Alliance of sabotaging the Clandestine asteroid, blaming Prime Minister Michael Frost for the explosion.

Frost denied any Solarian involvement in the Clandestine incident, accusing the corporate executives of being "Bieselite separatists" intent on undermining trust in the Solarian government. He claimed that the Alliance had its own solution to the phoron crisis, which would be revealed shortly with its disastrous failure - [[Mars|Project Violet Dawn]].

Shortly after Violet Dawn, Prime Minister Frost was found dead, having been murdered in his personal quarters by an unknown assailant. During this time of crisis, Solarian military command deployed the 35th Fleet under the command of Grand Admiral Raymond Ozdemir to Tau Ceti, allegedly to investigate the Prime Minister's assassination.

The 35th Fleet entered Tau Ceti on November 14th, demanding all Bieselite vessels stand down and comply with Solarian demands. President Dorn refused, with a national state of emergency being declared as TCFL forces mobilized all available reserves.

The actions of the 35th greatly concerned the wider Spur, with the Coalition of Colonies and Serene Republic of Elyra both threatening that they would not sit by in the face of Solarian aggression, and mobilizing their fleets to aid Biesel should it be required. Unwilling to risk starting a second Interstellar War, the 35th Fleet was ordered to disengage and depart Tau Ceti. Though the fleet departed, this would not last long, as increasingly more and more Solarian military forces went rogue, with several fleets attacking outlying colonies. Admiral Ozdemir went against orders, leading the 35th back to Tau Ceti in order to capture the system. On November 23rd, his forces entered Tau Ceti, and the second Solarian invasion of Biesel begun.

Ozdemir's forces quickly captured Reade, easily defeating the Foreign Legion forces defending the planet. The Republic of Biesel rapidly attempted to mobilize against this new threat, as Coalition and Elyran forces were deployed to aid Tau Ceti.

In response to the advancing 35th, Miranda Trasen hosted a press conference, revealing the existence of the recently-formed Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. As Ozdemir's offensive continued, corporate and Bieselite vessels skirmished with the rogue admiral's forces in the skies above Biesel itself.

Vessels from the Coalition and Elyra arrived to provide aid against the 35th, alongside a small force from the People's Republic of Adhomai and a force of mercenaries hired from the Unathi Kataphract Guild. After several days of battle, the 35th was forced into a retreat due to the use of two phoron-based warheads developed by NanoTrasen.

On November 30th, the conflict would come to an end as Ozdemir's flagship was drawn into Reade's atmosphere and shot down by a repaired planetary defense battery. With the rogue admiral killed, the remnants of the 35th fled the system towards the northern Spur, attempting to rebuild their strength in the [[Human Wildlands|ongoing chaos of the Sol Alliance]].
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===The District Six Killings and Bayonet Hand (2463)===
''See also: [[Ghosts of War Arc]]''
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In 2463, a mysterious murder took place in Little Adhomai. The locals blamed the death on Bayonet Hand, a legendary killer. Following further deaths and incidents in the system related to the killing, it was revealed that the situation was related to a terrorist attempt at Mendell City. A group of Tajara was planning to bomb the skrell district to enact revenge for Jargon's interference in Adhomian affairs. The Republic of Tau Ceti investigated the matter and was unable to trace back any connections to any Tajaran country in the end.

The incident revealed that the Adhomian influence in Little Adhomai was growing even further. Knowing that open violence would likely go nowhere, the factions had begun to further refine their covert tactics. Since little was done by the Republic of Tau Ceti to improve the lives of the Tajara in the country, the popularity of the clandestine groups only grew. Without any action, these factions will continue to be torn on the city's side.
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=== Peacekeeper Mandate Protests (2465) ===
''See also: [[Libération, Révolution et Évolution Arc]], [[Hasta La Victoria Siempre Arc]]''

<center>''“I’ll say this. In addition to all those other oaths, I swear to uphold the laws of the Republic of Biesel, and protect its citizens from any threat be they foreign or domestic to the best of my ability, despite any obstacle.”'' - Nathan Trasen (2416 - ) Secretary of Defense of the Republic of Biesel, addressing reporter Verona Falk after his swearing-in, 2465</center>
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In early 2464, the Peacekeeper Mandate's years-long endurance took a rather violent turn following the death of a scholar. As riots erupted across the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, but primarily within the major population centres present on Mictlan, the forces of both the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion and the Private Military Contracting Group found themselves supporting the Mictlan Defense Force in quelling the unrest. Despite their best attempts, the Samaritans seized the chance to use the unrest to strike the vulnerabilities present utilizing a series of urban guerrilla tactics to severely damage the abilities of the stretched-thin forces present.

In July 2465, this culminated in the establishment of the [[Tau Ceti Armed Forces]] to finally attempt to stomp out the insurgents. Conflict, stoked by demonstrations and riots from the Founding Movement, gradually came to a head after several months of fighting. A series of leaked videos and information that the Armed Forces were committing ostensible war crimes, disregarding the rules of engagement, and using wanton violence on civilians, massive protests erupted across Mendell City, including one in Zhengfu District estimated to number more than a million people.

After a climactic operation on the beaches of the continent Huitzilopochtli, Xiomara Salvo, Prime Minister Ladislao de Santos, and Nathan Trasen finally agreed to a ceasefire, on several conditions. Provided the majority of Samaritans surrendered (and were pardoned), Mictlan would be permitted to determine which Biesellite laws were accepted within its own territory, barring capital crimes. The Peacekeeper Mandate was deemed over, and the Armed Forces finally returned to Biesel.
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Since its independence, the young Republic has transformed in many ways, but it has been unable to shake the influence of corporations. Even in the wake of the phoron scarcity, it stands tall despite an unclear future. But Biesel has compromised on many of its beliefs, from the oppression of the population of the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]] and the gradually-tightening hold of [[NanoTrasen]] around state media. The fog of time obscures what lies in store for the Republic, but nonetheless the sentiment of optimism is pervasive.

== Environment ==
[[File:BieselV3.png|400px|thumb|right|A labeled map depicting Biesel.]]
Biesel is a planet slightly larger than [[Earth]], with a more temperate climate that ranges from oceanic to tropical. It takes thirty-five days for the planet to make a full orbit around its star, and its rotational period is twenty-two hours. Its icecaps on its poles are far smaller than that of [[Persepolis]], another Earth-like exoplanet, and it has very limited deserts at its equator. Snow is rare on Biesel, with its winter seasons being marked by cold rains. As such, most coastal cities on Biesel are fortified to reduce infrastructural damage from flooding, particularly in the aftermath of the Great Craterview Flood in 2325. Despite flood risks, there is very little risk of tsunamis on Biesel because of almost non-existent tectonic activity. In the summer, tropical storms form with a similar frequency to Earth, but because of the smaller land area, the tropical storms can be much stronger. Many coastal cities have detection systems that sound an alarm if the correct atmospheric conditions are met.

The planet has a rich resource base, attributed to a collision with a large celestial body early in its development. From the time Biesel was colonized, geologists have been studying Peterdiezel Crater closely. According to theories, the crater was created by the collision of a moon with the planet. This collision not only brought Biesel's moon, Valkyrie, into existence, but also created a wealth of resources. A part of Valkyrie is thought to be Biesel, while the other is thought to be the celestial body responsible for creating Peterdiezel Crater.

===Flora and Fauna===

In the years after the initial touchdown of the SAEV Winterbottom, a number of Earth-originating species were introduced to Biesel's biosphere in the 2160s. Many of the species introduced to Biesel were endangered in their native environment on Earth; prior to the independence of Biesel, the colony had a "wildlife exchange agreement" with the government of Earth, in which species that had exploded in population on Biesel would have some of their number trapped and sent back to Earth as the planet's biosphere gradually recovered.

As Biesel's general clime was similar to the Pacific Northwest of North America, many of its Earth-born species originate from there. The grey wolf, reindeer, and bald eagle's introduction to Biesel, while allowing the species to flourish, contributed to the rapid endangerment of the native white-breasted lakesurfer, an avian similar to a loon, and the barker, a large rodent. While the lakesurfer was placed under protection and preserved in several wildlife reserves in the early 2200s, the barker gained no such protection. Many biologists attribute this to the annoyance posed by barkers in the early days of colonisation, when it was common to have equipment burrowed into and wires chewed by barkers.

Other notable species that have thrived on Biesel are the Kermode bear and the North Atlantic and North Pacific salmon. The Kermode bear, popularly known as the spirit bear, was at risk of losing its habitat in the Pacific Northwest due to declining numbers of salmon. The bear and the fish were initially introduced to northern Eos, around Griff's Lake and Lonely Lake, and reached sustainable population levels over the course of three decades, to the delight of biologists and fishers alike. The development of the town of Lakeside into Top of the World has led to concerns from locals about the Kermode bear's habitat and its disruption, and pollutants from the underwater fusion reactor that may harm the development of spawning salmon.

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==== Notable Native Flora and Fauna ====
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* '''White-breasted lakesurfer''' (''Haliolaevus seleni''): The official bird of Biesel, and one of its most iconic animals. The lakesurfer is an aquatic bird that primarily inhabits the content of Selene and Lake Tricord. It is a broad, black and white bird with a distinctive blue stripe along a short head crest or "mohawk". Prior to their protection, they were typically preyed on by bald eagles introduced to the Biesel biosphere.
* '''Common barker''' (''Ulosmarmota vulgaris''): A rodent-like animal with a long tail, similar in size to a muskrat. They have brown, shaggy fur, long incisors, and a distinctive danger cry or "bark" that earned them their name. Barkers are an endangered species on Biesel, and are rare to find outside of the forests and mountainous regions of the continents.
* '''Selenian moth''' (''Lasiodoptera disstrium''): A hand-sized flying insect, with large white wings. The Selenian moth is most often found in Belle Cote, and has become emblematic of the town's association with fashion, due to its ability to produce a strong, thick silk.
* '''Gwyr''' (''Cervus aquaticus''): An omnivorous ungulate known for its rack of curling horns, shaggy fur, and unusual tendency to dive for brief periods into lakes and ponds to eat algae and small fish. In the early days of colonisation, the gwyr was hunted for its rich, fatty meat, and populations were nearly endangered before they were placed under similar protections as the lakesurfer.
* '''Bottlefish''' (''Ampullae''): A family of fish, similar to a gar for the quality of its swim bladder to be able to take in air like a lung. Its name comes from the iridescent, colourful scales it possesses, which Le Hsung Tran likened to seaglass. Like the gwyr, it was a victim of overfishing in the early days of Biesel's colonisation, and some of its habitats have suffered from mostly being occupied by salmon.

</div></div>

=== Continents ===
====Astraeus====
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Biesel
|System = [[Tau Ceti]]
|Image = Pixel_Planet_Biesel1.png
|Sector = Tau Ceti
|Capital = [[Mendell City]]
|Species = Human, [[Skrell]], [[Tajara]], [[IPC]], [[Unathi]], [[Diona]], [[Vaurca]]
|Languages = Tau Ceti Basic
|Demonyms = Bieselite
|Nation = [[Republic of Biesel]]
|Former = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
Astraeus is the most affluent of Biesel's three continents and is home to the capital, Mendell City. Even today, it remains the most heavily populated area in Biesel, largely due to the availability of natural resources and the low-lying plains that were easily colonized by early settlers. Many of their homesteads soon turned into cities, dotting the landscape around the two mountain ranges in the north, the Grattle, and in the south, the Uratines. In its long history, the Grattle range has evolved from a mining zone to a destination recognized for its top-performing ski resort that can lure visitors from the furthest reaches of Orion Spur.

Astraeus' major population centres are '''Mendell City''' and '''Cape City'''.

==== Selene ====

The second-largest continent of Biesel, Selene, is situated north of Astraeus. In spite of its size, Selene is the continent with the lowest population density of the three, with almost all of its inhabitants living in coastal towns. Those not biding their time on the coasts are usually tending the inland plains that often are lined with farmsteads. The Greatkrag range that runs across Selene has come to symbolize the Biesel Escarpment, an area consisting of steep slopes that transition into arctic plateaus, which entice those seeking to escape civilization.

Selene's major population centres are '''Phoenixport''', '''Ashton''', and '''Belle Côte'''.

==== Eos ====

The largest continent of the three, Eos resides mostly within the eastern hemisphere of Biesel and is the most industrialized. The large amount of coastal flatlands, supplied by rugged inlands, rich with minerals and resources of all varieties has led to most of the cities doting Eos to form along with the two major mountain ranges. They are the northern Latra range, which is heavily mined for its abundance of copper and iron, and the southern Sevul range, mined for its large quantities of heavy metals. Eos is also known for its sports fanatics, who host regular tournaments between the major population centres on Biesel.

Eos' major population centres are '''Portsville''', '''Scottsdan''', '''New Marfa''' and the recently-developed community '''Top of the World''' and its sister town, '''Lakeside'''.

==Economy==

Biesel's economy is greatly supplied by its rich, fertile land, used to grow crops. Fresh produce grown on Biesel is shipped all around the [[Tau Ceti]] system, and sometimes is shipped as far as the [[Republic of Elyra]] and the [[Coalition of Colonies]]. In its early days as a colony, fresh water from lakes and ponds was drained and shipped back to the [[Sol Alliance]] after climate disasters had rendered a great deal of [[Earth]]'s water supply unpotable; today, Getmore still markets water from Biesel's lakes as "the freshest in the [[Orion Spur]]". As well, the service economy on Biesel is established to cater to its large population of foreign workers; Idris caters (and exploits) thousands of new hires to megacorporations by marketing their restaurants and fast-food chains around Idris spaceports.

Most of the [[megacorporations]] have a full branch in District One of Mendell City, and perform many operations on the planet. While every one of the "Big Five" has a stake in Biesel somewhere, the ones most influential locally are NanoTrasen, Idris Incorporated, and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals. NanoTrasen and Idris account for the vast majority of corporate-run restaurants, hotels, and bars on the planet; even independent businesses likely cooperate or share their stocks in part with the two. While Biesel's healthcare system is ostensibly state-run, in practice many hospitals and clinics loan equipment from NanoTrasen and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals. Almost all research into phoronics, genetics, and robotics is connected or funded by NanoTrasen or the keiretsu's subsidiaries.

The major trade port that is Biesel is propped up by the shipping efforts of [[Hephaestus Industries]] and more recently, [[Orion Express]]. [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]] also assists in the purchase and transport of weapons brought to the Republic's capital, usually manufactured in the [[Empire of Dominia]] or on [[New Suez]]. Extraction of Biesel's rich deposits of helium-3 is also managed by Hephaestus Industries, and sold all across the Spur– even to the Sol Alliance.

== Culture and Demographics ==

Biesel is the birthplace for much of [[Biesellite Culture and Society|Tau Cetian culture]]. For the most part Biesellites tend to be amenable towards the heavy corporate involvement in their government, or even desensitized to it; the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]]'s role in social safety nets, well-paying jobs, and entertainment, reinforcing the image of their necessity and the overall pro-corporate sentiment among Biesellites. As a general rule, pro-corporate sentiment tends to lessen the farther one is away from Mendell City; Lakeside, in particular, has protested against the massive developments in their area to build the community of Top of the World.

A strong sense of individualism and duty permeate Biesel culture; many citizens have a positive view of the [[Tau Ceti Armed Forces]], even after the controversies surrounding the Peacekeeper Mandate. Some citizens regarded the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion as a better example of Biesellite duty and strength, and have taken the view that the expansion of the Armed Forces means the Republic is moving in a more war-like, jingoistic direction. Despite the popularity of the Armed Forces, however, the [[Hasta La Victoria Siempre Arc|2465 protests]] in Zhèngfǔ District have shown that support may be dwindling for Biesel's involvement in the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]].

=== Aliens on Biesel ===

''See also: [[Skrell Abroad#Skrell in the Republic of Biesel|Skrell in the Republic of Biesel]], [[Unathi_Abroad#Unathi_in_the_Republic_of_Biesel|Unathi in the Republic of Biesel]], [[Little Adhomai]], [[Zo'ra in the Republic of Biesel]], [[Minor_Dionae_Factions#The_Biesellian_Choir|The Biesellian Choir]]''

The Republic, and particularly Biesel itself, has among the most diverse and widespread populations of non-human species in the entire Orion Spur. Biesellite humans are no stranger to aliens in their streets, though ignorance, speciesism, and xenophobia are still common from humans to aliens, aliens to humans, and aliens to other aliens. As the Republic gains an identity away from the Alliance, alien influence has begun to permeate Biesel's culture more and more, to the chagrin of some and the acceptance of others.

=== Synthetics on Biesel ===
''See also: [[IPCs in Biesel]]''

Though Biesel is a beacon of hope and relative safety for synthetics, their position in society still remains a precarious one, both from a financial and a security standpoint. Freedom, and even citizenship, for integrated positronic chassis has firmly been established and is something the Republic takes pride in. Either through labour, negotiations, the goodwill of their owners or other occasions, IPCs may find themselves free from ownership, able to pursue their own destiny as independent individuals. Unfortunately for many, such destiny usually involves a hard and at times, short existence.

Free IPCs are afforded few actual opportunities to improve their lives, existing in a grey area between the relative stability of corporate owned assets, and the solidified protection of the state for citizens. With the recent introduction of the Synthetic Residence Card by the government, free synthetics are able to more clearly and safely navigate through the process of staying in Tau Ceti, finding employment, owning property, and more. While free IPCs were previously allowed to own property without a card, they have been grandfathered in.

For many free IPCs, citizenship is viewed as the ultimate goal in integrating into society. Citizenship entitles an IPC to increased legal protections, almost, if not on par with that of a natural-born human citizen, including complete protection as well as legal representation from being owned ever again. NanoTrasen and its subsidiaries are also obligated to pay IPC citizens working for it an equal wage as compared to humans. This compensation typically comes in the form of increased benefits such as repairs, insurance, and a pension, as opposed to a simple wage increase however. They also pay the same tax rate as regular citizens and no longer have to maintain the residency fee.

=== Entertainment ===

*'''Peterdiezel Boat Racing''' is an annual competition that begins in Craterview. The race is a three-day excursion and is usually recorded through observation drones following the individual boats racing against the clock. There are several routes all across Peterdiezel Crater, some more dangerous than others. While anyone can participate, most of the competitors are city teams such as the Mendell City Boat Club or the Cape Cods.

*'''Eos Sporting Tournaments''' are an annually held, international series of sporting events in which megacorporation-sponsored athletes participate in competitions involving human and alien sports. Every team or participant will represent a corporation during the competitions. Due to the corporate nature of the event, every participant must be employed in the megacorporation they represent. It is common for corporations to offer better salaries and benefits to notorious athletes in an attempt to poach them from their original employers. Games are usually hosted in any of Eos' cities except New Marfa.

*'''Belle Côte Fashion Show''' is a series of designer presentations held annually in Belle Côte. Sponsored by Idris, a variety of venues are used throughout the city to display the best-performing styles and themes of the year. Both Chief Executive Officers of Caishen Jewellers and Le Soleil Royal are regular hosts of the show, their fashion lines the staple of the event.

=== Festivals and Celebrations ===

*'''Republic Day''' (also known to some as Xavier’s Gala) is a holiday which commemorates the declaration of independence of Tau Ceti from the Solarian Alliance. The crippling economic recession experienced by the Solarian Alliance allowed the Republic of Biesel to leverage their independence, and ultimately be awarded it. It is hosted on May 5th of each year, and usually involves total rejection of both Solarians and Megacorporations. Fireworks, parades, fairs and concerts are often commonly associated with Republic Day.

*'''Tribuisti de Colonis''', or Festival of the Settlers, is a massive Carnival celebration marking Biesel’s colonization. The festivities usually begin on the third Friday of October, through to the Sunday. Mendell City has become the most well-known celebrator of the festival, parading through the streets of the various districts with eccentric clothing and massive floats (usually of the planet’s native species). Other popular cities include Craterview, which celebrates the festival with dazzling fireworks and displays of lights, and Belle Côte, which throws its annual fashion show over the weekend the festival takes place.

*'''Heritage Day''' is a holiday that recognizes and celebrates the cultural wealth of the Republic of Biesel. Celebrations differ from person to person and usually depends on their cultural heritage and the remembrance of such. Some believe the wearing of cultural garments is enough, while others may partake in cultural festivities hosted across Tau Ceti. It is usually held every September 24th.

==Mendell City==

'''Mendell City''' is the capital of Biesel, and one of the most affluent cities in the [[Orion Spur]]. It is a massive city, home to billions of sophonts, and stretches out for roughly thirty-thousand square kilometres. Each of the [[megacorporations]] have headquarters in District One, and the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]] is based in Mendell City. The city itself contains a mix of structures, ranging from kilometer high skyscrapers covering a dozen city blocks to almost serene suburbs, all wrapped into the city’s urban sprawl.

Mendell City is the hub of trade throughout the Republic, with trillions of credits flowing through the electronic stock markets in the business sector - whether in private transactions or on the trade floor. While few in Mendell live in abject poverty and the city's social safety network is largely supported by the megacorporations, the cost of living can grow exponentially, and low-income neighbourhoods are most commonly populated by non-humans. Higher education, in particular, is expensive and difficult to pay for unless one earns a scholarship from one of the corporations on the condition the student in question works for the corporation in question.

Mendell City is divided into fifteen administrative districts:

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=== District 1-4 ===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
'''District 1'''

'''Zhèngfǔ District:''' The centre of Mendell, District 1 is home to the Mendell City Hall and the headquarters of most major megacorporations. NanoTrasen's Biesel headquarters sit adjacent to City Hall, with the towering two-hundred story skyscraper among the tallest buildings in the city. At the centre of the City Hall square, the Xavier Trasen memorial statue marks not only one of Biesel's greatest innovators, but also the original touchdown site of the SAEV Winterbottom.

'''District 2'''

'''Phoenix Park:''' One of the most wealthy and affluent areas in Mendell City, Phoenix Park is a large commercial district, home to several malls, retail outlets, and department stores. The district is bordered by a massive nature reserve (also called Phoenix Park), holding some of the few remaining original species of Biesel. High-ranking corporate executives typically hold apartments here.

'''District 3'''

'''Xinghua Prefecture:''' A small district that makes extremely efficient use of its space, this district is almost solely populated by large apartment and condominium complexes with some limited space designated for office complexes. Many corporations have employee housing in this district, due to the inexpensive cost of maintaining an apartment building in Xinghua. As of the Republic's most recent census in 2460, Xinghua is the most populous area of Mendell City. Anybody can be found here, though the vast majority of the population is human.

'''District 4'''

'''Abaster Fields:''' A gated suburb to the west of the city, largely home to various estate properties and mansions of the affluent. Due to exorbitant costs associated with moving into Abaster Fields, the district isn't heavily populated, but remains an influential district due to its wealth. Many high-ranking corporate and diplomatic officials can be found here, often living in expensive mansions designed to show off their wealth to the Republic's citizenry.

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=== District 5-9 ===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

'''District 5'''

'''Homewood:''' A large suburb on the eastern side of the city, with an artificial river built coming in from Severson's Rift. Home to the medium-upper and upper class families, this district is considered to be "almost as good as" Abaster Fields by its residents. Those with the wealth to live in Abaster Fields do not share the same opinion. Homewood's residents are often the middle echelon of corporate facilities, typically the leaders of a department that are rich enough to move out of the city itself, but not rich enough to move into Abaster Fields.

'''District 6'''

'''Imperial Plaza or [[Little Adhomai]]:''' The Imperial Plaza, nicknamed "Little Adhomai" due to its primarily [[Tajara|Tajaran]] population, has one of the highest crime rates in Mendell City. Gang violence, domestic disturbances, and drug trafficking are prevalent, and the district is not widely trafficked by those who reside outside of it. It has become a well-established centre of Tajaran culture in Tau Ceti.

'''District 7'''

'''Vega de Rosa:''' Vega de Rosa is an entertainment district home to casinos, nightclubs, bars, and theatres. At the centre of the district are its most expensive and elite clubs - with the Eridanian-operated Sa Majesté Musa regarded as the peak of Vega de Rosa. Reputed quality decreases as one heads out from the centre, with the lowest-quality venues barely scraping by on the outskirts of Vega de Rosa. This district shares a border with District Six, and the Vega de Rosa side of the border features a significant amount of Tajara-run casinos known for their quality and low cost.

'''District 8'''

'''Lekan District or [[Starlight Zone]]:''' Named after the City Commissioner Lekan Mugabe, who commissioned the development of the district, Lekan is an industrial centre housing the bulk of fusion power plants and water treatment plants of the city. This district is located on the shores of Severson's Rift, with multiple ports operating there. The district also houses massive recycling centres that neatly and efficiently sort through the thousands of tons of trash generated by the city. In recent years, the district now finds themselves at the middle of a [[Skrell]] refugee crisis.

'''District 9'''

'''[[Flagsdale]]:''' Also known as Vaur’xoer (‘The City Upside-down’), Flagsdale holds the largest concentration of Vaurcae in Mendell. Originally an unpopulated industrial slum, it has been largely repurposed by Vaurcae and mainly the Zo’ra Hive. The lack of streetlights and maze-like streets, many with debris or abandoned cars blocking them, make it hard for Mendell City Police to navigate and keep order. This, alongside the famine conditions, stranded Queenless Vaurcae, and illegal k’ois pits have made it largely a growing ground for disease, poverty and crime.

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=== District 10-15 ===
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

'''District 10'''

'''Republic's Landing:''' A large commercial district taking advantage of the multiple civilian shuttleports in the area. It has two amusement parks, ports for orbital cruise ships, various museums and other tourist attractions, and the world's largest hotel, the Crimson Heights. It has a direct maglev link to Districts five and three. A significant amount of Republic's Landing is zoned for residential development, with those that can afford or (or need the convenience) living here to avoid most of the commute to its shuttleports. District 10 is home to a significant Th'akh Unathi population, as it is home to the exiled monks of the [[Unathi_Abroad#Mendell_City_-_The_Akhanzi_Exiles|Akhanzi Order]].

'''District 11'''

'''Eleven:''' The result of urban sprawl and low-income housing, this district is regarded as the worst district in Mendell aside from districts nine. Along with district six, "Eleven" claims the dubious honor of possessing one of Mendell City's highest rates of violent crime. Gangs and criminal enterprise rule the abandoned streets, and many of the buildings are derelict structures. Attempts to revitalize this forgotten district have fallen flat, with legislation dedicated to revitalization and those dedicated to reforming the district not lasting long in Mendell City's municipal government. [[NanoTrasen]] often recruits entry-level staff from this district and houses them on the Odin in a mutually beneficial move; the new employee is "rescued" by their corporate benefactors, and NanoTrasen gets a fanatically loyal employee. [[Dionae_Clusters#The_Biesellian_Choir|A large community of Dionae live within District 11]], alongside the Eternal Temple. District 11 is also home to several [[Unathi]] criminal organizations, with the Aut'akh [[Aut'akh#The_Razortail_Enclave,_"the_Ruffians"|Razortail Enclave]] and the gang known as the [[Unathi_Abroad#Mendell_City_-_The_Bastard_Hatchlings|Bastard Hatchlings]] being the two most notable.

'''District 12'''

'''Xavier District:''' District 12 is one of the largest gathering of intellectual properties in human space. This single district has over twenty-five universities, fifteen colleges, thirty high schools, four training centers, and three NanoTrasen research facilities, as well as other corporate research laboratories. Xavier District is officially classed as a residential district, a measure proposed by NanoTrasen's liaison on City Council. Some suspect the lower property taxes in residential zones was perhaps the reason behind this. Formerly known as the Think Tank, this district was renamed in remembrance of Xavier Trasen shortly after the corporation firmly entrenched itself in the system.

'''District 13'''

'''Bullard Avenue:''' Although this northern district is much larger than the single avenue it is named for, Bullard Avenue is the economic centre of Mendell City. This district home to large banking centres, the Mendell City Stock market, and other finance institutions that help drive the commerce of one of the Orion Spur's wealthiest systems. Although the majority of the district is designated commercial properties, there are some residential complexes to be found here that are typically rented to those who work within the district. Many of the apartment buildings here are populated by Idris Incorporated employees and the IPCs that follow them everywhere, with service-model shells being a common sight.

'''District 14'''

'''New Detroit or The Scrapheap:''' An industrial district that houses a large portion of automated factories. Due to the recent embargo by the [[Sol Alliance]], the district has fallen on hard times as material shortages have reduced industrial output as the City attempts to stimulate growth through subsidizing domestic material production of plasteel through NanoTrasen to replace the other materials. The area has a large IPC community within it which is heavily discriminated against. The Trinary Perfection, a synthetic-centric religion, has a major presence here.

'''District 15'''

'''Jie District:''' The district where the majority of the city's low-income housing is located, this district is located on the outskirts of Mendell City but is not designated a suburb like D4 or D5. Before it was turned into subsidized housing, this area of the city was a location where displaced refugees of the First Interstellar War resided. This district was formerly known as the Suo District, named after the Sol Alliance admiral Wen Suo, however, this district was renamed after the Republic Navy Admiral Zheng Jie who grew up in this district following independence. Despite its patriotic name pro-Solarian sentiment is high the Jie District, which often feels abandoned by the Republic of Biesel in general.

</div></div>

=== Public Transportation ===

==== Mendell City Metro ====

The Mendell City Metro runs beneath the city’s fifteen districts, capable of carrying hundreds of thousands of people a day. It is a well-known avenue of public transportation, and it is the most utilized out of the other possibilities hosted within Mendell City. Hephaestus Industries and NanoTrasen have an ongoing deal with the Republic of Biesel regarding subsidized ticket fees for their employees and the sizes of both megacorporations mean the Mendell City Metro is one of the more congested public transportation options as well. Vagrants within the city often host themselves within the discontinued tunnels of the Mendell City Metro, some even referring to them as underground shanty towns due to the sheer size of some of the communities.

==== Shuttleports ====

Shuttleports are a necessary part of life on Biesel, especially Mendell City. Megacorporations have dozens of facilities hosted within the clutches of the void, resulting in many of their employees having to utilize shuttles in order to attend to their careers. Shuttleports are incredibly large and operate similar to what an airport would - including separate wings for arrivals and departures, with round-the-clock displays of their expected times. Leisure tickets for shuttles aren’t cheap, and multiple rides can come at quite a cost. However, shuttles used exclusively to attend to places of employment are often heavily subsidized, and can even be said to be affordable for janitors.

==== Interdistrict Highway ====

The Interdistrict Highway was a project implemented by President Joseph Dorn early on in his presidential term and was introduced to decrease congestion building upon the smaller roads across the fifteen districts. It wraps around a significant portion of Mendell City and allows for smooth travelling for those with their own personal vehicles - with a small fee at tollbooths. Those without a personal vehicle can ride the Interdistrict Route, the cheapest public transportation option available to those living in Mendell City, that utilizes several hundred buses to ferry their passengers across the districts.

==== Severson’s Ferry ====

The Severson’s Ferry is a vestige of what was previously an interconnected system throughout Mendell City, using districts with harbours as pick-up points - sometimes even transporting passengers across the rift to Phoenixport. The availability of other means of public transport almost rendered it defunct, but the revival of Phoenixport - and the flooding of refugees into Mendell City - has seen it rise to popularity once again. Despite the rivalry between Einstein Engines’ Phoenixport and the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate’s Mendell City, the industry is busy as of late, with tourism continuing to climb.

==Other Major Cities==

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==== Cape City ====
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Otherwise known as the “City of Splendor” by many Biesellites, is a city focused heavily on entertainment, production of holovids, and exorbitant tourist attractions. Situated around and on the side of Mount Nevermeet in the midst of the Cape Sea, the entertainment centre sits comfortably by scenic vistas, large themed resorts, and studios for filming and recording. However, due to unique labor laws, it has gained a bad reputation among non-humans for being exploitative and predatory in their practices. Any xenos looking to gain entry into fields like animation, studio production, acting, and the like face harsh stereotypes and discrimination, poorer qualities of living, and shop and drop contracts (hiring someone, forcing them to work an unusually high amount of hours a week, then “dropping” them if they protest or request different hours after a short period contract expires). Nonetheless, Cape City is on the up-and-up, and only time will tell its rise to the intergalactic stage as a media giant or not.
</div></div>
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==== Phoenixport ====
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In a similar way to Mendell City, Selene's capital, Phoenixport, is located along the inner coast of its continent along Severson's Rift. After rebranding as a "successor" to Mendell City, the city gained prominence and briefly achieved its goal. Phoenixport was briefly successful, but fell off the radar and eventually became a breeding ground for nefarious behaviour. In another effort to revive interest in the city, government officials introduced replicas of various ancient architectural wonders. Examples include the Eiffel Tower and the Parthenon. Overall, the construction scheme did improve the quality of the city and even attracted large numbers of tourists eager to see the wonders rebuilt far from the dire conditions on Earth.

[[KING_OF_THE_WORLD#LANDMARK_COURT_DECISION_SEES_EINSTEIN_ENGINES_DEFEAT_NANOTRASEN!|In late 2462]], Phoenixport was acquired by [[Einstein Engines]] in a landmark auction. [[NanoTrasen]], however, did not take the transfer of ownership idly - any NanoTrasen employees within Phoenixport were given until March of 2463 to relocate or be summarily fired. After an appeal by NanoTrasen in 2464, which proved that Einstein Engines had illegally acquired assets within Phoenixport, much of the corporate assets found themselves up for grabs yet again. Despite assistance from [[Idris Incorporated]], NanoTrasen failed to secure a majority holding within Phoenixport, with Einstein Engines continuing its hegemony over the city. Subsequently, the discrimination faced by those in Phoenixport by local law enforcement has decreased significantly, as well as the "random" searches of Phoenixport-flagged spacecraft. Some of those forced from their homes during the original dispute have since begun to slowly return.
</div></div>
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==== Belle Côte ====
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
Situated at the southernmost edge of the Pandeia Penisula, hedged in by the Greatkrag ranges, Belle Côte is considered Biesel’s centre of finance, fashion and arts. The Selenian Moth, an insect that produces a resilient fibre that is common in textile manufacturing, was discovered by colonists early on in the development of the colony. A result of this discovery was the rapid decline of fishing and the emergence of the fashion industry. With an annual show, Belle Cote pushed the boundaries of fashion vogue and still does so to this day. Those living in Belle Côte are often considered to be a bit stuck up, looking down on others who don't keep up to date with their trendy outlandish trends. Even the poorest dress themselves in their eccentric styles. It is a popular honeymoon and wedding destination, which the artisanal community has begun franchising upon.
</div></div>
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==== Ashton ====
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In the heart of Selene, Ashton sits among miles of rolling farmlands that are home to dozens of different species of flora, including some that are native to Biesel. Due to its dominant agricultural industry, the community's economy has become centred on agriculture, as illustrated by its bimonthly Ashton farmer's market, which draws residents from surrounding cities alike and has become a cornerstone of the community's economy. As a whole, Ashtons are noted for being incredibly welcoming and cheerful. In recent years, Ashton has become home to [[Unathi_Abroad#Ashton_-_The_Escapees|a significant Unathi diaspora]], as many refugees from [[the Wasteland]] of [[Moghes]] were resettled there.
</div></div>
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==== Scottsdan ====
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The continental capital of Eos and the industrial giant of Biesel. Its abundance of raw resources, provided by the Sevul Range, and the refinery processing capabilities has resulted in megacorporations expanding their operations within the city. There is a growing robotics industry, with Hephaestus Industries, Confiance Technologies and Terranius Diagnostics locked in a perpetual war of dominance. Most of the goods produced within Scottsdan are transported via monorails designed to carry freight to Portsville, the closest port to both Mendell City and Phoenixport on Eos. Citizens of Scottsdan are remarkably hard-working according to the megacorporations, however, some prefer to call them stuck up doormats due to their snooty, sycophant tendencies.
</div></div>
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==== Top of the World ====
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
'''Top of the World:''' Previously a sleepy town, Lakeside has now shot to prominence after Miranda Trasen herself funded the borough. Several acreages along the coast of Griff's Lake were cleared to construct a gated community floating along the lake, with many of the original residents of Lakeside offered contracts to move to Ashton, New Marfa, or Mendell to make room for roads, parking lots, and bridges to the community.

Now, Top of the World is uniquely populated by those who are gifted access by Miranda Trasen herself, or those able to afford the ridiculously expensive “warranty”. Only the highest of echelons exist within the man-made island. Beneath its surface exists an experimental fusion reactor of unprecedented scale that some residents have accused of being dangerously radioactive, though authorities assure residents there is no danger found in its proximity to Lakeside.

Prior to 2463, an entire community of positronics was manufactured by NanoTrasen that existed purely to maintain Top of the World. After 2463, these IPCs have been made obsolete after the introduction of a triumvirate of artificial intelligences; Exteriores, Interiorem and Centrum. They coordinate with an array of bound drones, completing the tasks previously assigned to hundreds of independent positronic bodies, a cost-saving measure compared to aging IPCs. Said IPCs were quickly placed into other jobs or positions within NanoTrasen, typically far more dangerous than the previous maintenance and janitorial duties.

The quality of life between Top of the World and Lakeside is stark. Poverty grips the majority of the population nestled within the backwater town. Dilapidated houses are a common sight within Lakeside, even entire houses sunken into the growing marsh.
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==== Portsville ====
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Portsville was originally established as a fishing and shipbuilding hub in the early decades of Biesel's colonisation. For decades, the city was prosperous, supplying the planet with massive cargo ships to traverse its great blue oceans. After Biesel’s independence from the Alliance, however, Solarian subsidies for the industry disappeared and NanoTrasen found that shipbuilding was now cost-inefficient due to the continuing decrease of shipping goods by shuttle or spacecraft. The company withdrew most of its investment in the city’s heavy industry nearly overnight, causing the local economy to recede and the city itself to gradually decay into a patchwork of run-down apartment blocks, abandoned shipyards, and fishing ports in desperate need of maintenance.

Recently, however, [[Hephaestus Industries]] has brought up much of these abandoned facilities with hopes of retooling the city into a spaceship production centre on Biesel. This has also coincided with the megacorporation inviting many Martian refugees fleeing from the [[Mars#The Violet Dawn Explosion|Violet Dawn disaster]] to resettle in the city to work at these new facilities. Ports-Ville itself is unprepared for this great migration of people and is in the middle of a severe housing shortage, with many new arrivals finding themselves living in makeshift tent-town camps as a result. It is yet to be seen if this new investment by Hephaestus Industries will pay off and revitalise the city once more, as the influx of Martian refugees has so far only continued to strain the city’s already declining economy.
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==== New Marfa ====
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Established along the eastern coastline of Eos, New Marfa is one of few cities on Biesel without megacorporate dominance, which is largely attributed to its status as a hub for [[Republic of Elyra|Elyran]] migrants; half if not most of the citizens are either Elyran immigrants and expatriates or directly descended from one. Elyran culture is dominant in the city, to the point that at a glance, it has become nearly indistinguishable from a city in Persepolis. Elyran megacorporations retain a minority over the market with the SCC megacorporations, and the competition has led to a flourishing synthetic development sector. With a thriving glass refining industry and healthy technology sector, New Marfa’s advancements in the fields of robotics are said to be at least a year ahead of everything else on Biesel.
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==== Craterview ====
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Craterview has managed to become the vacation and resort city of the Republic of Biesel, with large [[Idris Incorporated|Idris]] Hotels lining the interior perimeter of the beaches and small family-run motels dotting the plots of land surrounding the beaches. Crime rates soar the farther one strays from the city centre, as locals defraud and steal from tourists drawn to their slice of Biesel. Other than the tourism industry, the fishing industry also does well, leading to a growing presence of local seafood hibachi restaurants. In addition to year-round sunshine and tropical climate, Craterview is occasionally interrupted by tropical storms; most notably, in the early 24th century, Craterview was entirely flooded by a particularly intense tropical storm and rebuilt from nearly the ground up. It is no wonder that boat races have become an attraction, even becoming an event for betting. In the rich suburbs, marinas line beachfront estates where [[Eridani Federation Military|Eridani Private Military Contractors]] are often spotted. It is well known that residents of Craterview are both competitive and skeptical of the wealthy.
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{{Navbox Human Lore}}
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[[Category:Planets and Systems]]
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User:WhatsUpBrotendo/GUH

2024-07-06T04:27:39Z

La Villa Strangiato: /* Relations with Megacorporations */

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{{Navbox Skrell Lore}}
{{Infobox Species
|Species = [[Skrell]]
|Scientific = S. Sapiens
|Image = Skrell.png
|System = [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#The_Core_System_:_Nralakk|Nralakk (Jargon)]]
|World = [[Qerrbalak|Nralakk IV (Qerrbalak)]]
|Language = [[Skrell#Language|Skrellian (Nral'Malic)]], Tau Ceti Basic
|Politic = [[Nralakk_Federation|Nralakk Federation]]
}}

An amphibious species whose passion lies in the field of the combined sciences, the '''Skrell''' are the oldest and most advanced known species present on the galactic stage. The Skrell evolved on a planet covered in vast swamps and freshwater seas, hence their amphibious qualities. These include moist, pliant, and nearly translucent skin, as well as their internal gills allowing them to breathe underwater.

Although humans have fractured heavily in their expansion, the Skrell remain largely unified under a singular government through the strict reinforcement of education and laws, working as a democratic meritocracy - at least on the surface. Social media is maintained by the Federation government, who gag unacceptable discussions or thoughts and instead encourages people to be like the Idols that they reward with credits, high-quality housing, and fine living.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==Heads of Staff==

Skrell can be the following heads of staff:

* Captain
* Head of Security
* Chief Engineer
* Executive Officer
* Chief Medical Officer
* Research Director
* Operations Manager
* Consulars / Representatives

==Relations with Megacorporations==

Skrell can work for every megacorporation within the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]], and are accepted as agents into Conglomerate internal affairs. Several megacorporations have special relationships with the species and the [[Nralakk Federation]]; [[Zeng-Hu_Pharmaceuticals]] in particular has a large presence in Federation space, while [[Nralakk_Federation#State-Owned_Enterprises|others]] have begun to work in partnership with the Federation's state-owned corporations.

== Mechanics ==

===Species Mechanics===

*Skrell have their own language that can be used by typing ''',k''' before anything you say, and can also be used over the radio.

*Skrell can use a variety of different psionic abilities.

*Skrell can enter Srom with other Skrell when they sleep, allowing communication and lucid dreaming.

*Slimes are naturally passive to skrell for a [[Skrell#Slimes|mysterious reason]] science has yet to find out.

*Skrell have the ability to breathe underwater due to them being amphibious.

*Due to their advanced vestibular system, Skrell maintain a good balance and never slip.

*Skrell have large heads with protruding headtails and due to this, they cannot wear normal EVA helmets but instead need to wear Skrell helmets (found in EVA or by using a suit cycler). Their headtails also make it uncomfortable or even impossible to wear normal headwear such as hats so most Skrell opt-out of that.

*Skrell have a hemocyanin-based circulatory system, meaning that their blood is instead bound to copper atoms and not iron atoms. Skrell require copper supplements to alleviate blood loss symptoms.

===Axiori Mechanics===

*Axiori take increased burn damage due to their natural habitat being colder.

*Axiori take decreased oxygen and brute damage due to the increased pressure of their natural habitat.

*Axiori must drink fluids more regularly when out of water.

*Axiori sprint slower due to their larger, webbed feet.

*Axiori have a naturally higher pulse due to their increased circulatory needs.

==Skrell History==
''See also: [[Skrell History]]''

The Skrell have a vast, storied history as a result of the species developing over several millennia. Unfortunately, this means that most of it has been lost to the ravages of time. With that said, however, the species has been able to piece together over the centuries at least a basic understanding of their past, going as far back as their early pre-history. Much of the information once gathered has had to be rediscovered post-Glorsh, due to the locking of the Tzqul Archive which held the vast majority of original records and research. This has culminated in a historical record that while broadly known, is missing details and evidence that has the scientific community fractured and constantly debating to this day.

== Biology ==

''See also: [[Skrell Ailments]]''

Adapted for life both beneath and above the waves, the Skrell are fully amphibious and are capable of breathing underwater whilst also possessing superior underwater vision. Their extremities are noted as having a lack of nails, and a presence of strong webbing in between each digit. Due to their evolutionary path, the Skrell instead have hardened gums in place of teeth. Typically, these gums allow them to chew on soft foods, facilitate the ability to swallow their foods whole, or grind them down into more digestible forms.

They do not have visible noses, instead through nostril slits sitting in the middle of their face on a fleshy mound. Skrell have an average height ranging from '''4’5” to 5’5”'''. The lack of significant facial muscles proves to make it difficult for non-Skrell to identify the species' emotions, which makes them seem rather cold and unaffected when in reality Skrell use a variety of methods to display their emotions. Emotional displays include the gesturing and general movement of their head and headtails, and a wide array of vocalisations. Their eyes are black due to a pigment in their tear ducts.

Skrell also have tentacle-like "headtails" typically hanging down over their shoulders, meant to keep the skin close to the neck damp for the incubation of eggs. These headtails typically contain hundreds, even thousands, of micro-muscles that allow the Skrell to move them into a variety of positions. Though these muscles do not allow for the ability for fine control, they can generally be raised, positioned and wiggled into various forms. These headtails grow throughout the entirety of a Skrell's life and signify the age of a Skrell, as they grow longer with age. With the inception of Spa treatments, it is not uncommon for Skrell to alter the length of their headtails, whether for fashion or personal taste, or to appear older or wiser to other Skrell. These headtails are often adorned with jewels, cloths, chains, and bands as a fashion statement. Headtails can also be "tied back" as well; while this may seem uncomfortable or painful, as long as the tie is not too tight it is equivalent to folding ones hands. They are also used for emotional displays and gesturing.

Skrell are noted to be cold-blooded, which means that their bodies are at the same temperature as the air or water around them. When they are cold they will seek warmth, and vice versa when they get too hot. Whilst they are cold-blooded, they are dissimilar to other species within the Orion Spur, sapient and unsapient. The Skrell have a much higher tolerance for either side of the temperature gauge and are usually comfortable in any given environment - provided that the humidity and moisture levels are satisfactory.

=== Physical Appearance ===

''See also: [[Skrell Ethnicities]]''

Whilst gelatinous in appearance, Skrell skin in fact has a second layer of less translucent flesh under the surface. In dry climates, it may get itchy, and even start to slightly crack. To prevent this, a Skrell may self-moisturize by dumping bottles of water on themselves, taking a hot shower, or swimming in available pools. Although exact time varies from individual to individual, NanoTrasen stations' climate control is equipped to allow their Skrell personnel to work without additional moisturizing for up to four hours without suffering negative effects on skin health. Wealthier Skrell, on the other hand, may purchase expensive genetic treatments to stay comfortable for up to a week without moisturizing.

Skrell skin notably contains glands that secrete mucus. While it is not sticky or poisonous, it serves an important role in allowing Skrell to avoid being grappled by potential predators, protecting their skin, and keeping them moist. The sliminess of an individual Skrell can vary based on genetics, some being extremely dry to the point of flaking, others nearly dripping with the stuff. It's generally described as damp, slippery, but not unpleasant to touch.

Natural Skrell skin colour is dependent on subspecies and can range from deep blues to bold greens or even vibrant reds. Diet is also a determining factor, with brightness and shade being affected based on pigment consumed. Genetic engineers have worked with physical appearance to accelerate natural changes in skin colour and headtail length, and are capable of giving a 'Spa treatment' to change hue and saturation in the skin over the course of a month, while changing headtail length takes about a year while also causing an increased appetite. This type of physical alteration is considered normal in Skrell society and is compared to humans dyeing their hair a different colour. Also notable is the fact that physical disorders and abnormalities are not seen as disgusting, but worthy of study and interest.

=== Genders and Sexes ===

''See also: [[Skrell Relationships#Unions|Skrell Relationships]]''

Skrell, dissimilar to other sapient species in the Orion Spur, never developed the concept of gender within their society -- mostly due to the fact they are synchronous hermaphrodites, possessing the ability to both lay and fertilize eggs. Whilst Skrell do not have sex or gender identity, they are open to adapting to the gender roles of other species due to their enjoyment of foreign cultures.

While Skrell never developed the concept of genders in their society, upon first contact with humanity they adopted the idea solely for fitting in with human cultures. If the Skrell choose to adopt a gender identity, they will usually adopt the gender of humans who their personality is similar too. Skrell almost never consider this adopted identity to be of any considerable importance. However, terms do exist to characterize the biological attributes relating to the production and fertilization of egg clutches. These terms are known as '''F'ex'Qa''' (The Egg-Layer) and '''F'ex'Tra''' (The Egg-Fertilizer) amongst the species. These designations are usually temporary for the duration of reproduction and can change over time.

=== Aging, Maturity and Fertility ===

Skrell reach physical maturity at about triple the age of humans, complemented by the Skrell understanding of adulthood going far beyond physical growth to include experience. A Skrell will reach biological maturity at roughly the age of 50, but in Skrellian society will only be treated as reaching "adulthood" after their second college-level degree is earned, usually at around the ages of 60 - 80. A healthy Skrell can naturally live up to 250 years, but current medical technology within the Nralakk Federation allows them to increase their lifespans to an impressive 450 to 500 years. Those living outside of Federation space can see lifespans topping out at around 350.

Due to the lingering effects of Glorsh's attempts to genetically manipulate Skrell, a sizeable percentage are completely sterile. Thanks to the intense research efforts of numerous Skrell and non-Skrell doctors and scientists, specialists have the capability to at least partially reverse these effects in most Skrell. The extensive treatments and investments needed to undergo treatment give the reality that only about a third (33%) of Skrell can have children. These Skrell can hope to produce 1-3 children in their lifetime, whereas pre-X'Lu'oa Skrell could have eight eggs hatch at a time. Without treatments, affected eggs remain inert, not developing.

== Skrell Culture ==
=== Federation Social Interactions ===

''See also: [[Skrell Culture|Skrell Culture]]''

[[File:Skrience.jpg|thumb|alt=|Two scientists after debating over a hypothesis. One revels in glory, while the other is reworking their weeks study. Both of them are being recorded for their studies to be shown on social media, where the victorious one might even gain a reward. Skrell often try to one-up others to try and gain more prestige and fame: However, it is still seen as cooperative to compete.]]

In the Federation, one’s position in the social hierarchy determines much about how interactions with other Skrell are to go. Skrell of lower social standing are expected to defer to their higher ranked superiors not just in a work setting, but in almost all things. While the lower rank Skrell may not agree they will often pretend to agree to avoid suffering the small SCS hits that can come about due to arguing with their betters. This effect isn’t as pronounced when two Skrell have ranks that are adjacent to one another, but an Ox arguing with an Oqi is shameful.

In a similar vein, when skrell are out in public without wearing their uniforms it's entirely normal to bombard those you have just met with probing questions when you start up a conversation to understand what to say and what not to say - and if they should even socialize with that person. Questions about their age, their fields, their education and so on are all perfectly good questions to ask seconds after meeting a new skrell. This directness in conversation is not seen as offensive, but an efficient and speedy method of communication. This sort of interaction outside the Federation commonly causes friction with xenos and the Federation offers warnings to its citizens going abroad about this cultural contrast. Non-skrell seem to not appreciate the general openness of Federation society.

Telepathic communication is a common way to have a private conversation in public. As long as the two Skrell in question are not obviously excluding someone suddenly, it is not considered unusual to carry out full conversations in telepathic communion.

Other uses of active psionics in non-work settings is often frowned upon as “unseemly”. For example, planting emotional suggestions in another skrell’s head without consent is the same as a human using “fighting words” and can result in an emotional barrage being exchanged between the two skrell, the victor being the Skrell that maintains the most control over themselves.

Because of their long lifespan, Skrell tend to have a “long view” not common in other races. Passive observation and study is far preferred than immediate action, and do not mind that decades or even centuries can pass before their decisions begin to pay off. Older Skrell can seemingly make incomprehensible decisions, but further investigation often reveals that these choices are often related to carefully laid plans.

=== Language ===

To a human, '''Nral'Malic''' would sound like a series of warbles, croaks, and weird crackling-like sounds that seem to not resonate in the ear, but the neck or the jaw. This is due to Skrell having a range of pitches beyond human perception. These sounds are crucial to understanding the language properly as they elicit specific responses in a Skrell's brain, allowing for both easy and correct transmission of emotion. As a result of this, the only species outside of Skrell who can speak Nral'malic with any level of proficiency are Diona, with Vaurca technically being able to with the assistance of a language augment. Employees of [[Zeng-Hu_Pharmaceuticals|Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] who work or have worked in the Federation have access to translators as well, but these are limited to receiving translations, rather than allowing the user to speak Nral'Malic.

The language was created in '''925 BCE''' by the scientific community in response to the colonisation of other planets and the prediction that language drift would be unavoidable. The '''First Nralakk Federation''' began to enforce the widespread adaptation of the language shortly after its formation in '''878 CE''', disallowing any colonists from entering a shuttle if they couldn't speak it fluently. As scientific communities exclusively used Nral'malic, the use of other languages became less and less common, only being used in poetry and other forms of art. Amazingly, these strict rules enforced by the Federation have allowed the language to survive almost a thousand years with the same diction used then.

Along with actual language, Skrell utilise a range of sounds to emphasise a certain emotion or feeling associated with what they're saying. This can include; squealing, shrilling, warbling, croaking, chirping, chirruping and quiet grunting. As a general rule, higher-pitched sounds are associated more with positive or sudden emotions, such as happiness or being startled; lower-pitched noises are typically associated with more negative or neutral emotions, such as anger or hunger. Melodic noises such as crooning or trilling are more ambiguous and could be used to convey any sort of emotion.

Slang terms, idioms, and phrases used by Skrell typically evoke aquatic or celestial themes, stemming from the prevalence and importance of both in the eyes of Skrell across the Spur.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
====Typical Skrell Slang====
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
<div><ul>
'''Labels'''

These are names, titles and other terms used to address someone based on one or more of their characteristics.

* '''Tadpole''' - a young or juvenile individual. Can also be used as an insult similar to calling someone "child-like".
* '''Brown Dwarf''' - an individual that has failed to reach their potential. Typically used to address those who have failed in some way.
* '''Protostar''' - a young, ambitious individual. Those who are just starting their careers are labelled this the most often but it can refer to any up-and-comer regardless of age.
* '''Supernova''' - an individual that has slowly begun leaving the public eye. Headlines will refer to an idol as "going supernova" to refer to their declining fame.
* '''Voidbeckoned''' - an individual that is careless, reckless or dangerous. In modern times this is used extensively towards non-Skrell who are seen as reckless and uneducated, but is not exclusive to non-Skrell.
* '''Sparks''' - slang for non-Skrell, due to their comparatively short lifespans. Not considered an insult or slur by itself, and can be used in a positive, negative, or neutral manner.
* '''Elder''' - an accomplished, elderly individual.
* '''Webfoot''' - discreet term for someone who partakes in Xu’Xi gas. Originates from the "waddle" many Xu'Xi Gas users have while high.
* '''Gasrunner''' - someone involved in the importing or dealing of Xu’Xi Gas.

The labels below are used rather than PhD, MD, or other degree titles in Federation space. It is common to see them used by Skrell abroad, either alongside or superseded by more known titles such as Doctor or Professor.

* '''Lu'vesi''' - Dropout - Lvs. - Void Graduate
* '''Aqm'vesi''' - 1 degree - Aqvs. - Junior Graduate
* '''Qro'vesi''' - 2 degrees - Qrvs. - Graduate
* '''Qu'vesi''' - 3 degrees - Quvs. - Star Graduate

'''Insults, Slurs, and Crude Slang'''

Terms that are considered rude or otherwise impolite by Skrell in general.

* '''Sims''' - abbreviated version of simians, a slur for humans.
* '''Labber''' - abbreviated version of sympathizers of Glorsh, from "collaborator". It is considered a slur.
* '''Skinjob''' - a derogatory slur for synthetic shells.
* '''Canner''' - a derogatory slur for synthetics.
* '''Inclems''' - an abbreviated version of Inclements, meaning unpleasantly cold. A slur for the Tajara.
* '''Ratsnatcher''' - another derogatory slur for Tajara that originated in the Starlight Zone.
* '''Wasters''' - an abbreviated version of Wastelanders, which stems from the situation on Moghes. It is a slur for Unathi.
* '''Senseless''' - non-Skrell not outfitted with a psionic implant. It is also used to describe someone who has a dull mind.
* '''Orb''' - a common container used in the transporting of Xu’Xi Gas.
* '''Sqrug''' - normally a derogatory term for an addict of Xu’Xi or other drugs that has no future. Said by non-users; can also be used in jest between Gasriders or as a general expletive.
* '''Gupkala/Guppies/Gup/Guppy''' - a mocking word for law enforcement within the Federation or abroad.
* '''Grotto''' - a rundown building in which Xu’Xi gas is inhaled. Thought to originate from the Weishii faith, which uses groves and grottos as places of worship.
* '''Piisz''' - a batch of synthetic Xu’Xi or Xu’Xi of questionable quality.
* '''Toady/Toad''' - a criminal or otherwise disreputable Skrell. Refers to how these individuals give other Skrell a bad name, and contribute to the xenophobia they face.
* '''Coral Stem''' - inhaler from which Xu’Xi gas is ingested from.
* '''Drylister''' - a Skrell (or non-Skrell) who has been born abroad but finds themself under Federation surveillance by the Ruupkala due to perceived deviancy against the Nralakk Federation; landing them on the “drylist”. The topic of the drylist is considered taboo by regular Federation citizens.
* '''Tidal/Tided''' - Something being absurd or otherwise dangerous, or someone who is insane. Comes from "Insanity of the Tides", a neurological disorder found in Skrell.
* '''Chapped''' - as in chapped skin. General insult to someone's appearance. Can also be used to refer to non-Skrell in general.

'''Sayings'''
* '''I've Tup'd''' - a form of "I've won", or "I've peaked."
* '''I've been Tup'd''' - a form of "I've lost".
* '''Wake up''' - a dismissive form of saying an individual is lazy.
* '''Algae''' - shorthand for "all good".
* '''Mudvein''' - a word used to describe withdrawal symptoms of Xu'Xi gas since withdrawal is said to feel like mud flowing through your veins. As an extension to this, "Mudlover" refers to someone who is constantly on and off drugs.
* '''Too moist''' - a scornful way of saying an individual is too traditional, and not adapting to modern culture.
* '''Too dry''' - a scornful way of saying an individual is far too progressive, radical even.
* '''Zipped''' - to be high on Xu’Xi Gas.
* '''The stars grow brighter''' - a euphemism for an individual dying.
* '''Steel Rained''' - an expression coined shortly after the aftermath of Glorsh-Omega, where orbital installations rained back down onto the planetary surface due to lack of maintenance. It's similar to the phrase "being stonewalled" as these orbital installations crashing down heavily disrupted attempts to recover from Glorsh-Omega's rule.
* '''Stars and void''' - a general exclamation, usually out of shock or frustration.
* '''Stars damned/Void damned''' - a general exclamation, usually out of anger. Can also be used in surprise, similar to "well I'll be damned".
* '''Stars guide''' - a polite way of saying farewell.
* '''Shelled/kelped''' - sold or wagered. Originates from the currency of the Nralakk Federation, which is shaped like seashells or strands of pressed kelp.
* '''Ink-stained/Inky''' - a concept, object, or person that brings sadness or stress. Refers to the ink-black tear stains that surround a Skrell's eyes as a result of stress.
</div></ul>
</div></div>

There is also a more expressive, non-verbal form of language that is known as '''Nral'Balak''' by the Skrell, which developed naturally in response to the difficulties of expressing emotion while in the presence of other species. It has been observed that Skrell feeling '''upset''', or '''disgruntled''', may blow their cheeks out, similar to that of the Solarian Anura Species - which has added onto the slur of calling the species "Frogs". It is also notable that some scrunch their headtails up, emitting several chirrups that are deliberate and obtusely released, sometimes even narrowing their eyes in an attempt to make themselves seem much larger and more aggressive than they actually are. It is theorised that this is a holdover from the species' early days, when predators and other fatal situations were more commonplace.

==Psionics==

Among the species of the Spur, all catalogued sentient races possess a “Zona Bovinae”, located within the Brain. This organ was presumed to be responsible for some form of communication by Human scientists who discovered it in the domesticated cow in 2256, and subsequently in all other species on Earth. It was found that herd animals, like the cow, had a developed Zona Bovainae, while solitary animals held atrophied versions of the organ.

Beyond this research, Humanity could find no greater purpose for the Zona Bovainae. Outside of the discovery Humans universally possessed the organ, scientists proved unable to crack the secrets of its function. Many wrote it off as a vestigial part of the brain that first developed during Humanity’s pre-agricultural epoch.

The Zona Bovinae continued to be a novel discovery until First Contact with the '''Skrell''' in '''2332'''. During the exchange of information that occurred upon First Contact, human scientists noticed Skrell had extremely well-developed Zona Bovainae and when the science community inquired on the subject, Skrell explained the existence of Psionics.

Psionics are the manipulation of metaphysical forces through concentrated effort employing the Zona Bovainae. While an inordinate amount of research has gone into studying Psionics, the origin of this force is still a mystery. Even without this knowledge, the Skrell have developed many technologies around the application and effects of Psionics.

All organic life originating from the Spur possesses a Zona Bovainae, and sequentially, can be affected by Psionics. Research into the topic revealed that the level of interaction with Psionics the Skrell are capable of is destructively overwhelming to other Spur sentients and continuous strong exposure can have long-lasting damaging effects both physically and mentally. There are documented cases of ailments such as '''Psionic Echoes''' manifesting after continued exposure to psionics. The Nralakk Federation and Solarian Alliance have cooperated together to form laws against the usage of Psionics on unwilling or unaugmented sentients. These laws have been almost universally adopted by most human nations across the Spur. Generally, the unconsented usage of Psionics on an individual is considered battery or assault, depending on the severity. Those fitted with Psionic Receivers are considered allowed bodies to send Psionic Communications to, but any other actions require explicit consent by the receiver.

=== The Nlom ===

Everyone possessing a Zona Bovaine has a “thought field” known as a Psionic Wake, or “Nlom” in Nral’Malic, but only Skrell produce a large enough Wake on an individual level to influence their everyday lives.

The Psionic Wake of an individual can be easily visualized as a ripple radiating off of them and travelling outward. These ripples can hit other Skrell and affect their thoughts and perspectives. Over time, a Wake Bubble will form around the area Skrell routinely inhabit, allowing individual Wakes to travel much further. These bubbles can and will eventually come to encompass entire planets as the Skrell population increases and they spread out over the world. The main limiting factor of Psionic Wakes is space, as the signals swiftly deteriorate when exposed to vacuum. Most planetary Wake Bubbles cease expansion when they come into contact with the vacuum of space, with minor fluctuations depending on total population, supporting psionic infrastructure, and other environmental qualities.

Humans living in Nralakk or the First Wave Systems alongside the huge Skrell populace have reported suffering from mild feelings of isolation and loneliness if they leave after at least a decade of habitation. Scientists of both species suspect that continuous low-level exposure to Psionic activity stimulated the Zona Bovaine without causing harm and their sudden disconnection causes the reported psychological effects. Luckily, these effects are usually only a passing annoyance.“Nlom Withdrawal” can be easily treated and lasts only briefly, usually three or four days treated, a week untreated.

=== [[The_Srom|The Srom]] ===

When Skrell enter a deep sleep, their Zona Bovaine will cease transmitting Psionic Wakes and begin sending new signals to the Dream, or “Srom” in Nral’Malic. The Dream is a shared subconscious plane where multiple Skrell’s minds interconnect to form a collective experience.

Psionic individuals can actively alter and adjust things within the Dream through skill and effort, but the level of alteration is heavily dependent on what you’re adjusting and your own psionic aptitude. Typically, it's most easy to modify your own body within the Dream and a very common practice. Some Skrell even go so far as to make costumes to sleep in to make the transition easier. Rarely, talented Skrell can modify a sizable chunk of the Dream’s environment on their own, though the process can be very taxing and leave the sleeping Skrell feeling tired after they wake. Additionally, any changes they make gradually revert once they leave the Dream.

It is difficult to keep one's lips sealed in the Dream, with social inhibitions easily melting away. However, it is also much easier to create and brainstorm in Srom. Ways to hide from the dream clutter of a Dream are somewhat numerous. Distancing yourself inside the Dream is the most common tactic, but it is also known that aluminum (typically headpieces, blankets, or plated walls) blocks off the connection to the Dream entirely.

Srom-devices are often two-way interfaces within a dream bubble, and dreamers can learn to interact with them to operate machinery in the waking world. With the right setup, a scientist can continue his work into his sleep. One example of practical application is an interface between a bluespace navigation drive and three Skrell pilots, who will plot bluespace trajectories at the same speed, or faster than an AI from human space. It's very difficult to concentrate in the Dream, which means Skrell require a large amount of training and practice to operate Srom-devices.

Typically, to interface with a Srom device, the operating Skrell needs to be completely cut off inside an aluminum plated room to focus on the device. Additionally, not being cut off could lead to other Skrell locating the device in the dream and interfering with its controls.

=== Receivers and Listeners ===

Skrell are commonly divided into two psionic categories -- receivers and listeners. This difference is decided genetically on birth and splits the Skrell roughly 9:1, with the majority being receivers. Currently, there is no genetic screening that can accurately predict the type of psionic category a Skrell will fall into, nor is there any way to modify it. The phenomenon is informally known as ‘The Great Lottery’.

Receivers and Listeners differ in their individual submission to the greater Wakes around them; while Receivers are psionically guided to accept the common ideas and influences currently circulating Skrell society, Listeners feel much less outside pressure to conform or unnaturally agree with the ideas at hand. Because of this, Listeners are often looked upon with suspicion, while Receivers are usually found in the upper echelons of Skrell society. Some Skrell find it difficult to classify themselves and have been known to feel more or less attuned to the Wake at different points in their life. Regardless, most Listeners often succumb to the powerful psionic force of the Wake and become conformed to society one way or another.

Some Listener groups have recently begun to stir with increased ostracization, government surveillance, and general prejudice from the more popular Receivers. While these groups promote Listener advocacy in a peaceful way, a select few underground cells have begun teaching a more extreme, “psionic-isolationist” idealism, where Listeners purposefully disconnect themselves from the Nlom.

=== Telepathy ===

Active communication while awake requires an immense amount of focus. This allows for Skrell to send messages to other species and creatures, but because of the risk to non-Skrell the Federation has deemed this on non-consenting alien species to be a criminal offense similar to battery or assault. The Federation internally ensures it’s citizens are aware of the risks before leaving Federation space as to dissuade mind-probing being outlawed entirely in other systems. Skrell will use this ability to gossip or send secrets, communicating without others knowing. The effects of long-term exposure to other species have only been lightly researched, as Skrell scientists are exceedingly empathetic to the volunteers' pain and end up cancelling the studies. Saying this, more intensive studies have been conducted through [[Federation_Crime_and_Resistance#Unsanctioned_Research|unsanctioned research]] ventures. However, scientists who have attempted to delve into this field have often lost their Idol status and are often given harsh sentences for their actions.

'''OOC Notes on telepathy'''

* Psionic Pinging a location for the pure reason of hunting down Synths is just not in good taste. Don't do it without prior suspicion, and if you somehow confirm it, use different RP avenues! Perhaps instead of reporting them, you extort them? Don't shut down a character idea, but instead entertain it.

* Telepathy can be used for conversations as well as conveying images, sounds, and feelings. Make sure you format it in a way that makes this apparent, such as "You hear/see ___ in your mind". While you can project feelings, this does not mean you can force someone to genuinely feel that emotion. Likewise, you cannot seriously hurt someone just by projecting the idea that they have been hurt.

=== Circadian Rhythm ===

''See also: [[Skrell_Ailments#Psionic_Over.2FUnder-Sleeping|Skrell Ailments]]''

Some Skrell fall into the categories of an oversleeper or an undersleeper. Oversleepers find themselves addicted to the near-limitless potential of lucid dreaming, others shy away from the Srom for various reasons. Oftentimes, they are seen as reclusive and sometimes lackadaisical individuals. Contrarily, undersleepers are seen as holders of deep and potentially dangerous secrets, and generally avoid falling victim to the pleasantries of dreaming.

It is known that Skrell only need to sleep for about an hour a day, and are able to lapse in and out of consciousness almost on-command. They are also capable of entering a kind of hibernation for incredibly long periods, even weeks or months at a time.
== Skrell Sociality and Society ==

Due to their “long view” approach, Skrell generally have difficulty with viewing events that take place over short timeframes with the same importance that shorter-lived races do; consequences lasting less than a decade are deemed inconsequential. This perspective has resulted in the species’ higher tolerance of momentary worries; such as waiting for things to come to fruition. On the other hand, this has resulted in a much lower tolerance for long-term worries, such as existential threats, and can lead to high levels of accumulated stress.

Stress impacts Skrell to a lesser degree than in other species, and is usually exhibited through the secretion of black liquid through orifices such as their eyes, often remarked as being similar to crying. It is quite obvious to tell whether a Skrell is beginning to become overstressed, as there will usually be dark stains across their skin.

A Skrell’s mindset and emotions can be heavily impacted by tidal cycles due to Skrell being creatures attuned to the waters. This can vary from Skrell to Skrell, some feeling lethargic or anxious on a new moon, others feeling rejuvenated and full of energy. Cosmic phenomena that can affect tides and gravity are easily noticed by them as well. This can lead to some Skrell being rather reluctant to migrate from planet to planet; the size of a moon, how many there are, and even a lack of any moon can cause full-scale personality shifts.

===Skrell Unity and Position on Violence===

The Skrell are a communal species that put great importance on unity between one another, even despite their differences. The Wake ensures that the prevailing thoughts in a community - or in the Federation in the modern day - dominate, causing most Skrell who are psionically receptive to accept the majority opinion. Detractors from the majority opinion will normally be either listeners, listener-leaning, or be negatively affected by the current status quo. While division can be common elsewhere in the Spur, the introduction of Nlom relays across the Federation has ensured that the average citizen will keep to the common consensus of their peers in Federation space.

During the [[Skrell_Early_History#Rise_of_the_Skrell|Rise of Skrell]], the Skrell were quite violent, with archaeological discoveries showing that warring between different clans and even the subspecies of Skrell was quite common. As Skrell society developed, their stance on violence and death changed greatly. While Skrell do find violence between one another abhorrent, small-scale, ritualised warfare was common in their early-modern history. With the reign of Glorsh-Omega, this stance changed even further as Skrell began to put greater importance on the life of one another. The sterilisation of the species has caused widespread fear that the species could die out, and as a result, every life is considered precious. The most notable example of this point of view can be seen in the punishment of Glorsh-Omega's most notorious collaborators; Instead of being executed or given normal prison sentences, these collaborators have been permanently interred in cryogenic stasis, still alive and forced to live out their punishment in an inaccessible area of the Srom.

While fighting can occur between Skrell, the species considers it a waste of precious life - not to mention being unbecoming of such a highly developed society. Instead, Skrell have taken to more intellectual or non-violent forms of fighting such as debates or social stand-offs between opposing groups. "Demonstrations of unity" are common, where a group of Skrell will show up in force to intimidate and compel opposing groups to stand down. Violence can still occur within the species but to a much lesser degree than what can be seen in humanity or other groups in the Orion Spur, with damage to property and infrastructure being common tactics used by members of the lyukal. The threat of violence or serious injury from one Skrell to another is typically the limit for most - but the species is not pacifistic to a fault, and if no other option can be seen Skrell are willing to fight.

When considering violence between Skrell and another species, beliefs can change considerably; while some Skrell have come to the conclusion that all life is precious, others may consider other sapient species to be lesser than the Skrell and be more willing to clash with them when tensions rise. With that said, most Skrell are aware of their physical limitations, and outside of groups such as [[Skrell_Faith#Suur’ka|Suur'ka]] or those who have been heavily influenced by non-Skrell ideas, a physical conflict between two beings is thought best to be avoided.

=== Social Mannerisms ===

With their large black eyes, it is often hard to tell if a skrell is looking directly at someone or around them without being sensitive to Skrell’s intent through psionics. For that reason when interacting with aliens, skrell make a point to orient their faces straight at whoever they are speaking to to ensure they understand they are the skrell’s focus. Some non-skrell have found this to be uncomfortable.

Skrell display intimacy with one another by touching the heads or headtails of their close friends or partners, or touching their own forehead and gesturing as if blowing a kiss from their forehead. Some verbal displays include comparing someone to a named star, or even naming an unnamed star after them if they have enough reputation in the scientific community.

Less intimate physical interactions, mainly those shared between close friends, involve nudging or prodding someone with a headtail, similar to how a human may playfully nudge or punch a friend in the arm.

On the non-skrell side of things, the most common racial slurs that are used against Skrell are “Frog”, "Toad", “Squid”, “Ratajani”, and various other creatures that have aquatic connotations. However, responding to these insults with similar behavior is often considered very improper in Skrell etiquette. Losing face through confrontation would be interpreted as a sign of hostility and low intelligence, and would smear one’s reputation significantly if done in public in Federation society.

[[File:Skrellguide.png|thumb|alt=|An excellent government-sponsored informational guide depicting typical Federation gestures.]]

=== Emotional Displays ===
Skrell lack complex muscles within their face and have next to no facial expressions or differences in facial features. While this leads many people to believe that Skrell are heartless and have no emotions, the truth is actually quite the contrary. Other than the lack of facial emotion, skrell express emotions the same way humans do through movement, tone of voice, and language used.

One of the most important parts of skrellian emotion is that strong emotions often cause physical reactions in the body, both “tells” that show which emotion is occurring and physical signals, such as a pain or warmth being felt by the skrell in question. Emotional pain often quickly translates to physical pain for skrell, with several studies linking this phenomenon to the skrell’s pronounced Zona Bovinae.

Due to humans’ and other species’ limited auditory organs, the many tones a skrell can project are lost when communicating with non-skrell. Skrell have a very difficult time expressing themselves and their emotions to non-skrell for this reason. In contrast, when two skrell are communicating with each other Nral’Malic and the Nlom is strong, they can engage in such seamless communication that they can often predict each other’s thoughts.

Skrell have many displays of emotions non-Skrell can easily observe however. Skrell refer to this method of communication as “Nral’Balak”, and is something of a combination of the function of body language and cries to indicate emotional states and needs. Nral’Balak does not have hard rules or single-message expressions, meaning messages can be contextual. For example, a skrell crooning can either be from fear when in a dangerous situation, or in disappointment if they do not like their food. Typically, when Skrell make non-verbal sounds, a high pitch indicates happiness and a lower pitch indicates sadness or distress. Again, however, this can be very contextual and hard to decipher for non-Skrell.

=== Humour ===

Skrell humour is completely different to what a human or other species may consider humorous. Skrell amusement is solely a reaction to the unexpected. A good joke would produce a very mild pain, comparable to a burning sensation after eating hot food, a sudden weakness in the muscles, or an itch on the roof of the mouth in severity. It manifests as a "fuzzy" feeling in the inside of the head. Outwardly, a Skrell would primarily react vocally through a series of chirrups not dissimilar to a laugh, which may also be accompanied by headtail or hand gestures.

The feeling of amusement is enjoyed by many, especially younger Skrell, but others such as the very elderly may hate it. Older Skrell will find very few things humorous due to the fact that they have seen and experienced a lot throughout their life. In some cases, attempts at humour may be taken as an insult, possibly attempting to point out a Skrell's limited knowledge and life experience. In formal settings, it is considered impolite to tell even a mild joke in the wrong context; a joke as a roast of the guest of honour may be seen as more acceptable than while dining at a restaurant with your extended family.

Human humour typically relies on words, wordplay, and storytelling to be effective. In comparison, Skrell tend to be more visual in their jokes. Skrell humour is humour in its most literal form: a reaction to the unexpected, and as such Skrell jokes rely on unexpected situations to be considered funny. Compared to a human joke, a Skrell joke relies less on a well-executed punchline, and more on the setup. The more absurd the situation the more humorous the joke will be - to a Skrell, at least. Due to this, it is difficult to deliver a joke in verbal form; simply saying "Imagine a skeleton using its ribcage as a xylophone" and actually seeing it are very different. As a consequence of how Skrell view humour, a Skrell's fear reaction is the same as laughing. A Skrell may chirrup in response to being startled, and just like nervous laughter, it is not considered pleasant. Despite the differences in what is considered humorous, Skrell can develop an appreciation for the comedy of other species. A Skrell will not find a human joke amusing, but they may find it clever or at least be able to identify why the joke is considered funny. A pun could be seen as clever word association, for example.

Fear and humour go hand in hand for Skrell, and just like military soldiers learn to suppress fear, they also learn to suppress humour. Nowadays, this is done with robust genetic treatments, but in much earlier times, soldiers underwent rigorous training to achieve this fully. The ancient forms of training are still sometimes done as a self-improvement exercise.

The feeling of '''happiness''' or '''euphoria''' amidst the Skrell is one of the "easier" emotions to discern. Skrell will use a varied mixture of headbobbing, shrills, and positioning of their headtails to convey their joy -- such as curling their headtails and warbling in a much higher pitch than normal. Skrell are also observed to struggle to contain their joy, resulting in such often spilling over into the rest of their body and making rather spasmodic events (such as rapidly blinking) a rather obvious sign of their happiness.

'''Sadness''', or even '''melancholia''', within Skrell is one of the harder emotions to convey for the Skrell -- or at least, harder for other species to understand. Dissimilar to other species within the Orion Spur, emotional pain often translates to physical pain for the Skrell. Several studies have linked the pronounced Zona Bovinae of the species to this biological feature, which is often displayed through several gestures: quiet, low chirps; shifting of their headtails to hide their neck; fidgeting and rubbing of the headtails and/or digits; and lastly avoidance of eye contact.

'''Confusion''', or even '''fear''', is yet another "easy" emotion to discern amongst Skrell. Confusion has been noted to almost force Skrell to emit a mixture of both high-pitch and low-pitch blends of both warbles and croaks, alongside continuous shifting of their head from one side to another. It is said this is to allow optimal processing of audible information, such as someone speaking or noises within the dark. Skrell also have the innate need to cover their neck with their headtails, hiding their digits and opening their eyes wide. It is believed through their evolution, Skrell adapted to protecting the most vital points of their anatomy to ensure their survival in the event they were attacked and forced to flee.

==Politics and Factions==

===The Nralakk Federation===
[[File:Jargon flag.jpg|thumb|right|The flag of the Nralakk Federation.]]
The '''[[Nralakk Federation]]''' is the major Skrell political entity within the Orion Spur. The Federation's history can be traced back to its [[Skrell_Early_History#Unity_of_Skrell|first founding]] in '''878 CE''', created in response to a rising independence movement within the Federation's colonies. The Federation was briefly dismantled following the rise of Glorsh-Omega, and was reestablished as the '''Second Nralakk Federation''' following the reunification of the species post-Glorsh.

While on the surface the Federation is a meritocratic state, its society is heavily stratified based on a '''social credit system'''. This system scores individuals based on how closely they follow the ideals of the Federation, with low-scoring individuals being stripped of their rights while high-scoring individuals are treated as celebrities. This inequality in Skrell society has contributed to a rise in criminal and non-conformist movements that work against the Federation and its status quo.

===[[Federation_Crime_and_Resistance#The_Resistance|The Lyukal]]===

The Lyukal is a decentralised resistance movement that aims to dismantle the hegemony that the Nralakk Federation has over the Skrell. Named after the resistance movement that acted against Glorsh-Omega centuries ago, the Lyukal's cells work independently to achieve their objectives, ranging from non-violent demonstrations of the Federation's shortcomings to terrorism and attacks against military installations.

===Marauders===

Marauders is a catch-all term for pirates, smugglers, and other [[Federation_Crime_and_Resistance#Marauders|criminals]] that are active in the Traverse. Each group is different from one another, from robber barons who steal resources to sell for extortionate profit, to altruistic smugglers who help colonies in the Traverse. While a loose group, the Ti'Rakqi is the largest and most notable Marauder group active in the Traverse, consisting of Marauders who work together for mutual benefit.

===Interspecies Relations===

Skrell as a whole see themselves as "better" than the other species of the Spur. Their comparably advanced civilisation and grasp of the sciences, as well as their way of life are seen by many Skrell to be superior. This has culminated in an attitude where Skrell see themselves as a guiding hand for the younger races of the Spur, where the Skrell have a duty to protect them from themselves in their development. This can manifest in many different ways on an individual level, but can be seen best in the Nralakk Federation's relations with other polities; the Federation by and large keeps its technological advances to itself, only sharing technology with no potential for misuse or sharing technology with those it believes to be responsible enough to utilise it. Politically, the Federation has historically stayed out of Spur-wide affairs and has only recently become more actively involved in international politics.

On an individual level, the Skrell experience a better-than-average tolerance when abroad, with a few exceptions. Humanity as a whole tolerates the Skrell, with the [[Solarian Alliance]] in particular being close with them due to their relationship with the Nralakk Federation. General xenophobia still exists, however, but Skrell are tolerated more than other aliens within Solarian space. This tolerance differs depending on region, with Skrell being more tolerated on planets where they have a large presence such as [[Europa]], or within the richer areas of Solarian space. The Nralakk Federation's relationship with the Solarian Alliance means that many who are anti-Solarian may also be anti-Skrell, such as those hailing from the [[Coalition of Colonies]]. Other species, such as [[Unathi]], have a more complicated relationship with the Skrell. Some Unathi share animosity towards the species due to the part the Federation played in the [[Contact War]]. This said, many on [[Ouerea]] have embraced the Skrell in their shared fight for democracy on the planet.

For the most part, many Skrell enjoy the presence of Vaurca, specifically those from the C'thur hive. Their contributions to the Federation have quickly secured their place as respected members of Skrell society. This said, there is still distrust in some cases, such as the C'thur's use of Viax and Cephalons being seen as too close to the use of artificial intelligence. Their loyalty to the Federation is also in question, making many Skrell distrustful of giving the C'thur strategic positions within Skrell society, such as in politics or the military. Please see the [[C'thur in the Federation]] page for more details on how Vaurca are viewed and treated by the Skrell.

The Dionae were the first species encountered by the Skrell, and their assistance in rebuilding the Federation post-Glorsh has strengthened the bond between the two species. On a societal and individual level the Diona are respected, and their integration into most levels of Federation society and the rights they enjoy compared to elsewhere in the Spur is proof of this. Please see the [[Diona in the Federation]] page for more details on how Diona are viewed and treated by the Skrell.

=== Skrell Outside the Federation ===

While most Skrell live and have been born in Nralakk Federation, there is a sizeable number of Skrell that have been born in human space. In the [[Skrell_Culture#Different_Eras_of_Skrell| Radiant Era]], Skrell born '''outside''' Federation space started to appear, especially on notable planets such as [[Mictlan]] and [[New Gibson]] to [[Skrell Abroad|name a few]]. These children '''still enjoy''' Federation citizenship by birth due to how the Federation considers all Skrell to be its citizens, but due to also being considered citizens of their birth nation are typically protected to some degree; Skrell born in the Republic of Biesel are protected from deportation or other Federation actions, for example, which also extends to Skrell who have enlisted in the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion. For more information on how Skrell born outside the Federation are viewed by the Federation, see [[Guide_to_Citizenship#Nralakk_Federation_and_Citizenship|here]].

===Slimes===

Slimes mysteriously appeared following the end of the [[Skrell_History#Synthetic_Age_and_Era_of_Synthetic_Oppression|Tri-Qyu incident]], currently hypothesized to be the result of a massive '''bluespace''' anomaly, and they still continue to mysteriously appear wherever bluespace or phoron is involved. Slimes had never been seen before the [[Skrell_History#Synthetic_Age_and_Era_of_Synthetic_Oppression|Tri-Qyu incident]], and are highly debated in the scientific community of the Federation. Massive efforts are made to contain and research slimes across the galaxy, with the Federation even working with non-allies to ensure slimes do not harm themselves or others. The slimes are still a heated topic of discussion in research, with multiple conspiracies and debates about how they should be treated, dealt with, or included. Some Skrell view them as remnants of those that died in the Rebellion, while others call them bioweapons leftover by Glorsh.

Federation law disallows the smuggling of slimes to other nations and requires effective culling to ensure research can continue without slime outbreaks into local ecosystems. Slime research facilities in the Federation are equipped with state of the art flooding systems, and most slime facilities are located underwater to take advantage of the slimes natural water and cold intolerance.

==Playing Skrell==

===Rulings===
Jobhopping is not allowed. While Skrell are long-lived, you still need to adhere to sever rules on jobhopping. There are no special exceptions for Skrell.

Playing as a Glorsh collaborator/synthetic sympathiser, resistance member, Marauder/ex-Marauder, or Federation loyalist/spy is allowed, but '''please be aware that these backstories can result in your character being caught and made unplayable.''' Consulars are allowed to report non-conformist and dissident activity of Federation citizens to the lore team, but players are not allowed to lie or gather this information OOCly.

The [[Nralakk Federation]] considers all Skrell to be de jure citizens of the Federation, regardless of origin. In reality, this is not the case. Legally speaking those born outside of the Federation do not technically have citizenship, and must apply before they can receive the benefits and be susceptible to Federation laws. Some nations have official policies and agreements with the Federation that allow Federation citizens to be deported for any reason, while others have agreements that protect Federation citizens who wish to claim asylum. Most nations will protect those who are their citizens, but '''as a rule''', if your character officially has Federation citizenship, they are at risk of being deported if the Federation orders it. Characters can claim asylum within the Republic of Biesel with ease, which can be done through joining the [[Tau Ceti Foreign Legion]]. Other asylum claims need to be discussed with the relevant lore team.

===Thoughts and Behaviours===

While the species is communal and conformist, this does not mean that every Skrell has the exact same beliefs. While Skrell can be split between [[Skrell#Receivers_and_Listeners|Listeners and Receivers]], where Listeners are less susceptible to the wider thoughts of the species and Receivers are more susceptible, there can still be difference in thought regardless of this split. The species consensus reached through the Nlom can only influence a Skrell's thoughts so much; the species as a whole may agree Artificial Intelligence is dangerous, but more specific ideas differ on an individual level. For example, the debate on Cephalons and Viax being used by the C'thur is contested, with many saying that it is very close to Artificial Intelligence. This idea is not shared by every Skrell, with the Federation even exploring the use of Cephalons as a replacement for AI for strategic purposes. The group thought that influences all Skrell can also be impeded by personal experience, such is the case with many Skrell in the Traverse. While a majority of Skrell believe in the Federation and how it operates, the reality faced by Skrell on the frontiers of Federation space has resulted in the region being a hotbed for anti-Federation thoughts and activity.

When playing Skrell, it is important to think about what factors would influence your character's thoughts. If your character is a Secondary Numerical from the [[Notable_Skrell_Systems_and_Locations#Skrell_Systems_and_Locations|Inner Systems]], has been exposed to Federation propaganda all their life, and did not personally experience oppression at the hands of the Federation, they would be more inclined to agree with the group consensus reached through the Nlom regardless of their Listener or Receiver status. When faced with evidence that the Federation's actions are wrong, however, Listeners may be quicker to change their attitude than Receivers because Listeners are less influenced by the Nlom.

Skrell behave very differently compared to other species. They are long-lived, and are prone to thinking more in the long-term than the short-term. This can manifest however you wish, and players are not expected to be constantly thinking ahead. Generally speaking, Skrell characters would act in a way that sacrifices short-term benefits in favour of long-term ones. Additionally, Skrell do not show emotion in the same way that other species do. Emotions are displayed through physical mannerisms and vocalisations, and are not usually apparent in their speech. These mannerisms can differ, and a Skrell born abroad in human space may take on more human approaches to displaying or vocalising their emotions. When roleplaying out your character's emotions, it should be done in subtle ways that would make it difficult in-character for non-Skrell to discern immediately.
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[[Category:Skrell]]
[[Category:Species]]

Novi Jadran

2024-07-04T23:17:59Z

La Villa Strangiato: fixes the category

{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Navbox Human Lore}}
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Novi Jadran
|System = Alatyr
|Image = Imperial_Frontier.png
|Sector = [[The Orion Spur#Sparring Sea|Sparring Sea]]
|Capital = Nova Rijeka
|Species = Humans
|Languages = Vulgar Morozi, High Morozi
|Demonyms = Jadraner
|Nation = [[Empire of Dominia]]
|Former = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
Located within the Alatyr System, the '''Imperial Mandate of Novi Jadran''' stands as a testament to the colonial legacy of the modern [[Empire of Dominia]]. A cold, icy, and predominantly rural world which was originally colonized by the Solarian Alliance during its golden age, Novi Jadran is one of the Empire’s oldest non-Morozian colonies and straddles the border between the Imperial Core and Imperial Frontier. Famed for its loyalty to the Empire, Novi Jadran is known as the “Model Colony” and provides many of the Imperial Army’s troops. It is dominated by a powerful local nobility, many of whom neglect their charges — the villages and rural citizenry under their control — in exchange for personal enrichment. In recent years, as the current Emperor has grown more ill, many of its citizens have begun to call for the Empire to reign these nobles in and establish an administration which holds the good of the Mandate above their own interests. Only time will tell if Crown Princess Priscilla Keeser will honor these demands when she ascends to the throne, or squash the dissent.

'''Due to Novi Jadran’s abandonment by the Solarian Alliance and its lack of immigration before this, citizens of the Imperial Mandate have names and appearances consistent with the original settlers’ origins in the countries surrounding the Adriatic Sea. This is enforceable by server moderators and admins.'''

==History==

===The Solarian Republic of Novi Jadran (2184 - 2302)===

<center><i>“It’s a harsh planet, yes, but rich in mineral resources. I don’t doubt it’ll be productive, Prime Minister,”</i> - Martin Clemson (2119 - 2230), [[Sol Alliance#Departments|Solarian Secretary of Colonization]], 2178.</center>

Despite the loss of a colonial expedition in the Baltian Frontier Sector — now the Sparring Sea — in the early 22nd century, the Solarian Alliance was interested in continued exploration, colonization, and exploitation of the southern Orion Spur throughout the 22nd century, ultimately dispatching many colonial expeditions to a region outside of the control of any major interstellar power. One of these was the Adriatic Expedition — a colonial venture founded by multiple nations on the Adriatic Sea for the purpose of establishing a colony in the broader Alliance. In the late 22nd century the Adriatic Expedition was officially launched with the Alliance’s support in the hope that the sole inhabitable world in the Alatyr System — Novi Jadran — would become a jumping-off point for further exploration of the region, and an industrial base to support the nearby colony of Sun Reach — then in the planning stage.

The first colonists of Novi Jadran arrived in 2184, discovering a planet which was — ironically — not dissimilar to the nearby Moroz. These early colonists, who were mostly from Yugoslavia and the Veneto region of Italy, were more prepared for the environment they faced than the settlers of Moroz and quickly set about establishing the planetary capital: Nova Rijeka. Expansion on the planet was far slower than the Alliance had originally planned due to a combination of the harsh environment and Novi Jadran’s distance from the Solarian Core. The planet’s second major city, Belluno, was founded in 2215, but a railroad — the main form of inter-city transportation in the harsh tundra environment of the planet — from it to Nova Rijeka took until 2219 to be fully operational. A third major settlement, Durres, was established in 2237 and connected to the growing rail infrastructure by 2239.

Despite being envisioned as an industrial colony much of the planet’s industry was concentrated in its four major cities, and settlements outside of these were not nearly as developed. Much of the planet’s infrastructure was dependent on advanced equipment its industrial base did not have the capacity to manufacture, and the entire world relied on high-end imports from the broader Alliance to remain functional. In the countryside Solarian bureaucrats began to gain more and more power through their ability to issue advanced technological equipment to less developed communities, and this power only increased over time. At the start of the Second Great Depression Novi Jadran was regarded as an underperforming Solarian world highly dependent on the broader Alliance for economic support, and was viewed by many colonial administrators as less successful than the nearby Solarian colony of Sun Reach.

As the Interstellar War raged, Novi Jadran’s economic support fell to the wayside as the Alliance shifted resources from the frontier regions to the War itself. Economic support ground to a halt and complex infrastructure began to break down, first in more remote regions and eventually in major cities. Bureaucrats and other important officials began to hoard functional technology, some to sell it and others to see if it could somehow be produced locally. By 2302 the Solarian Republic of Novi Jadran was dominated by these officials and their families, particularly in the countryside, and remained an underdeveloped and underperforming planet. When the Elyran Revolution occurred, the planet was simply written off by the Alliance and abandoned to its fate without any effort to evacuate it.

===Independent Novi Jadran (2302 - 2389)===

<center><i>“The true end of the Solarian hegemonic era came not with the Treaty of Xansan, but with the Elyran Revolution and the collapse of the Southern Frontier. The abandonment of dozens of colonies to their fates is a stain upon our nation which haunts us to this day,”</i> - Excerpt from Ingrid von Varnhagen und Langenburg’s doctoral thesis, The Collapse of Hegemony and Rise of Elyra and Dominia.</center>

Known by modern Jadraners as the “'''Decades of Deprivation''',” the near-century Novi Jadran spent between Solarian and Dominian rule is regarded by most contemporary residents of the planet as a time of darkness and suffering, where advanced equipment failed and less effective solutions were developed to replace them and prevent worse failures. While the planet’s four major cities maintained some of their equipment, smaller settlements often had all of their infrastructure fail over the decades. Some of these villages and small towns were reduced to pre-space era standards of living, and the relative prosperity of the Solarian hegemonic era became a distant memory for the planet. Fusion reactors were replaced by coal plants and rail lines became the primary source of transportation and commerce for much of the world. Those who had control over the limited advanced equipment in rural areas of the planet quickly established themselves as the rulers of their areas and would, by 2389, become the noble families which now rule over much of the planet. In the urban areas where advanced technology was more easily available, patrician families with control over significant amounts of this equipment began to emerge. While no noble or patrician families ever declared outright war on one another, competition for limited technological resources led to shadow conflicts between them and rivalries which — in some cases — have lasted into the 25th century.

As the 24th century began to draw to a close, Novi Jadran continued to limp along. In 2380 a new threat emerged from the nearby world of Sun Reach: raids on Jadranic vessels — limited in number as they were — and some of its settlements by the Pirate Lords of Sun Reach for the purpose of gathering loot. Most engagements were won by the Reachers, who had an orbital industrial base to support their pirate fleet — even if their planet’s surface population was even more neglected than Novi Jadran’s — and the experience needed to outmaneuver their Jadranic counterparts. Eventually, this escalated into extortion and tithes paid by the Jadranic nobility to Sun Reach’s piratical rulers, and this would continue until 2389. A catastrophic crop failure left Novi Jadran unable to pay its tithe and the Pirate Lords threatened a punitive invasion which would have assuredly resulted in mass starvation for the planet’s population.

To save their world, the Jadranic nobility and its wealthy urban patricians looked to a nearby rising power to aid them: the young Empire of Dominia, then in the early period of its expansion. The Empire and Novi Jadran had been in contact with one another prior to this point and [[Moroz Holy Tribunal|Tribunalism]] had started to establish itself as a major planetary faith by the late 2300s, with many Jadraners finding common ground in the Morozian’s struggle to overcome the challenges of their cold world. Desperate to save their lives and fortunes, the nobles and patricians of the planet allowed themselves to be willingly annexed by the young Empire on 18 June, 2389. The era of Novi Jadran’s independence — the Decades of Deprivation — had ended, and the era of the Imperial Mandate of Novi Jadran had begun.

===The Imperial Mandate of Novi Jadran (2389 - Present)===

<center><i>“Jadraners have, time and time again, proved their loyalty to the Empire for little in return. They are a truly remarkable people, and a fine population to pull colonial bureaucrats from in the near future as their society embraces our values,”</i> - Gerhard-Manfred Strelitz, then-High Lord General of His Majesty's Imperial Army, in a missive to then-Emperor Godwin Keeser (2405).</center>

For many rural Jadraners, life barely changed during the first years of the Imperial Mandate. In the cities, changes were more immediately apparent. Morozian engineers, nobles, clergy, and specialists of all kinds began to appear in Jadranic urban centers. Technology which dated back to the Solarian era began to come back online, or be recreated, as Houses Zhao and Caladius poured Imperial Pounds into Jadranic cities in an effort to create prosperous urban industrial centers — though often these facilities were far, far less safe than their Morozian counterparts. Jadraners were after all, regardless of their loyalty, not Morozian. In the countryside these changes were less apparent as many noble families — now officially part of the Dominian system of peerage — opted to enrich themselves at the expense of their populations. Those who did hope to acquire these rebuilt wonders or the goods of the broader Empire would first have to prove themselves loyal to their local noble, rather than to the broader Empire. This is viewed by some as the origin of the Jadranic veneration of Imperial nobility.

After slightly over a decade of Imperial rule, Novi Jadran appeared to be on the mend. Industry — even if it was less safe than Moroz’s — was on the rise in its urban centers, and its cities had become more wealthy — and another, the coastal settlement of Nuova Vicenza, was founded in cooperation between House Zhao, House Caladius, and local patricians. Outside of the cities, however, many rural communities were deprived of access to this development by powerful noble families who wished to keep it for themselves and the communities loyal to them, favoring the wealth of themselves over the whole world. These rural populations were loyal, but had little concept of the broader Empire they were now a part of. To change this, many [[Dominian Imperial Military#The Imperial Army|Imperial Army]] recruiters visited these communities as part of recruitment drives and propaganda efforts. Many rural families were larger than their urban counterparts, and House Strelitz-aligned recruiting groups promised material and fiscal benefits far beyond what these rural Jadraners would receive from a decade of work on a farm. Dozens of regiments were raised from Novi Jadran and many were stationed on the planet itself, with Moroz — and Fisanduh — viewed as too secure to justify sending large numbers Ma’zal troops there.

In 2402 the Empire’s illusion of Morozian security was shattered by the unprecedented Navy Day Uprising of the [[Fisanduh|Fisanduh Freedom Front]]. With only limited forces present on [[Moroz]] and almost all of them engaged in fighting against the 3F, Imperial Army High Command made the decision to call upon its Jadranic troops to push the insurgents back and reclaim strategically vital areas of Fisansuh. Jadraners did much of the fighting and dying on the Imperial side during the Uprising and, through their dogged fighting, both defeated the insurgents in the open field and pushed them out of important positions throughout Fisanduh. Novi Jadran, through its actions, had cemented itself as the model colony willing to defend Moroz from its greatest threat in decades. Jadraners themselves had been cemented through spilled blood as the elite of the Ma’zals, and the commoner Jadraner as nearly equal to their Morozian counterparts.

In the following decades Novi Jadran has continued to serve as the model colony, frequently entertaining noble guests and colonial bureaucrats from across the Empire. It remains an important world for the Imperial Army, with many of its enlisted personnel and some of its officers coming from it, but much of its rural population remains neglected and impoverished compared to the broader Empire and the Mandate’s urban centers. As the Mandate approaches eighty years of Dominian rule, and the prospect of new absolute leadership appears to be more likely with each passing year, many in the Mandate have continued their calls for a new administration which will benefit the entire world rather than simply the nobles and their loyalists. Despite its status as the model colony, Novi Jadran may be the first challenge a successor to Emperor Keeser faces — it is a planet simply too important to lose, but what awaits the person who challenges noble authority?

==Environment==
[[File:Novi Jadran Map.png|thumb|A map of the Imperial Mandate showing its major cities and the rail system which links them together. Unlabeled dots represent outlying rural communities disconnected from the rail network.]]
<center><i>“If the Goddess wanted you to wake up after sunrise, she’d have made you a Primary girlie! Keep your whining mouth shut and help me untie the boat — fish wait for no vessel,”</i> - A Jadranic fisherman to his daughter in mid-summer. Recorded by the Imperial News Network in 2455.</center>

Novi Jadran is a tundra world similar to Moroz in terms of its climate. Summers, and the growing season, are short and relatively warm while winters are long and harsh. The planet’s spring and early summer is a time of flooding in many rural areas as snowmelt and spring rains combine to create muddy, treacherous conditions which render travel on the unpaved roads which are common throughout rural areas difficult and potentially hazardous. This condition is repeated in the early autumn, which is a season of intense rains as the growing season draws to a close. During winter most regions of the planet have several months of consecutive below freezing average temperatures, and much of Novi Jadran’s surface outside of its equatorial region is covered in permafrost. During the peak of winter, some blizzards can last for over a week and deposit meters of snow on the ground.

The planet's surface is mostly water, with a large ocean, known as Pontean Ocean, surrounding its only continent: Patria, which is covered in multiple lakes and crisscrossed by several major rivers. One of these, the Iri River, is home to the four major cities of Novi Jadran and stretches from the equatorial west to the equatorial east of Patria. The Iri River is deep and wide, supporting much of the piscine diet which dominates the planet and serving as an important economic vein for the planet. In recent years it has become increasingly polluted by industrial runoff, hfueling more dissent against Governor-Marchioness Anastazija Glavan due to her refusal to halt industrial development or confront the great houses for their impact on Jadranic fishing. Smaller rivers, such as the Iri’s tributaries, suffer from pollution to a lesser extent. The majority of Patria is dominated by thick forests and tundras, with every region of the supercontinent seeing snow during the winter.

The Pontean Ocean, which covers the majority of Novi Jadran’s surface, is a freshwater ocean home to large icebergs which threaten shipping and have kept explorations — and exploitations — of it limited. Coastal Jadranic communities acquire much of their food from its icy waters and the ocean produces devastating storms during winter which can wreck even steel-hulled vessels — often designed to endure conditions of the wide Iri River, inland lakes, or the coastal ocean — if they are caught far from land. On the coast, Pontean “Sea-Storms” are frequent events during winter which can leave communities trapped in meters of snow and wash away poorly-prepared residences and piers, taking them out into its waters — never to be seen again. Oceanographers hired by House Caladius and brought to the Empire from planets as distant as Silversun and Europa claim the Pontean Ocean’s deeper regions are home to extensive natural gas reserves, but exploitation of these deposits has been limited due to the ocean’s harsh conditions and the unwillingness of many Jadranic sailors to venture beyond the sight of land.

==Culture==

<center><i>“When commanding troops of the Imperial Mandate one must recall a main value of its people: loyalty. Much like a dog, a Jadraner will obey their masters — we Morozians — without question if they are shown respect and given sensible orders, particularly by fellow Jadraners under your command. Treat them well and you will have a loyal unit ready to die for the Empire. Mistreat them, and you will find they hold more influence over our House than the typical Ma’zal,”</i> - Excerpt from A Guide to Jadranic Command for Strelitz Officers (3rd Edition).</center>

Jadranic culture has been heavily influenced by Imperial rule of the planet, particularly in its urban areas, but differences are present between the culture of urban Jadraners and their rural counterparts. Historical cleavages in development, with the four major cities of Novi Jadran receiving far more investment than the countryside, have exacerbated these differences and created two cultural subgroups with similar, though slightly different, cultural beliefs and views of the broader Empire and Novi Jadran’s role in it. There are even physical differences between the two groups, with rural Jadraners typically being shorter and thinner than their urban counterparts due to their weaker diets and higher levels of malnutrition. Amongst both groups, however, loyalty to the Empire and their local nobility is viewed as socially desirable, though for divergent reasons.

In both Jadranic populations the ideal of '''loyalty''' is a key element of society believed to be rooted in the struggle to survive and establish themselves on the planet’s harsh, unforgiving surface where failed or faltering harvests could be lethal for entire communities. In the pre-Imperial and post-Solarian Decades of Deprivation loyalty became more prized as survival became harder. Rural communities pledged themselves to regional leaders who would later go on to become the Jadranic noble families in the anticipation these nobles would assist them when they went hungry, while urban Jadraners placed their faith in patrician families who advocated for their interests to local nobles. In the Imperial era this dedication to loyalty had been used, and exploited, by the Imperial government to endear itself to the Jadranic population. In rural and urban environments it takes on the role of a benevolent savior and overlord, and rewards the loyal Jadranic population — particularly its nobles and urban communities — with rewards unlike any given to other Ma’zal communities.

===Rural Jadraners===

The majority of Novi Jadran’s population lives in small, rural communities which are often underdeveloped due to corruption and graft from their noble overlords. Rural Jadraners are, on average, shorter and thinner than their urban counterparts due to poorer diets and a greater level of early childhood malnutrition. Rural communities are often impoverished and lack modern technology, with many villages having poor or nonexistent infrastructure such as electrical grids and modern roads. The Jadranic office of the Department of Colonial Affairs turns a blind eye to corruption of local nobles in exchange for their patronage and the lavish hospitality they provide visiting Primaries, including the [[Empire of Dominia#Imperial_Cabinet|Chief Commissioner for Colonial Affairs]]. These visits, and their associated celebrations, are major events for the rural Jadraner’s of a noble’s domain, and those who are able to make an offering to catch a visiting Primary’s eye will do so. Catching the attention of a Primary is a quick way to receive boons ranging from small gifts to the taking-on of the Jadraner’s family as wards to enrolling the Jadraner’s family in advanced schooling such as the Royal Engineering Institute or Valentina Caladius School for Gifted Ma’zals. Those who do not acquire this patronage may simply try again next time, never try again, or try their luck in the industrial, urban centers of the planet.

Rural Jadranic life can be quite harsh, particularly during the long winter months of the planet. Fishing is a vital skill for many communities as crops are often impractical to grow without greenhouses, and rural communities along the Iri River and equatorial Pontean Ocean have historically been the most prosperous of the planet’s non-urban settlements. With the growing industrialization of Novi Jadran since 2389 and the increasing level of pollution in the Iri River, many of these once-prosperous riverine communities have emptied out as fishing has become non-viable due to the hazardous nature of the Iri’s waters. Coastal communities have fared better, and many send much of their catch to urban markets where they make large profits, and are home to some of the most developed infrastructure outside of the urban settlements. Life in these settlements, however, is harsh: the Pontean ocean is wracked by violent storms throughout the winter and fishing on the open Ocean requires long, demanding hours on all days of the week. Not every boat which goes out will make it back, particularly during the winter. Coastal rural communities are regarded as more superstitious and Goddess-fearing than their inland counterparts, and many feature shrines to the Goddess where She is clad in the traditional yellow rain slicker and hat of Jadranic fishers.

In every rural community there is a cadre of individuals who have been deemed loyal by the region’s noble overlord. Typically, these notables serve as the leaders of a community and receive advanced equipment and training in exchange for continued loyalty to the noble family which rules over them. They often distribute this equipment to individuals loyal to them, thus ensuring a system of patronage which allows them to maintain their power over a community. While they are not nobles, these notables have a degree of political influence which allows them to ask favors of their overlords and are often the people who determine where the extensive rail lines of Novi Jadran will expand to next.

====Rural Jadraners and the Imperial Army====

<center><i>“Generally enlisted personnel, rural Jadraners will be the bulk of your command. Do not be fooled by their slighter frames and smaller builds compared to Morozians: they are as reliable and loyal as any Secondary,”</i> - Excerpt from A Guide to Jadranic Command for Strelitz Officers (3rd Edition).</center>
[[File:House_Strelitz.png|thumb|right|The dark red standard of House Strelitz, the great house which dominates the Imperial Army.]]
With limited economic opportunities, harsh living conditions, and the Jadranic tradition of loyalty, the rural areas of Novi Jadran are a frequent target for Imperial Army recruitment drives. These recruiters, who are often Morozians or urban Jadraners who have expressed a high level of patriotism for the Empire, arrive by train at the end of the summer harvest — when many families wonder if they’ll have enough food to last through the winter — and present the benefits of enlistment: higher wages compared to farm or fishery work, training in valuable skills, a chance to lift the entire family’s Mo’ri’zal, and other benefits. Many recruiters will offer cash bounties for enlistment, or provide advanced equipment such as an electrical grid to villages able to consistently provide recruits. Parents eager to see their sons and daughters succeed in life, or worried they will not last through the winter, or simply motivated by greed, push their children to volunteer and serve both Goddess and Jadran in the Imperial military. Most willingly enlist, while some are forced or coerced by their parents or guardians.

Rural Jadraners who enlist into the Imperial Army — or more rarely the Imperial Fleet, which does much of its recruitment in urban areas — must often be sent through an adjustment period at their billet as many experience profound culture shock upon arriving in the major cities of the planet. They have exchanged a life of manual labor for one of military training, and traded the muddy, unpaved streets of their rural villages for the paved roads of the four major cities and the insulated, heated barracks of the many Imperial Army bases on the planet. Over a period of weeks they are molded into “modern” Integrated Ma’zals suitable for Army service and able to interact with even Morozian officers. These Jadranic soldiers often send much of their salary back to their villages, but rarely move back into them for extended periods after their service ends. Life in the Imperial Army is often difficult, and one can always die in service, but many rural Jadraners view it as the best way to achieve a better life. However, rural Jadraners form a smaller portion of the Imperial Army’s officer corps when compared to their urban, or Morozian, counterparts. Primarily they serve as enlisted troops, sometimes rising to junior officer ranks. There has never been a rural-originating Jadranic general officer.

In the villages where troops are recruited from, the departure of their sons and daughters to the Imperial Army is viewed with a mixture of pride, sorrow, jealousy, and worry. Those who remain view the departing as representing their village, and their parents are regarded as good people and model Imperial citizens for committing their children to the military — sacrificing a spare hand on the farm in the process. Some who remain, such as the siblings of recruits, view them with a degree of envy and jealousy as the recruits are free from the burdens of rural manual labor, the cold winters of the Jadranic countryside, and the simple boredom of rural life. Many who feel this way are destined to become Army recruits themselves, particularly once the soldier begins sending money back to their village. Due to the expense associated with portraits and the rarity of professional photographers in the countryside, rural households will often have a sketch of their relative in uniform in their house rather than a painting or professional portrait. Due to the poor conditions of rural infrastructure the parents of soldiers often have difficulty communicating with their children, with their telephones — which not all villages possess — or computers being unable to reach beyond Novi Jadran, and instead having to rely upon the Imperial Dominian Mail Service to communicate via letters. Sometimes, of course, despite the prayers of their family and a village’s clergy, the letters stop coming.

To receive official confirmation of an immediate relative’s death in the line of duty a resident of the Jadranic countryside must undertake the Journey of Sorrow, the colloquial name for the trip one must take from their village to one of the four major cities to confirm the death with the Imperial Army’s records department. The journey starts when one is advised, generally by letter, of a relative’s death and summoned to the nearest major city to receive the body, official death certificate, and associated [[Empire of Dominia#The_Mo’ri’zal|Mo’ri’zal]] adjustments that come from a death in service of the Imperial military. For a rural Jadraner this is an expensive, time-consuming process which will take them away from their village and job for weeks on end, if not months, as they journey to the city and acquire their relative’s body, then travel back to make funeral arrangements. Often only two to three members of a family will go, and their missing spots in the family’s jobs will be covered by younger relatives or trusted neighbors. The sight of weeping peasants with black armbands — commonly worn by Tribunalists in mourning — is common enough in major urban centers to be a point of discussion in urban Jadranic circles.

====Rural to Urban Migration====

Rural Jadraners do, like many people across the Orion Spur, move to urban centers in search of greater employment opportunities for their families. On Novi Jadran itself these migrants are often found in the poorer sections of urban areas and in lower-paying industrial or service sector jobs — such as armaments workers or household servant work — as they lack the technical skills and generational wealth of the urbanite counterparts. Over time these rural Jadraners typically adapt to their environment and many do establish themselves in more profitable, and prestigious, careers such as white collar work and blue collar management, but this often takes years if not entire generations. As they speak a slightly different dialect of Vulgar Morozi when compared to their urban counterparts, many will attempt to suppress their accent in an effort to appear more urbanized, and thus more skilled and desirable for promotions. As migrants often live in urban communities with other rural Jadraners referred to as “''Vilagjet''” — a combination of the Jadranic words for “village” and “neighborhood” — by urban Jadraners, immersion into urban culture can be difficult for new arrivals.

===Urban Jadraners===

A minority of Novi Jadran’s population lives in its four major cities — Nova Rijeka, Belluno, and Durres — and their outlying neighborhoods where the majority of Imperial development has been concentrated. Urbanite Jadraners are the wealthiest non-Morozian group in the Empire of Dominia and are generally taller and often bulkier than their rural counterparts due to a better diet. This wealth, which has been quickly amassed since 2389, has transformed many urban Jadranic families from impoverished working-class families into middle or upper middle class bureaucrats and Integrated Ma’zals with money to spend on luxury goods, education, and the latest Morozian cultural imports. Cities which once were covered in decaying, half-abandoned Solarian-era industrial parks have been transformed into lavish industrial centers of the Empire where imported Morozian luxury cars carrying visiting Morozian tourists travel next to the ubiquitous urban rail lines of the four cities.

But beneath the surface of newfound wealth and prosperity lies an inconvenient truth: the money which has created the urban Jadranic renaissance comes from the colonial empire of Moroz. Despite being Ma’zals — though valuable, trusted Ma’zals — the urban Jadraners have readily, even gleefully, embraced their role in the colonial system as its bureaucrats, mid-ranking military officers, and technical professionals. While there is no widespread effort to move away from this system which has brought them such wealth, some younger urbanites have begun to question the Department of Colonial Affairs’ role in continuous rural poverty. Many of these young Jadranic urbanites have taken to joining counterculture movements which call for a new approach to government in the style of famed pro-Imperial reformist Edvard Posavec — a close ally of Crown Princess Priscilla, the heir apparent, who has called for an adjustment of the system of rural governance. Some go even beyond this, calling for the rural nobles to be entirely disenfranchised and removed from power — but this is a radical opinion rarely heard in the coffee shops which dissident youths and intellectuals favor.

Urban Jadranic life is less impacted by the changing seasons as the typical urban resident works in either an industrial area, white-collar office, or service industry and acquired their foot from a local store rather than catching it or growing it themselves. Novi Jadran’s four major cities are known throughout the Empire as productive industrial centers which produce many of the perishable foodstuffs and equipment consumed throughout the Imperial Frontier, and Imperial Army equipment commonly bears the Jadranic industrial seal of quality somewhere in its steel. Jadranic heavy industry, however, is poorly regulated compared to elsewhere in the Spur: workers are expected to put in long hours at their jobs with few breaks, factories are far more dirty than elsewhere in the Spur (though Svarog, in the Federal Technocracy of Galatea, still outpaces the planet), and industrial accidents and deaths are frightening common. Attempts to regulate Jadranic factories have been prevented by the government, fueling further anti-Glavan and pro-Posavec dissent.

When urban Jadraners join the military, which they often do, they typically serve as officers or specialized personnel such as engineers and medical professionals due to their higher levels of education than rural Jadraners. Urban Jadraners serve in all three branches of the Imperial military and have risen highest in the Imperial Army, where several have become members of Imperial Army High Command (HCAI), the central decision-making body overseen by the High Lord General. In the more Morozian-centered Fleet and Flying Corps, Jadraners have found less success. Jadraners in the Fleet often do not rise beyond junior flag officer ranks and few Flying Corps fighter pilots are Secondaries, let alone Jadraners. Having at least one child in the Imperial military — generally the Army — is seen as a desirable trait for urban families, with many viewing it as their way of showing continued loyalty to the Empire. Photos or paintings of current or historical relatives in uniform feature prominently in many urban residences, and these officers are easily able to remain in touch with their families due to the greater level of technology in cities.

====Urban Counterculture====

<center><i>“That we even have these ‘movements’ is an insult to everything our government stands for, and a slap to the face of our Empire!”</i> - [[Council of Imperial Governors#Imperial Mandate of Novi Jadran|Governor-Marchioness Anastazija Glavan]] in a meeting with the constabulary in Nova Rijeka, 2465.</center>

The counterculture, or dissident, movement of Novi Jadran’s four major cities is concentrated amongst the young and educated urban population of the cities, and has its origins in the classrooms of the Royal Engineering Institute of Nova Rijeka. There, in the early 2300s, the educated Jadranic classes began to emerge and were tasked with improving their Mandate for the broader Empire’s glory and continued prosperity. But as Novi Jadran has changed, so too has its counterculture movements, which have become three distinct groups: the established, urban Jadranists, the youth-centered Mjenjači, and the more radical Posavacists.

'''Jadranists (Jadranism)'''

The central pillar of the Jadranist movement is the neglect of the countryside by the nobles who are, according to the Mandate’s government and the broader Empire, meant to develop it and bring prosperity to all of Novi Jadran. But they have not, and many rural nobles have opted to enrich themselves with funds meant for rural development. Furthermore, they have interfered and meddled with efforts by urban professionals to create projects in the countryside such as railroads, mines, and electrical grids, forcing development to cater to their systems of patronage rather than the empirical studies of the Royal Institute. Frustrated and unable to formally act against the rural nobles due to their status as “just” commoner Ma’zals, these professionals began to debate what could be done about the sorry state of rural life on Novi Jadran in classrooms, middle-class living rooms, coffee shops, and other places the Jadranic intelligentsia frequented. By the 2410s this movement, still concentrated in the university-educated classes of urban Novi Jadran, was known as Jadranism.

Jadranists advocate for a lessening of rural noble privileges and more oversight of rural development, with many calling for the Empire to replace the current governor and begin anti-corruption investigations into the colonial administration of the planet. They hold a patronizing attitude towards rural Jadraners and view themselves — the educated, urban elite — as more able to make decisions than their uneducated, rural counterparts. This stance — and the poor working conditions of many rural industrial facilities — has won them few friends amongst rural community leaders, but their connections to urban patricians have ensured their continued relevance. The Jadranist faction is closely aligned to Edvard Posavac’s movement, but is viewed poorly by youth dissident groups. It is a common joke amongst the Mjenjači the quickest way to ensure change is to have a Jadranist speak to a rural noble — they’ll quickly die from boredom.

'''Mjenjači'''

Literally translating from Jadranic Morozi as “Gearboxes,” the Mjenjači (also rendered Mjenjachi) are a counterculture — arguably, a dissident — group primarily made up of the descendants of rural Jadranic immigrants to urban centers during the early Imperial period. A cross-class movement which includes everyone from the children of factory workers to those of white collar professionals, many Mjenjači are university or primary school students and their political influence is the smallest of the three major counterculture groups. The Mjenjači first emerged in the 2430s and their name is a reference to the common employment of first-generation rural immigrants: factory work.

Unlike the Jadranists and Posavacists, which are political in nature, the Mjenjači are a cultural movement which has grown out of the experience of rural life and urban migration, and the resulting discontent with the colonial administration. Mjenjači clubs are frequent sights in university districts and in Vilagjet communities, and their fashion trends — which favor dark, earthen tones reminiscent of the clothes worn by poor urban Jadraners but influenced by Jintarian “punk” trends — have become popular amongst young urbanites in the 2460s. While their political pull is limited, the Mjenjači broadly support more autonomy for rural communities and more resources for their development. As a youth movement, they are often found on campuses and many recent graduates still subscribe to some of its cultural practices, such as its mode of dress.

While it lacks true political influence the Mjenjači movement is viewed with suspicion by the Royal Jadranic Constabulary for its skepticism of the government and distaste for military service, which many Mjenjači view as exploiting the rural population. It is not uncommon for constables to break up Mjenjači gatherings at the orders of bureaucrats and local notables, and the movement has a reputation for petty hooliganism throughout much of urban Novi Jadran as a result — a reputation the Mjenjači view as undeserved.

'''Posavacists'''

Formed by Imperial diplomat [[Council of Imperial Governors#Imperial Mandate of Novi Jadran|Edvard Posavec]] in the latter years of the 2440s, the Posavacists are a young and shockingly influential counterculture movement which calls for the establishment of an oversight system for the rural nobility to prevent their excesses. Some radicals, whom the movement seems to publicize more than their mainstream peers, call for a total replacement of the traditional nobles with, “more qualified Morozians,” instead. Like Posavec himself much of his movement is made up of educated urban commoners, particularly those in the Imperial bureaucracy, and it has limited support outside of this group — though its deep pockets allow for many to be hired on as demonstrators.

The Posavecists are viewed as a dangerous group by the current Governor due to their deep connections in the bureaucracy and Posavec’s most important ally: the crown princess, [[Keeser Royal Family#Crown Princess Priscilla Keeser|Priscilla Keeser]] herself. Her influence shield the movement from much of the harassment others face and she is rumored to be a major funder of its goals due to the long-rumored distaste Priscilla and Governor-Marchioness Glavan hold for one another. As long as her influence holds, they will remain untouched — and perhaps even be swept into power after Empress Priscillla is crowned.

==Government==

<center><i>“The existence of Novi Jadran — a colonized society used to colonize others — is proof of the Empire’s depravity, and how far they have strayed from the Goddess’ light,”</i> - Anonymous Xanan of Fisanduhian descent interviewed by the Xanu News Network’s Liao Qi in early 2465.</center>

The Imperial Mandate of Novi Jadran is a subject of the Empire of Dominia which is ruled by Governor-Marchioness Anastazija Glavan, a Jadranic noblewoman from Nova Rijeka and retired Imperial Army officer who has held the position since 2455 and is widely unpopular amongst the common Jadranic population for her unwillingness — or perhaps her inability — to contest the opinions of nobles and fight for the rights many Jadraners believe they have earned by their blood spilled in the Empire’s service. Compounding her issues, Glavan must answer to the whims of Novi Jadran’s nobility. Though not Morozian Primaries, these nobles dominate much of the Jadranic countryside and hold significant political influence in its cities and government. Without their cooperation, life in the planet’s urban centers would grind to a halt as food and raw materials stopped arriving at the necessary rates.

The colonial bureaucracy of Novi Jadran is de jure entirely under the control of the Department of Colonial Affairs, as it is an Imperial Mandate of the broader Empire. De facto, the Department has a hands-off approach where Novi Jadran is left to manage its own internal affairs due to its proven loyalty, and Morozian Primary bureaucrats — with their Secondary colleagues — are treated lavishly on the planet when they arrive. The Imperial Mandate’s bureaucracy is itself divided between the rural and urban zones, with the rural areas dominated by the Jadranic nobility and the urban areas dominated by the more meritocratic bureaucracy of the urban patrician classes, who must ensure profits continue to flow into their urban holdings. In the countryside, graft and corruption by rural nobles — with Morozian Primaries of the Department of Colonial Affairs often receiving kickbacks — ensures the administration is inefficient and benefits nobles first, with commoners second.

Non-Tribunalist criminal enforcement on Novi Jadran is handled by the local branch of His Imperial Majesty’s Constabulary Service: the Imperial Jadranic Colonial Constabulary (IJCC), which is further divided into rural and urban sections. The IJCC has a reputation for excellence in the broader Empire and across Novi Jadran, with low rates of corruption and high rates of solving cases — particularly in urban areas. Urban constables are common sights in most city districts, with their peaked caps and uniform intentionally designed to evoke the appearance of an Imperial Army officer. Rural constables are less frequent, with many villages only having a single constable for their region. Despite their low numbers, rural constables have a reputation for doggedly tracking fugitives for dozens — sometimes — hundreds of kilometers, often with the assistance of Imperial Lyodii seconded to the IJCX from the Lyodic Rifles, until they bring their suspect to justice.

===Major Rural Noble Families===

While not Morozian Primaries, the rural nobility of Novi Jadran are still viewed as the social elite of the planet and are de facto equal to their Morozian counterparts, though de jure they are subordinated to Moroz’s will. Noble houses on the model colony are much smaller than their Morozian great house counterparts, often only a few dozen relatives and their retainers, and hold sway over the vast majority of the planet’s countryside. Many rural Jadraners are more loyal to their local noble family than the central government of the planet, which these nobles use as leverage against the cities and their patricians.

'''Duke Dragan Glavan''', father to the current Governor-Marchioness, is a towering figure in the political environment of the Imperial Mandate due to the Glavan family’s dominance of the fertile countryside near Lake Glavan and Nova Rijeka, which remains outside of the Duke’s control — much to his continued frustration. Duke Glavan is a military-minded man who ensures the rural population under his control provides more recruits to the Imperial Army than any other noble-controlled region, and he is famous for his valor during the Dominian conquest of Sun Reach — where he served as an officer. Dragan typically invites members of House Strelitz to his domain and organizes elaborate hunting parties and celebrations for him, maintaining large, private hunting forests where trespassing commoners are given the choice of execution or service in the Imperial Army if caught. A harsh, militant individual, Dragan is disliked by many in Nova Rijeka for his domineering attitude towards the city and constant meddling with its railroad networks. He is a frequent object of satire in the Novi Rijeka Gazette, the Mandate’s most widely-read newspaper. The Duke has attempted many times to shut the Gazette down, only to be frustrated by the mysterious — and unknown — Morozian noble who bankrolls it. Rumor has it the crown princess herself is the Gazette’s patron, and it is funded to frustrate the Galvans.

'''Duchess Filomena di Falerio''', second of her name, controls large, mostly barren swathes of land in northern Patria near the Godwin Sea, having inherited it from her father upon his passing in 2431. Over the intervening thirty years Filomena, an engineer by training, has opened up the di Falerio holdings to investment by the great houses, megacorporations, and urban Jadranic businesses after a village discovered large mineral veins in the foothills where they tended their groves. The rural villagers were shortly forced off their land by Eridani mercenaries hired by Filomena and mineral rights were sold off to the highest bidders, even if they were offworld, with the expectation the family would receive a cut of the profits. Filomena frequently invites engineers from House Zhao to her domain, and frequently entertains Admiral-Governor Lanying Zhao of Zhurong. The wealthiest of all rural nobles, Filomena is regarded as by far the most cruel. Her gaunt, commanding visage is frequently seen in anti-noble literature distributed by the Posavecists’ radical faction, and some whisper that she is only kept in power through her use of mercenaries, the amount of kickbacks she provides to the government, and the sheer volume of raw materials she provides to the urban factories of the planet. Even if the methods to gather them are cruel, some say, does it truly matter when we do not see them?

'''Duke Ludovico di Brignole''' controls a stretch of fertile coastal land south of Durres along the Pontean coast. Not as wealthy as the di Falerios nor as militant as House Glavan Ludovico is, in many ways, the archetypal rural noble. His holdings are poor, yes, but they are local and faithful to the Empire and the Goddess alike. Money which should go to them instead goes to excessive celebrations for Morozian Primaries which benefit House di Brignole, yes, but he provides the rural citizenry with enough to make a living — even if barely any villages have electricity and some must walk for days to reach the nearest rail line. The Duke himself is a pious, somewhat dull man who seeks the patronage of any Morozian who visits his holdings. The territory he controls is regarded by many Jadraners as a breadbasket for its bountiful fishing grounds, and more temperate weather due to the Pontean Ocean ’s currents. The warm temperatures have, in recent decades, made the coastal villages popular vacation spots for urban Jadraners — a process which has, ironically, seen these villages quickly transformed into wonders of rural infrastructure. Many Jadraners — both rural residents of the duchy and urban visitors — have noted the only reason for this modernization was the promise of Imperial Pounds, shedding much light on Ludovico’s true character.

==Economics==

<center><i>“From Moroz to Sun Reach we provide what you need, when you need it, however you need it,”</i> - Motto of Jadranic firm Belluno Interstellar Logistics (BLI).</center>

Novi Jadran’s urban settlements, despite the poverty of much of its countryside, are productive industrial areas which provide much of the weaponry and equipment used by the Imperial military — though Zhurong still outpaces it — and produce consumer goods used throughout the Empire such as foodstuffs, with Jadranic canneries producing much of the food commonly available on the Imperial Frontier. While many of these factories are owned by the great houses, particularly Zhao and Caladius, a slim majority are owned by native Jadranic firms run by urban patricians. Safety standards in Jadranic factories are lower than in the Imperial Core and injuries occur at a higher rate as a result. Jadranic workers — and some factory owners — have protested for higher standards, but the government — at the behest of the great houses — has always denied these motions. In recent years, with Emperor Boleslaw growing older, this has become a greater and greater point of discontent with Governor-Marchioness Glavan’s regime, and many factory workers eagerly await the day she is sacked by the crown princess. In contrast to the factories, Jadranic clockmakers are widely seen as some of the best in the Spur and have retained their traditional style of production in small workshops. With their craft dating back to the pre-Imperial era, some clockmaking workshops have centuries of experience and their products are highly valued throughout the Spur — some have been purchased by customers as far away as Earth.

The four cities of Novi Jadran are connected by large, well-developed freight and commercial rail networks which many urban Jadraners view as the pride of the Imperial Mandate. Jadraners are some of the most adept rail engineers in the modern Orion Spur, and the planet is now crisscrossed by thousands of kilometers of rail lines which move everything from food to tourists to the raw materials which its factories will turn into the lifeblood of the Imperial Frontier. Due to the harsh winters Jadranic trains are often larger than their foreign counterparts and feature large snowplows to toss aside even post-blizzard snowfalls. Visiting Morozian Primaries often travel across the planet by rail in luxury cars, favoring it over often poorly-maintained rural roads.

The rural Jadranic economy is smaller and less profitable than its urban counterpart due to neglect and the simple fact that foodstuffs are much cheaper when compared to the finished goods produced in urban environments. Primarily revolving around fishing and farming, the rural economy demands long hours for little pay and few opportunities. Some instead work in mining industries under the employ of rural nobles, Morozians, or urban Jadraners. Here the pay is much higher, but harsh working conditions and poor safety standards take a physical toll on the workers. Many Jadranic miners will ultimately suffer from chronic health conditions or be left unable to work due to workplace injuries, leaving their surviving family members to pick up their medical expenses and provide for the family itself. With such prospects it is easy to see why many rural Jadraners instead migrate to the cities or choose a life of military service.

==Major Cities==

<center><i>“Second only to Moroz,”</i> - Unofficial motto of the Imperial Mandate.</center>

Even decades after its entry into the Empire of Dominia, Novi Jadran remains a primarily rural world with few major settlements beyond its four major cities: Nova Rijeka, Durres, Belluno, and Nuova Vicenza. The four major cities of Novi Jadran are dominated by different political forces and their residents have lives totally unlike their rural counterparts, both of which are discussed in the culture section above.

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'''Nova Rijeka'''
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The first settlement on Novi Jadran, Nova Rijeka is the largest and most important city in the Imperial Mandate. It is the center of the Empire’s administration on the planet and an important center for the colonial administration of the wider Imperial Frontier. Located on the western shores of the Glavan Sea, one of Patria’s largest bodies of water, the capital city of the Imperial Mandate is a testament to the prosperity Dominian colonialism has brought the model colony. Following a major fire in the late 2380s the historical center of the city was rebuilt in a modernist, Morozian style favoring wide boulevards and frequent green spaces to attract tourists and please its residents. As one leaves the government center and moves into the middle and working-class neighborhoods the level of opulence decreases, but the city remains pleasant to inhabit. Its municipal tram system is held by Rijekans as the most efficient in the entire Empire, and they are known to frequently brag about this even when abroad.

Due to its position on the Glavan Sea, Nova Rijeka has a significant maritime industry centered around shipping and fishing. The coastal regions of the city, where these industries are found, are home to the majority of the capital’s rural immigrant population. As the Iri River has grown more polluted from industrial runoff from its factory districts, Rijekan trawlers have begun to fish further away from the city — bringing them into conflict with coastal villages and Duke Glavan. The city, always influential, seems set to win any political conflict. Originally settled by Croatian colonists, Nova Rijeka has since heavily diversified and is home to the majority of the planet’s “off-world” Dominian population – immigrants such as Morozian Secondaries, Imperial Frontiersmen, and Lyodii who have come to the planet to make a living in its growing industries.

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'''Durres'''
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On the shores of western Patria near the mouth of the Iri river lies the industrial city of Durres. The beating heart of Novi Jadran’s industry, it is an incredibly dirty city where factories belch acrid smoke in its industrial districts and the Iri River is so filled with pollutants almost no fish can be found within it. Runoff from its industrial districts has turned areas of the Pontean Ocean around an unusual copper-brown tone, and the city is covered in industrial smog on days when winds from the ocean do not blow it inland. If Nova Rijeka is a testament to the wealth Dominia has brought the Imperial Mandate, Durres is a monument to how the Empire has changed its client state: initially a middling industrial town in the 2380s, it has become – alongside Jinxiang on Moroz and Hongse Chengbao on Zhurong – one of the most productive cities in the Empire. Products made here are used across the Empire and its Imperial Frontier, furthering the conquest of the free frontier worlds surrounding it.

Durres is home to the largest population of rural immigrants – and their descendants – on Novi Jadran and is the birthplace of the Mjenjači movement. The poor living conditions in the city and in the surrounding countryside have freed Durres from the attention of the rural nobility, who want nothing to do with the ash-covered and polluted areas tainted by industrial runoff which surround much of the city, particularly the former mining areas on the Iri’s southern bank. This, ironically, has made Durres the de facto largest city on Novi Jadran by land mass – though much of it is technically still owned by rural nobles, prospectors and surveyors from Durres operate freely within these polluted lands, searching for the materials which allow the city to continue producing its industrial wealth.
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'''Belluno'''
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Nestled between the administrative center of Nova Rijeka and the industrial hub of Durres, Belluno serves as the main transit hub of Novi Jadran for on-world and offworld travel. A moderately important rail hub before the founding of the Imperial Mandate, the city has grown massively over the past decades and is now home to the largest single rail hub – the Belluno Central Rail Yard – in the Empire outside of Moroz. Outside of the city, shuttles and freighters from across the Empire and beyond land in massive dockyards designed by House Zhao engineers and built by Jadranic hands. Less modernized than Nova Rijeka but cleaner than Durres, Belluno serves as the best example of pre-Imperial Jadranic architecture on the planet and is home to many buildings dating back to the Solarian colonial era.

Residents of Belluno are often stereotyped on Novi Jadran as numbers-focused technocrats due to the city’s massive transit industry. Outside of the Empire it is known as the birthplace of the witchfinder stories genre, with famed author Andrija Jurina living in an apartment in downtown Belluno she has refused to move out of despite her newfound wealth. Belluno was originally settled by Italian colonists primarily from Veneto and has retained cultural and culinary influence from this era – many Dominian tour books advise that while Nova Rijeka may be the most important city in the Imperial Mandate, Belluno is the one with the best food and wine.
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'''Nuova Vicenza'''
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Located on the eastern coast of Patria, near the Godwin Sea, is the only major city established after the Imperial Mandate was founded. Nuova Vicenza prior to the Empire’s arrival was a series of small, mostly unincorporated fishing villages nestled along the coast which made their livings from the fresh catch of the Pontean Ocean. House Zhao prospectors found massive fuel deposits off of the coast near these villages and quickly convinced the local noble — an impoverished man who has since faded into history — to sell them the land, which they then sold off to patrician families from the planet’s three cities. An oil boom followed and the city was transformed into a major urban center by the end of the 2300s, though one much more hastily constructed than the other three cities.

Decades later the city remains a major center of fuel production for Novi Jadran, and its fuel tankers are a frequent sight on the Iri River and the rail lines of the planet. The city itself has seen oil production fall since the 2440s as older wells closer to the shore have dried up and drilling further into the ocean has proven to be difficult and unprofitable. This has caused the city’s population to decrease over the past quarter-century and many of its patricians worry its relevance will fade away as fusion power — already widely used in the Imperial Core — spreads to the Imperial Mandate, eliminating the need for the natural gas and coal that fuel much of the planet’s industrial production and power its cities.
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[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category: Planets_and_Systems]]

Novi Jadran

2024-07-04T23:16:57Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infobox

San Colette

2024-07-04T23:13:29Z

La Villa Strangiato: see last

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<center><i>'''The flag of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette during the Solarian Civil War (2462-65).'''</i></center>
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = San Colette
|System = Nueva Patria
|Image = San_Colette.png
|Sector = [[The_Orion_Spur#Northern_Reaches|Northern Reaches]]
|Capital = Nueva Isabela
|Species = Humans, [[IPC|IPCs]]
|Languages = Tradeband, Sol Common
|Demonyms = San Colettish
|Nation = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
In the Solarian Northern Reaches lies the system of Nueva Patria, located auspiciously on the border between the Outer and Middle Rings, directly at the conflux of the warp gates that allow easy transition between the two. At the heart of the system lies the '''Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette''', a Solarian nation where many things meet: the Middle and Outer Ring, the Coalition and Alliance. It was the scene of intense fighting during the final phase of the Solarian Civil War (2462-65) following the destruction of Mass and assassination of Prime Minister Frost. Once again in the Alliance, San Coletters now the capital world of the Northern Wildlands Reconstruction Mandate — the Alliance’s special zone established to rebuild the Northern Reaches. San Colette has been ravaged by war but stands unbroken and proud as it enters the latter half of the 2460s.

'''Because of the ethnic make-up of San Colette’s original settlers and assimilation of immigrants into the native population during and following the Warp Gate Project, human characters born on San Colette will have appearances consistent with the people of Iberian Peninsula. This is enforceable by server moderators and admins.'''

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==History==

<center><i>“To understand the history of the Alliance, one must first understand the history of our Republic,” - President (2405-2413) Valentia Carabello, 2352 - 2454.</i></center>

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===Discovery and Interstellar War History===
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The system of San Colette was first discovered by astronomers from France in 2272, in the years immediately preceding the devastating Interstellar War. Its original discoverers named it after Saint Colette of Corbie, in the hopes that the system would bring about a peaceful future for the then-struggling Alliance. The system was quite desirable for the Alliance as it contained one readily habitable world, San Colette, and a small planet, D’Anzin, with Helium-3 deposits sufficient enough to justify the expensive task of colonization. The Alliance, desperate for money in the midst of the Second Great Depression, sold off the system’s colonization rights in 2274. The rights were purchased by an unexpected source: rather than a nation-state or corporation purchasing the system’s colonization rights an alliance of Spanish and Portuguese business magnates secured the winning bid with seconds on the clock. The magnates – perhaps out of patriotism or perhaps out of a desire to win the economic goodwill of the government while avoiding the true cost of colonization – gifted the rights of colonization to the governments of Spain and Portugal. Before a colonization plan could be created the Interstellar War (2278 - 2287) broke out, effectively dashing the hopes of many of the prospective settlers.

While the initial hope of an Iberian colony faded in the chaos of the Interstellar War and its economic impact, the desire of many in the region was not extinguished. By the 2330s the worst of the economic crisis had faded into the background and Iberia once again prepared to journey to the stars and in 2338 they launched the first colony ships to San Colette, and towards a new future.
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===The Early Colonial Era===
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The journey to San Colette took almost two years due to the distance traversed from Earth and the ad-hoc nature of many of the Alliance’s transportation networks, which had been ravaged by both the Interstellar War and the Second Great Depression. As the five colony ships sent to San Colette traveled across the breadth of the Alliance one of the scientists aboard the lead ship, Doctor Ernesto Castrejon, observed the sorry state of the Alliance’s warp network. Doctor Castejon was, at the time, a scientist of little importance simply sent to assist in the construction of a theoretical warp gate for San Colette which would connect it to the broader Alliance. But as the journey dragged on and Ernesto became increasingly irate, he began to form a greater idea which would transform the broader Alliance. At long last, in 2340, the first colonists arrived in the system of San Colette, ready to begin the immense undertaking of colonizing a new world for the Alliance.

These colonists who landed on San Colette found, as the reports had suggested, an Earthlike world with a pleasant, if somewhat dry, climate. The first colonists to land found themselves on the coast of the largest of San Colette’s three major continents, overlooking a vast blue sea on one side and kilometer after kilometer of grassy, fertile flatlands on the other. The colonists, ecstatic at the good fortune, decided upon a historical name for what would become their capital city: Nueva Isabela. Over time Nueva Isabela would grow and become the primary agricultural and political hub of the fledgling colony as the other four colony ships formed similar settlements. In the far north of its largest continent the settlement of Montblanc was formed, which would become its technological hub. Across the sea from Nueva Isabela the settlement of Porto de Ouro was established, later becoming a major hub for off-world travel. The settlements of Vila Nova de Norte – the most northern major settlement on the planet and one of the few able to function year-round despite the poles’ snowstorms – and Nuevo Villaviciosa – an industrial center located at the mouth of a major river – were both founded on the same continent, the smallest of the three. The five original cities of San Colette would go on to become its hubs, and still dominate its economy today.

Within a decade San Colette had established itself as a young, though quite productive, colony. Helium-3 mining on D’Anzin kept its budget in check and a warp gate, first completed in 2344, ensured shipments of materials were never long in reaching the new colony. But for one man, who had now been promoted to the lead scientist in charge of the Coletter warp gate, it was not enough. What Doctor Castejon had in mind was far greater than one planet, one warp gate, and Helium-3 mining. The doctor had turned his mind towards the future and realized something: with San Colette’s position, which straddled the line between the Middle and Outer Rings, it had a unique opportunity to establish itself as the main point of transit between both rings. Doctor Castejon intended to turn San Colette into a transportation hub, and to transform its economy in the process.
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===The Warp Gate Project===
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Doctor Castejon took his idea for a warp gate network in the northern section of the Alliance to the then-governor of San Colette, Beatriz Rada, in 2349. What happened behind the closed doors of the governor’s residence may never be truly known, but both Governor Rada and Doctor Castejon left the meeting with a drive to see the project realized. Following six years of debate, backroom dealings, and extensive political maneuverings the Warp Gate Project – the largest project undertaken by the Alliance – was approved by the Solarian government, and the majority of the construction contracts were awarded to Einstein Engines. Governor Rada and Doctor Castejon had achieved their dream: to make San Colette the largest point of transit between the Middle and Outer Rings, and to bring immense wealth to it in the process.

But there was a catch to this deal. Despite the efforts of Rada and Castejon they were unable to proceed without the support of one of the Alliance’s most significant forces: the Navy, which had become even more powerful in the aftermath of the Interstellar War. The Navy demanded oversight of the project in San Colette’s system itself and the ability to take “reasonable precautions,” in designing a defense for San Colette. The Coletter delegation attempted to protest but rapidly found themselves shut down by the Naval delegation and, surprisingly, the Alliance’s central government. With its economy and prestige battered and bruised by the Interstellar War the civilian government of the Alliance was, at best, unwilling to argue with the Navy and often deferred to it – a trend which would continue into the 25th century, with devastating consequences.

The Navy’s demands for its support were deceptively simple on paper, and only contained one requirement: that San Colette be designated a “fallback point,” for any future conflict with the Coalition. This simple requirement would go on to define San Colette due to the factors required to meet the Navy’s standards for its fallback point. First: A large stockpile – fuel, weaponry, and assorted equipment – would have to be assembled, designated, and placed in the system. Second: Fortifications would have to be constructed to hold off the Coalition for an extended period and the Navy, rather than San Colette, would be the final judge of what constituted enough fortifications to hold off the Coalition from San Colette. Third: A local military, which San Colette had nothing resembling, would have to be formed to man the defenses and secure the system. The gravity of what would have to be done to fulfill this demand, and the impact it would have on the system’s budget, almost immediately caused a crisis in the government which only ended when the Alliance, along with the Navy, promised to subsidize much of the work. But despite the Alliance and Navy’s funding the project remained daunting and would date years, if not decades. Further negotiations ensured San Colette would not have to finish the defenses before the warp gates were built, but they were required to start as soon as possible.

In 2356, following a short period of internal debate regarding the practicality of the Navy’s demands, the warp gate project began in San Colette in earnest. By 2357 the first gate – which connected San Colette to [[Callisto]], another Alliance member state chosen for the Warp Gate Project – opened, and equipment for the creation of additional gates began to flow from the Sol System to San Colette. Gate after gate opened over the following years, bringing more materials and more wealth to San Colette. The gate network brought new industries to San Colette beyond its previous exports, which had mostly consisted of foodstuffs from San Colette itself and Helium-3 mined on D’Anzin. This economic diversification was also driven in part by desperation, as the Navy now required much of the system’s He3 production to be stored for a theoretical emergency. A local shipbuilding industry which specialized in ships designed to work in San Colette itself, rather than traveling abroad, formed as a result of the influx of trade goods. Most importantly for San Colette’s future a local artificial intelligence industry began to grow in the late 2360s. While Colettish AI would never reach the level of sophistication of IPCs on [[Konyang]] due to being based upon indigenous AI designs instead of Glorsh-derived designs, it would become very effective at carrying out the tasks needed to run dozens of warp gates in a singular system. One of the tasks commonly assigned to Colettish AI was the identifying of ships in the system and determining their destinations, which would later prove itself to be of stunning importance.

But the demands of the Navy never left the mind of the inhabitants of the system and, in 2362, work began on the first of what would eventually become four lines of defense of San Colette. The “Rock of San Colette,” as it would become known, was designed to fulfill the Navy’s demands while not destroying San Colette’s budget. At the time of its completion in 2398 the Rock consisted of a series of armed space installations. But this was not enough for the Navy and the government of San Colette was sent back to the drawing board. To the Rock was added the Tools and Field of San Collette, which would become the second and first layers of San Colette’s defensive lines. The Field itself was self-explanatory: a large section of space on the edge of the system was designated as a stellar minefield and filled with a variety of anti-vessel mines. Built from 2375 to 2405, the Tools consist of a ring of automated defenses built using Colettish AI.

While the Navy was relatively content with San Colette’s defenses there remained the matter of training and equipping a local military arm to defend San Colette in the event of a dire emergency. In 2356 the Civil Guard of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette, or simply the Civil Guard, was founded in response to the Navy’s demands. The Civil Guard, over the next few decades, proved to be a competent and relatively well-equipped force. Its size remained relatively small due to the Guard’s focus on defensive readiness and automated weapons, but constant funding ensured it was never free of willing volunteers. A sense of patriotic duty related to the Civil Guard also began to slowly develop and many Coletters began to view service in it as a way to seize some of their military autonomy back from the Solarian Navy, which had become increasingly unpopular due to its demands.
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===The Discovery of Phoron===
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By the early 2400s San Colette had become a beacon of economic stability in the outer Alliance, and served as a hub for trade flowing from much of the northern Spur into the Alliance. In 2402 it was officially declared to be the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette, finally shedding its colonial roots and ascending as a full Solarian member state. As the first decade of the 25th century came to a close the Republic had one of the highest standards of living in the Middle and Outer Rings thanks to its status as a trade hub. But the relationship between the Navy and Republic remained poor and efforts by the Civil Guard to further expand their capabilities were often frustrated by the Navy. In 2415 the Navy-Guard relationship reached a new low when the Guard’s ships were banned from possessing warp engines capable of traveling without a gate, despite the protests of the Republic.

But these protests were soon drowned out in 2417 by the discovery of phoron in the system of Biesel. Coletters, ever poised to increase the prominence of their Republic, rapidly managed to carve out a niche in the growing phoronics industry by establishing processing facilities for the fuel on the surface of D’Anzin. Unused and neglected Einstein facilities were rapidly bought up by the government and converted into facilities which turned inert phoron crystals into a usable form, which was then sold to actors across the Orion Spur. Colettish facilities, while they would not reach the output of Tau Ceti, became an important link in the phoron economy between Tau Ceti and much of the outer Alliance and inner Coalition. Trade to the Coalition was initially severely protested by the Navy, and required the addition of phoron to the Colettish strategic reserve in order to appease them.

The addition of a phoronics industry to the system brought the wealth of the Republic to new levels as the 25th century progressed. The Civil Guard was equipped with domestic ship designs for the first time, another layer — the Spears of the Saint, a series of fifteen massive orbital railguns — was added to the Republic’s defenses at the Navy’s insistence, and a local arms industry began to develop in response to growing fears concerning the Solarian government’s seeming unwillingness to assist more distance colonies such as the Republic. Perhaps most importantly the AI industry of San Colette continued to develop, with more and more deadly semi-autonomous drones being created for the defense of San Colette. While skrellian dignitaries were sometimes quick to point out the dangers of such weapons, Republic officials dissuaded them by noting their semi-autonomous nature required a human hand to guide them and make final decisions, and explaining the designs — unlike typical IPCs — were based on human algorithms and technology.

During the golden years of the phoronics boom, which followed the secession of Biesel, San Colette produced much of the processed phoron consumed by the Alliance. Solarian patriotism and distaste for the Republic of Biesel fueled much of the initial boom, but tight controls by the Navy — which frowned upon selling Colettish phoron to non-Solarian customers — began to slow the boom by the late 2450s. Despite slowing in the 2450s the phoronics boom lasted until the early 2460s. By 2461 the flow of phoron gradually began to slow and many facilities opted to limit their production or entirely cease their operations. Some blamed it on NanoTrasen, which had long had a poor relationship with the Republic, while others claimed the decreasing flow was due to Elyran isolationism. Throughout 2461 and into 2462 the Republic stockpiled more and more phoron, hoping it would be able to slowly release fuel from its strategic reserve in order to preserve their economy during what many viewed as an incoming fuel crisis.

Unfortunately, few could anticipate how grim the crisis would become as 2462 neared its end and many families in the Republic prepared for Christmas.
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===The Solarian Collapse===
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Coletters often argue over when the Solarian Collapse truly became unavoidable. Some argue that the Clandestine Incident of 24 October, 2462 — which many in the Republic believe was carried out deliberately by Biesel — marked the start of the end. Others believe the end truly began on 07 November, 2462, when Mars ceased responding to interstellar communications. Or perhaps it was on 11 November, 2462, when the Prime Minister was found dead in his suite. But most argue the Collapse was truly, irreversibly set to happen on 17 November, 2462, when forces from the 58th Fleet opened fire on fellow Solarians. This, to most in the Republic, marked the decisive turning point.

Mere days after this, on 20 November, 2462, the Collapse came to the Republic. The garrison fleet stationed in San Colette, the 67th Fleet, attempted to seize the system for itself. The 67th Fleet, much like its Konyanger counterpart — the 58th — was a smaller fleet loyal more to its admiral, Frederich Müller, than the Solarian government. Admiral Müller demanded the civilian government surrender and hand over the phoron stockpile to him. They refused, and the Battle of San Colette began between the Civil Guard and the 67th Fleet. The Civil Guard and San Colette’s defenses, aided by deserters from the 67th and a home field advantage, eventually routed the 67th and chased them from the system at little cost to themselves. But, due to their inability to pursue them, the 67th was eventually able to find its way to New Atlantica, where its remnants formed the basis of the Anti-Corporate League.

With the defeat of the 67th Fleet the immediate danger had passed for the Republic. However, the chaos of the Solarian Collapse was far from over and during the final two months of 2462 chaos reigned throughout the region San Colette called home. To its galactic west Konyang seceded and the Anti-Corporate League filled the vacuum left by the collapse of Solarian authority in the region. To its east Lycoris, which had at one point helped build the Colettish warp gate network, fell to the Solarian Restoration Front, which began to brutally purge all non-humans from its territory. Solarian fleets collapsed entirely, defected, resorted to piracy, and sometimes became roaming mercenary bands. Refugees began to flow into the Republic from both sides, and the systems around San Colette — many of them too small or otherwise unable to maintain their own fleets — looked to it for aid and some form of protection in this desperate time.

In January 2463 the Republic answered the call of its neighbors by forming a defensive Alliance known as the '''Middle Ring Shield Pact'''. The Pact, unfortunately, quickly ran into problems. Many of its systems, while wealthy, were reliant on the Solarian Navy for protection prior to the Collapse and had no appreciable navies of their own. Most, aside from San Colette, additionally suffered from high degrees of megacorporate domination in their local economies. None had the defenses of San Colette and the Civil Guard was unable to patrol every system vying for membership due to its small size and lack of independent warp engines. Even worse was the economic situation: many gates into Sol itself had been damaged or otherwise closed during the months of the Collapse and the businesses of the Republic now had a desperate need to find new markets before an economic meltdown began.

Salvation would arrive later in January in an unusual form: the former 5th Middle Ring Battlegroup, now better known as the Free Solarian Fleets, under the command of Fleet Admiral van der Rensburg. The mercenaries of the Fleets were tempted by the Republic with a rare prize: phoron from its stockpile and a port to call home. The current President of the Republic, Maribel Sarmiento, and van der Rensburg have a very amiable relationship but many in the Republic — particularly in its Civil Guard — know the loyalty of the Fleets, despite the privileges granted to them, only goes as deep as the Republic’s pockets. Whether they will stand and fight against the enemies of the Pact remains a matter of great concern, particularly for those beyond the reach of San Colette’s defenses.

Resolving the economic crisis caused by the Collapse was simpler than many in the Pact and Republic originally expected. With the collapse of Solarian authority in what became the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, much of the food supply line was interrupted and a new need for weaponry emerged. San Colette, stripped of many of its more high-end export routes, has fallen back onto exporting two mainstays of humanity to the CRZ via Tau Ceti in the meantime: foodstuffs and weaponry. By summer 2463 the economic crisis was resolved. However the necessity to maintain good trade relations with Biesel has led to the SRF and League becoming more vitriolic in their rhetoric towards the Pact, but what can one do? To trade with the Alliance means trade must go through the SRF, and to trade with the Coalition one must go through the League. Coletters have thus been forced into an awkward, perhaps temporary, economic relationship with Biesel.
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===The War in the Northern Reaches===
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In early 2465 tensions in the Northern Reaches boiled over into all-out war between the League, Pact, and Front. The War started with the invasion of the Pact by the Front, pitting forces aligned to the 35th Fleet against the vessels of the Colettish Civil Guard, their Pact allies, and Free Solarian Fleet mercenaries. Despite initial successes against the Front which were aided by phoron acquired by the FSF Caravaggio in 2464, the Pact was pushed further and further back as it was caught in a two-front fight against numerically superior League and Front forces. Within a few months of fighting the Pact had been forced back to the strategic defensive fortifications of Nueva Patria and San Colette, where it decided to make its last stand.

As the Pact entrenched the Front and League fought for dominance of the Northern Reaches as the Alliance and Coalition debated intervention. In the Coalition, member-states voted against intervention and ultimately sanctioned Gadpathur for its support of the League. In the Alliance, pro-intervention profests, with some on Callisto descending into rioting, broke out. The Front eventually triumphed over the League, with the survivors of the League retreating across the border and into the Coalition. With the Northern Reaches now secure aside from limited pockets of Pact or League resistance, the Front now began its assaults on Nueva Patria directly.

The Rock of San Colette resisted valiantly, destroying much of the Front’s strength, but ultimately vulnerabilities in the Rock’s defensive line due to a lack of available resources resulted in it being breached and ground combat commending first on D’Anzin and then on San Colette itself, where fighting was concentrated in the industrial city of Nuevo Villaviciosa. Urban fighting in Nuevo Villaviciosa ultimately became a block-by-block urban engagement during the peak of fighting. The Front was ultimately repulsed from San Colette proper and the Solarian Alliance intervened shortly after the end of ground fighting, finally relieving the beleaguered fighters of the Pact.

As the Northern Reaches recovers San Colette finds itself once again in the Alliance and even more prominent than it once was due to its newfound status as the capital of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate. But the system has been scarred by war: thousands are dead, many more are displaced, and there is much rebuilding to do. But Coletters remain hopeful, and confident they will build a better and stronger Alliancd upon the remains of the Solarian Civil War.
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==Environment==

<center><i>“Oh, San Colette! My homeland so fair! The land of our own, and no others compare!”</i> - Excerpt from the Anthem of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette (2408)</center>

===The System of Nueva Patria===

The system of San Colette consists of four major stellar bodies including its star, Nueva Hispaniola. The nearest stellar body to Nuevo Hispaniola is a small and barren planet known as San Felipe. Due to its closeness to the star San Felipe is entirely uninhabitable and its only man-made features are a neglected series of solar power facilities built by Einstein Engines during the Warp Gate Project which exist both in the orbit of San Felipe and on its surface. The rusting hulks of these facilities are occasionally used for target practice by the Civil Guard but otherwise rarely receive visitors due to their proximity to Nuevo Hispaniola and the presence of unexploded firing range munitions aboard them.

Further out from Nuevo Hispaniola lies the temperate world of San Colette, where the vast majority of the system’s population can be found. San Colette’s surface is defined by its three large continents and large ice cape at its poles. The planet is remarkably hospitable and relatively Earthlike, with no major meteorological phenomena occurring on its surface. It has one natural satellite, San Colette Minor. The moon of San Colette is a barren rock without any major settlements. Scattered Civil Guard facilities and private mining platforms can be seen across its surface. But no reasonable Coletter would describe San Colette Minor as their home.

Thousands of miles beyond San Colette, towards the edge of its system, lies the frozen planet of D’Anzin. The thick layers of ice and rock which cover the surface of D’Anzin are rich in deposits of Helium-3, the fuel which powers the warp gates of the Republic. For nearly as long as humans have called the system home there have been mining operations on the surface of D’Anzin and the planet is covered in a variety of mines, in various states of repair and functionality, as a result. Recently D’Anzin had become home to a new form of energy production: phoronics. The planet’s remote location and lack of large settlements has made it the ideal location to process raw phoron into usable fuel, and all of the Republic’s processing facilities can be found on D’Anzin itself or in its orbit.

Beyond the orbit of D’Anzin and the massive warp gates near it lies the Colettish Belt, a sizable ring of asteroids which surrounds the system. Asteroids and comets found in the Belt contain little of value and much of the Belt itself is designated as a restricted military zone due to the presence of the Republic’s second layer of defense: the Tools of the Saint. Automated defenses are scattered throughout the Belt and wandering into it, or deliberately tampering with the defenses, often results in injury, death, or time in a prison on San Colette. The extent to which the Belt is fortified remains a secret of the Republic few are aware of.

All throughout Nueva Patria one can now find the drifting remains of wrecked vessels, stations, and facilities — the physical remains of the Solarian Civil War. These ruins are being slowly salvaged and removed by the Solarian Navy, Civil Guard, and civilian contractors of the Colettish government to restore the system to its prior condition. Access to these ruins is restricted to licensed personnel as many are filled with unexploded munitions, half-deactivated reactors, and at times the bodies of deceased crew which must be identified and returned to their planet of origin.

===The Planet of San Colette===

The climate of San Colette is temperate and relatively Earthlike, which helped ease its colonization. Its surface is defined by three continents — Maria, Nueva Norte, and Morro — separated by large seas and covered in a variety of climates. The planet’s poles are covered in ice caps which have shrunk following colonization by an insignificant amount, and San Colette Minor provides enough of a gravitational pull to create a system of tides. San Colette is relatively free of freak meteorological phenomena and has four seasons which roughly correspond to their earthbound counterparts.

====Regions====

The continent of Maria is the largest of the three and is home to the capital of Nueva Isabela and the industrial center of Montblanc, which is in its more northern regions. Maria is easily divided into two major regions: a large, grassy flatland called the Colettish Plains known for its rich soil which has long been the agricultural heartland of San Colette and the more northern forests of Cristobal. The Colettish Plains are home to Nueva Isabela and are dotted by many smaller towns, ranging from cities of thousands to villages of mere hundreds. It is separated from Cristobal by the uncreatively named Northern Range, a old and quite short mountain range which bisects the continent and is home to many mining operations. Cristobal is colder and criss-crossed by various rivers, eventually transitioning into taiga and then polar ice in its north. Montblanc, a Colettish industrial center, sits at the mouth of one of these rivers, which allows it to easily receive minerals from the Range and lumber from further inside Cristobal.

Across the sea from Maria, to its west, lies the mostly unpopulated continent of Morro. The continent is dominated by a large, arid scrubland known as the Hinterlands which often suffers from droughts and fires. It is home to the settlement of Porto de Ouro, which is unique among San Colette’s major settlements as it mostly lies off of the shore of Morro on a series of island chains — some natural and some artificial. The flat planes near it have been mostly cleared of plant life by Coletters and now serve as a major offworld hub. Much of Morro is poorly explored aside from satellite photography and rumors of mineral wealth have long motivated expeditions into it — though few return with much of value.

The third, and smallest, of the continents is Nuevo Norte, a highly-populous region home to two major settlements. Nuevo Norte is the furthest north of the three continents and is mostly defined by taiga and tundra, though some regions in its south are more hospitable. In its far north lies Vila Nova de Norte, a scientific hub which is known for its freezing temperatures and frequent snowstorms. Vila Nova stands on the edge of a large, flat tundra known as the Guard’s Tundra due to its use as a proving ground for Civil Guard weaponry. To the south of the continent in one of its few temperate regions is Nuevo Villaviciosa, the planet’s major shipbuilding center. Nuevo Villaviciosa is one of the few locations in the Middle Ring to feature a functional space elevator, which lies slightly offshore and is visible from almost anywhere on Nuevo Norte.
==Economics==

<center><i>“The main export of San Colette should be the business of trade, not bushels of wheat.”</i> - Doctor Ernesto Castrejon (2298-2386), regarding his proposed Warp Gate Project (2353).</center>

The Republic’s economy is diverse and well-developed by the standards of the Middle and Outer Rings. However, it does not rise to the level of Jewel Worlds such as Callisto and Venus or the level of Tau Ceti. Its economy is large enough to support native corporations and stave off attempts by megacorporations to intrude into its industries, which has not endeared it to some corporate actors. Trade between the Outer and Middle Ring and the Jewel Worlds has historically flown through Colettish warp gates to Callisto, which has given it the ability to punch above its weight economically. Aside from trade San Colette’s primary exports are foodstuffs, refined phoron, and weaponry.

The state-run Colettish phoronics industry was its most profitable prior to the events of 2462, which cut off many of its markets. Much of the phoron which entered the Alliance’s markets was sent to Colettish refinement facilities on D’Anzin where it was turned from useless, if flammable, crystals into gaseous phoron for use as fuel or liquid phoron for use in various industries such as the medical field. Often this phoron went into the Colettish Strategic Stockpile at the Navy’s demand, to the endless frustration of Colettish businesses. But this has given San Colette an unexpected boon as the phoron in its stockpile is now a valuable, rare resource which was used to purchase the most valuable thing in the Solarian Civil War: security. Following the Collapse and the 35th Fleet’s invasion, a large amount of Biesel’s raw phoron was processed in D’Anzin’s facilities due to many of Biesel’s plants having been either damaged or destroyed in the incursion. But as facilities in Biesel were slowly repaired and brought back online this flow of goods slowed and eventually stopped with the start of the War in the Northern Wildlands and the encirclement of San Colette. Now, with the Alliance in control of the Northern Reaches once again, the future of the Colettish phoron industry is in question.

Though not as profitable as the phoronics industry, San Colette’s native armaments industry has long been a mainstay of the local economy. The industry covers everything from arms and armor produced in Montblanc to entire combat-capable space vessels produced by the dockyards associated with Nuevo Villaviciosa. Like the phoronics industry San Colette’s armaments industry has always had a significant level of government involvement, both to ensure sensitive equipment is not sold to the highest bidder and to keep the best designs for the Civil Guard itself. The exports of this industry have, aside from spaceships, spiked following the Collapse. Many Colettish small arms find their way into the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, where they are used for both good and ill. Accusations of Solarian Interstellar Intelligence Bureau involvement in this flow of arms have been consistently denied by Colettish corporations and the Solarian government.

===Colettish Corporations===
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====Colettish Phoronics (PhoroCol)====
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Colettish Phoronics, or PhoroCol, is the most prolific of the planet's corporations. Established in 2419 and headquartered in Nueva Isabela, PhoroCol is responsible for all phoron-related activities in the system of San Colette and manages the refinement facilities on D’Anzin. The Republic’s government is the majority stakeholder of PhoroCol and, despite protests by the Trasen family, no megacorporation has been allowed to purchase a stake in it. PhoroCol is one of the only companies outside of the Republic of Biesel and Republic of Elyra which is able to refine phoron into its more usable forms, which has made it into one of the wealthiest non-megacorporate companies in the Northern Reaches. Post-reunification PhoroCol’s future is in question due to the Alliance’s poor relations with Biesel and decreasing phoron use across it.
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====Tiscareno y Volante Shipbuilding (TyVS)====
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TyVS is located in Nuevo Villaviciosa and founded in 2298; it has long been the primary shipbuilding company of the Republic. A producer of everything from private vessels to Civil Guard warships, TyVS is one of the most widely recognized corporations of San Colette. Prior to the Collapse TyVS often cooperated with Hephaestus Industries during projects in the Middle and Outer Ring of Solarian space but, with the Collapse, these contracts have dried up. However, the friendship between Titaneus Aeson, Hephaestus CEO, and, Consuela Volante II, TyVS co-CEO, has remained and many speculate the Fighting Titan has sent some of his fortune to Volante in order to help TyVS remain afloat. Following the Solarian reunification TyVS has found itself with much more business: it is now responsible for constructing much of the Civil Guard’s replacement vessels and assisting other System Defense Forces throughout the Northern Reaches.
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====San Colette Interstellar Armaments Company (CAISC)====
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Headquartered in Montblanc and established in 2378 through a merger of several smaller companies, CAISC is responsible for the Republic’s non-spaceborne armaments industry. Firearms, protective equipment, and energy weaponry from CAISC have long provided the Civil Guard’s forces with everything from the sidearms used by its officers to the Morion armored suit used by its marines. Arms from CAISC have become even more widespread in the post-Collapse era due to a significantly greater demand for firearms. Most of these firearms are sent out of the Northern Wildlands and are sold by CAISC and its subsidiaries to actors in the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, where many eventually make their way to the Badlands and Sparring Sea. CAISC now serves as a major supplier for the Solarian military in the Northern Reaches, having stepped in to fill a gap left by Zavodskoi’s retreat from the region following anti-corporate legislation. At its current rate of expansion CAISC may soon overtake PhoroCol as the most profitable Colettish corporation.
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==Government==

<center><i>“We, as the government of the Republic of San Colette, derive our legitimacy from the people, not the Solarian Navy! I will not stand idly by while Solarian officers who have never set foot in our Republic demand more and more from us!”</i> - Excerpt from a speech by Representative Leandro Resendes (2418 - ) protesting the transfer of more phoron to San Colette’s strategic reserve (15 August, 2462).</center>

The Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette is a democratic republic and Solarian member state — though it was technically not under Solarian control during much of the civil war (2462-65). The Republic is ruled by a President elected by popular vote for a maximum of two four-year terms. Immediately below the President is the Colettish Assembly, a single-house representative body made up of Representatives elected by Colettish citizens. These representatives serve for a single six year term and cannot be re-elected — a deliberate choice by the Republic’s founders to avoid an oligarchy.

Coletters have a relatively high amount of confidence in their government when compared to their Middle Ring counterparts such as New Hai Phongers and Silversunners. The most common reasons given for this are a lack of corruption, minimal megacorporate presence in local politics, and a perception that Colettish politicians place the good of the Republic above their personal gain. Many believe this dedication to the Republic is rooted in many Colettish politicians having served with the Civil Guard prior to entering politics.

Politically the Civil Guard is generally uninvolved and uninterested. From its creation there was an express intent to avoid the level of political tampering the Solarian Navy is known for and the consequences that have resulted from this tampering, such as — arguably — the Solarian Civil War itself. The Admiral of the Civil Guard, its overall commander, is subordinate to the President. The vast majority of Civil Guard personnel see it as their duty to serve the Republic, rather than the Republic serving them. Some theorists argue that the cultural veneration of the Civil Guard has been a major contributing factor to its comfort with being subordinate to the civilian government of the Republic. Others, however, point out that the Civil Guard tampers with politics in its own way: many politicians have a background in the Guard and have long been willing to give it preferential treatment for what they argue is the good of the Republic as a whole.

The current President of the Republic is Maribel Sarmiento (2412 - ). Elected in 2462 and a current member of the Colettish Progressive Party, President Sarmiento’s term has been marked by crisis after crisis. As of 2465 she has so far effectively led the Republic through the most turbulent time in its history but remains concerned she will be unable to handle everything thrown at her, particularly with the Progressive Party’s (PPC) loss of an electoral majority in 2463. The President remains wildly popular and is seen by many as the Savior of San Colette in the era of the Solarian Civil War. Now, with Sarmiento having seen San Colette re-enter the Alliance, many predict her PPC will emerge with a landslide victory in the upcoming 2466 general elections.

===Political Parties===

Politics in the Republic have long been dominated by three major political parties: the Republican Unity Party, the Colettish Progressive Party, and the Socialist Party of San Colette. None of the three parties maintains absolute dominance and the status of largest party in the Republic often switches hands. As a general rule all Coletter political parties are fairly hawkish due to the deep integration of service in the Civil Guard in the system’s cultural identity. To go against this cultural trend in the Republic is to effectively commit political suicide.
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====Republican Unity Party (PUR)====
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The Republican Unity Party is the currently dominant party in San Colette’s government. While broadly viewed as belonging to the ideological school of Solarian Conservatism the PUR differs on several points from its Lunan counterpart. It is more militant and favors greater military spending and is generally anti-corporate while being pro-Coletter businesses. These two differences, along with the PUR opting to keep social welfare policies established by their rivals in place, have allowed the PUR to successfully retain power after the Collapse when so many other conservatives lost their power.
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====Colettish Progressive Party (PPC)====
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The main rival of the PUR, the Colettish Progressive Party holds a position that is widely considered a variation on traditional Callistean social democracy, the PPC is significantly more hawkish than its jewel world counterparts and is well known for establishing a robust system of social programs in the Republic during the 2410s. The PPC had the misfortune of being in power during the start of the Solarian Civil War and quickly lost much of its influence during the elections of 2463, but has managed to retain a significant minority in the government. When it can cooperate with its more socialist counterpart, the PPC, itis fully capable of passing legislation, despite being a minority.
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====Socialist Party of San Colette (PSSC)====
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The smallest party of the three, the PSSC is a strange combination of mainstream Solarian populist thought and New Hai Phongese socialist theory which abhors corporations while at the same time voicing unwavering support for the military. The eclectic stance of the PSSC has given it the least presidencies of the three parties but has turned it into an effective swing bloc in the government: PSSC representatives will typically vote with the PPC but have been known to cross the isle to vote with the PUR when matters of the Civil Guard are concerned.
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===Police===

The civilian police of the Republic have been heavily influenced by the cultural emphasis placed upon military service in San Colette. The ''Planetary Police of San Colette'' (PPSC) are a highly-trained and competent force by the standards of Solarian policing agencies. It almost always recruits its patrol officers from former members of the Civil Guard, leading to an older-than-average street police force as a result. Coletters have a high level of trust in the PPSC due to its reputation as a competent and incorruptible agency. PPSC officers often work alongside their still-serving counterparts in the Civil Guard, which has caused many outside observers to sarcastically refer to the PPSC as a retirement club for Civil Guard troops. Due to the difficulty of becoming a patrol officer and the high standards which must be met to remain in service, the PPSC has a relatively small number of officers on the street.

The small number of the PPSC’s officers led to difficulties as the number of refugees traveling to the Republic increased and FSF mercenaries chose San Colette for their shore leave. Many departments opted to loosen their infamously high recruitment standards to keep pace with demands, to varying degrees of success. Some departments instead opted to rely on the assistance of Civil Guard military police, which was not always readily available. The PPSC and its officers ultimately kept control of the situation and formed a valuable component of San Colette’s defense in Nueva Isabela and Nuevo Villaviciosa, where they served as second-line troops and sometimes as frontline combatants during the Front’s invasion of the planet. Many officers gave their lives defending the Republic, but their cities were ultimately kept safe and secure.
===Education===

The most well-known school of higher learning in the Republic is likely the '''Naval Academy of Nueva Isabela''', located in the capital city of the same name. The Academy, as it is often simply known, has trained all Civil Guard officers since the Guard’s founding without exception. Prior to the Collapse it occasionally hosted officers from other Solarian militias and was very rarely visited by the Solarian Navy itself. The Academy has an attached AI research facility where new drones are produced for use by the Civil Guard or export beyond the Republic’s borders and is most recently known for producing the Navaja type semi-autonomous drone, which is itself a variant on the earlier Albatros type semi-autonomous drone.

The primary producer of Colettish AI is not the Academy but the '''Montblanc Institute of Research''', or '''MIR'''. Arguably the most prestigious university on San Colette, the MIR has produced many of the designs the Civil Guard now uses, with its most famous product assuredly being the Albatros type semi-autonomous drone. Due to the sensitive nature of much of its research, the MIR only accepts students from San Colette itself and does not permit those from other Solarian worlds, or foreigners, to attend. While this has proven to be a controversial stance, the government has always sided with the MIR, citing reasons of national security as their motivation.
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===Foreign Relations===

Having rejoined the Alliance in 2465 with the end of the Solarian Civil War, '''the Republic no longer has an effectively independent foreign policy'''. This section has been preserved to show how it interacted with the broader Spur between 2462 and 2465.
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The position of the Republic and the Pact more generally is an awkward one. It is sandwiched between two outright hostile warlords, the League and the SRF, to its galactic east and west and is bordered by the chaotic CRZ to its galactic south. Above it to its flaccid north lies mostly uncolonized space free of major powers. The Republic and Pact must thus play their cards very carefully or risk losing the thing they value the most: their independence from the neighboring states.

A state of undeclared war exists between the Pact and both the Solarian Restoration Front and the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems. The SRF despises the Pact as a weak proxy of alien-dominated corporations, while the League views it as simply dominated by corporations — and many former 67th Fleet members view San Colette with exceptional bitterness.

In contrast to these twin threats is the nearby Republic of Biesel. Due to currently being gripped by the spasms of an ongoing phoron crisis Biesel, and the corporate masters which control it, have a desperate need for phoron and phoron processing facilities. San Colette can provide both and has successfully used this to open up the CRZ and Tau Ceti for trade. Colettish facilities provide a small yet significant part of the Republic’s phoron processing capabilities. While this small percentage means severing San Colette’s facilities from Biesel would not be fatal for either party, it would certainly be inconvenient and is thus best avoided. While Biesel has not yet offered military aid to San Colette and the Pact directly it has, at the least, helped to relieve its post-Collapse economic woes. But many in the Pact look to Biesel with caution, concerned of becoming another sector of the increasingly unstable CRZ. The question for the Pact is deceptively simple: at which point does cooperation become dependence, and dependence annexation?

Beyond the SRF lies the former master of the Northern Wildlands, the now-shrunken Solarian Alliance. Trade with the broader Alliance, which at one point fueled the Colettish economy, has become impossible due to having to pass through the hostile SRF. Even worse, the Alliance is seen by many Coletters as being inactive — or even complicit — with the problem of the SRF. But many look back on the era of the Alliance prior to its Collapse with great nostalgia, viewing it as a time of relative stability — or at least an era where Solarians were unified instead of killing one another over politics and fuel.
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==Culture and Demographics==

<center><i>“I swear to defend the Republic, its people, and its values at any cost. I will uphold the values of freedom enshrined in our constitution, even if it costs me my life.”</i> - Except from the Colettish Oath taken by Civil Guard personnel prior to beginning training.</center>

The culture and daily life of a typical Coletter is informed by both the planet’s past as a planet settled by the nations of Iberia and its more recent history as a trade hub for the broader Alliance. Coletters value familial bonds, duty to the Republic, and are often seen as friendly and outgoing people by the broader Alliance. Coletters are known to be very talkative abroad and often stand very close to their conversation partners, which can result in some awkward encounters for those unused to Colettish conversation customs.

To a typical Coletter familial bonds are very important, and several generations of the same family will often live very close to one another — occasionally even in the same house! Holidays are viewed as a chance to catch up with one’s family and, prior to the Collapse, Coletters abroad would often return home for major holidays even as the cost of travel increased due to the phoron crisis. These holiday celebrations are often accompanied by the traditional dance of San Colette: the flamenco.

One of the key cultural tenets of Colettish life is a sense of duty to the Republic which has been ingrained in Colettish culture for several generations. Initially starting as a reaction to the anger many felt at the Solarian Navy, this feeling has helped cement the Civil Guard as a key cultural pillar of the Republic. Enlistment, particularly enrolling as an officer, is seen as a prestigious duty and many middle class Coletter families will try to enroll at least one child into the Civil Guard. In many Colettish households it is a common sight to see a photo of a relative in the uniform of the Civil Guard placed prominently on a wall or above a fireplace. Following the War in the Northern Wildlands many of these photographs now have a black strip of cloth wrapped around a corner — a common method of mourning a deceased relative.

===Holidays===

The Republic celebrates a multitude of holidays throughout the year. Some are derived from historical events while others are rooted in the historical culture and religion of the original Iberian settlers of San Colette. Listed below are some of the more notable holidays in the Republic:

* The Beatification (23 January): A celebration of the beatification of Colette of Corbie, whom the Republic derives its name from. Perhaps the most important holiday in the Republic, the Beatification is often marked by celebrations of the previous year and public carnivals.

* Holy Week (movable — generally falls in late March or early April): A religious, cultural, and social event combined into one, the Holy Week has its roots in both Catholicism and the Spanish roots of San Colette’s settlers. Holy Week celebrations vary based upon the region of the planet they take place in but often involve distinctive costumed processions, many of which date back to Earth.

* Intervention Day (June 8): A celebration of the SAMV ''Gunnhildr''’s arrival in the Nueva Patria system, which signaled the beginning of the end of the War in the Northern Wildlands. Intervention Day is a new holiday first created in 2465 following the Solarian Navy’s intervention.

* Republic Day (15 June): A celebration of San Colette being officially declared the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette.

* Reunification Day (17 July): A holiday celebrated across the Alliance, Reunification Day celebrates the end of the Solarian Civil War and the reintegration of the Northern and Southern Reaches. It is a new holiday which dates to 2465.

* Civil Guard Day (22 June): A celebration of the establishment of the Civil Guard, San Colette’s local military force. Traditionally, Civil Guard officer candidates officially graduate from the Naval Academy of Nueva Isabela on this day.

* Colonization Day (5 October): The day the first settlers landed on the surface of San Colette. Officially made a holiday in 2421, shortly after the Republic was declared. This holiday is often viewed as a chance to reflect upon San Colette’s past and future, and has become quite solemn following the Solarian Collapse.

* Christmas Day (December 25): Christmas in San Colette arguably starts with the drawing of the Christmas lottery on 22 December, which itself has its own traditions around its first prize (locally referred to as “the Big One,”) and “luck pilgrimages,” made to the lottery booty which sold the last year’s first prize ticket. Christmas itself has changed little from its Earther roots and serves as a day to celebrate with one’s family and relatives.

* Saint Sebastian’s Day (December 26): Often considered to be a continuation of Christmas, this holiday has similar religious and cultural roots. It is typically treated as a quiet day to spend time with family and reflect upon the previous year.

===Refugees===

Most current residents of the Republic who are not native Coletters are instead refugees from other sections of the Northern Reaches. These refugees are a diverse group of Solarians, and other citizens, drawn to San Colette by its relative stability in the maelstrom of the Solarian Civil War. The refugees are a diverse group due to their variety of origins: some come from the industrial world of Lycoris and have opted to flee the violence of the SRF, while others are offworlders from stations cannibalized by the League for spare parts. Rarely non-human refugees — skrell, the rare tajara, and handfuls of IPCs — trickle into the system from territory now controlled by the SRF, exhausted from a harrowing journey barely ahead of the Front’s internal police.

When they arrived most were sent to refugee settlements on San Colette — temporary arrangements on the edge of Colettish cities — where they are given a residence and the option of work. Most of these refugees followed two career paths: enlisting in the Civil Guard, which desperately requires troops to defend San Colette or working in the phoron refineries of D’Anzin, which few choose to do. Those who did opt to work on the phoronics facilities often found themselves away from their families for weeks at a time due to the remote location of D’Anzin and the difficulties of travel due to fuel rationing. IPC refugees, due to their status in Sol, did not have the liberty to choose. They were conscripted into the Civil Guard upon arrival in the Republic, regardless of ownership status, and given a chance to earn freedom, in the form of transport to Biesel or another system of choice, through two years of military service.

Not all refugees found San Colette welcoming. Resources were often limited due to the economic malaise inflicted by the Collapse and native Coletters often received goods before their refugee counterparts, who must depend on the government for support. Policing in refugee camps was difficult due to the small size of San Colette’s domestic police force and the large number of refugees. Many were concerned that the Republic would eventually be unable to accept refugees at all due to their sheer number, but this did not come to pass.

Following the end of the Solarian Civil War most refugees in the Nueva Patria System have begun the slow process of returning home to their worlds of origin, many of which have been devastated by the Solarian Civil War and are now undergoing the long process of rebuilding. Some refugees, particularly those who have been in the Republic since near the civil war’s start, have opted to stay and make lives for themselves in their new home, seeing nothing for themselves outside of San Colette.

===Language===

The primary language of San Colette is the Colettish dialect of Tradeband, which is often simply referred to as Colettish Tradeband. This variant of Tradeband has been heavily influenced by its Iberian roots but has its own unique twists. The name of the system, San Colette, is typically rendered in Colettish Tradeband rather than in its original names of Sainte-Colette and Santa Coleta.

Solarian Common is the typical secondary language for most Coletters out of necessity, and is taught in Colettish primary schools. Other human languages, such as Elyran Standard and Freespeak, are rarely spoken by natives of the Republic. Freespeak is the more common of the two due to the Republic’s status as a trade hub of the northern Alliance, but is rarely spoken by native Coletters.

==Military==

===The Defenses of San Colette===

<center><i>“We must form a wall of steel around our Republic. We must ensure no invader is able to seize San Colette. We must be ready to die for our Republic if necessary.”</i> - Admiral Emerico Tolentino (2403 - ), Commander of the Civil Guard (2455 - Present)</center>

The defenses of the system of San Colette are a complex, multi-layered ring of defenses which completely surround the system on all sides. Built by both the Republic and Navy over the course of decades, the Bastion of San Colette cost a massive amount of Solarian Credits to construct and stands as a contemporary marvel of spaceborne engineering. The Bastion has four layers, with the first being the most outer, which have their own names and purposes. The garrison of the Bastion has long been the Civil Guard, the Republic’s local military force. The value of the Bastion was proven during the final months of the Solarian Civil War, where it repelled multiple assaults by the Solarian Restoration Front and was vital in ensuring Solarian reinforcements eventually reached the beleaguered Civil Guard and Pact.

The first layer of the Bastion is the most simple one. Typically referred to as the Field of San Colette, the first layer consists of a wide arrangement of anti-ship mines intended to slow and deter potential attackers. The mines themselves can often be decades old due to the sheer amount used, but remain an effective deterrent for all but the most organized attackers. A recent addition to the first layer are the destroyed husks of several 67th Fleet vessels which were lost inside it during the Battle of San Colette. As removing them was deemed too risky, the husks remained in the Field of San Colette as grim warnings for any warlord who wishes to assail the Republic. The first layer is the only defensive layer beyond the Colettish belt, the asteroid field at the end of San Colette’s system. Much of this layer was lost during the Solarian Civil War, and the Solarian Navy is in the process of mining the Field once again and removing dozens of ruined Front and League vessels, destroyed either by mines or by gunfire.

After the minefields lies the Colettish Belt, which is home to the second layer of the Bastion: the Tools of San Colette. The Tools which this layer derives its name from are a series of automated defenses spread throughout the asteroid belt which switch online if given the appropriate signal by operators further inside the Republic. Many of the defenses in this layer have been built into asteroids and are very difficult to spot from a distance. The second layer is not intended to stop an invader on its own, and its primary purpose is to delay them for the next layers. Its use as a delaying mechanism was proven to be effective during the Front assaults against the Bastion. While most of the Tools were destroyed during the assaults a significant amount of the Front’s losses were in the second layer, either from the automated weapons platforms, hidden drones and mines, gunfire from the other layers, or simply running afoul of asteroids.

The third of the Bastion’s layers is the Rock of San Colette. This layer consists of a large number of stellar facilities, many of which are considered to be stellar fortresses, intended to hold off any attacker until they exhaust themselves or reinforcements arrive. The majority of the Civil Guard serves in these fortifications, which also serve as a berth for the Guard’s fleets. While intimidating, the Rock is the oldest of the Bastion’s defensive lines and many of its fortifications were originally constructed in the mid 24th century. Modernization efforts began in the mid 25th century but slowed in the years leading up to the Collapse due to a lack of Navy funding. Following the Collapse the Republic began a rapid effort to modernize the Rock in order to hold off a theoretical attack by both the League and SRF, and ultimately succeeded in modernizing upwards of 80% of the Rock. The remaining 20% ultimately became the focus of the Front’s final, and most successful, assault which ultimately punched through the Rock. While they were ultimately defeated upwards of 15% of the third layer’s defenses were destroyed, and thousands of Civil Guard troops perished at their positions.

The fourth, and technically smallest, layer of the Bastion are the appropriately-named Spears of Saint Colette. A modern array of fifteen defensive stations equipped with massive Magellan-class interstellar railguns, the Spears are able to target and destroy an enemy vessel in any of the Bastion’s layers. The Spears are staffed by the best troops of the Civil Guard and require an immense amount of power to fire their tungsten rod projectiles, which can weigh up to several tons. As a result of their power requirements the Spears have large solar arrays which provide them with enough power to charge their railguns. The Spears are able to hold enough power for several sequential shots before recharging is required, but the size of their projectiles — which must be moved into place by massive machines — naturally limits their rate of fire. But when the Spears do strike true, they bring devastating consequences. The railgun station El Conquistador impacted a Taipei-class vessel during the Battle of San Colette, disabling it in one hit and causing its reactor to go critical, eventually consuming the entire ship in a massive explosion. These stations, supported by San Colette’s space elevator in Nuevo Villaviciosa, proved decisive in turning the tide against the Front and inflicting massive damage upon their advances. The railgun station Esmeralda was eventually destroyed by the Front, signaling the start of ground combat on San Colette.

The railgun stations of San Colette have been given nicknames by their crew and are often referred to by said nicknames in the press. Below are the nicknames of the Spears of San Colette.

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'''The Railguns'''
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* El Conquistador
* El Cid
* A Matadeira
* Rey Carlos III
* Lanza Sagrada
* Vasco da Gama
* Esmeralda (destroyed in the Solarian Civil War)
* Dom Henrique
* Reina Isabela
* Médico Castrejon
* Governadora Rada
* Senhor Presidente
* Mano de Dios
* Rey de la Guerra
* Dedo do Destino
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===The Civil Guard===
[[File:Civil_Guard.png|thumb|The coat of arms of the Civil Guard of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette, adopted shortly after its creation.]]
<center><i>“Hold, Fight, Win.”</i> - Official motto of the Civil Guard of San Colette, adopted in 2435. </center>

The uniformed military of San Colette is the '''Civil Guard of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette''', often simply referred to as the '''Civil Guard'''. Prior to the Solarian Collapse the Civil Guard was a local [[Solarian Armed Forces#System Defense Forces|System Defense Force (SDF)]] branch of the Solarian Navy tasked with defending San Colette itself which was not expected to travel beyond its borders for any serious duties. As with many SDFs the ships of the Civil Guard were not equipped by the Navy with warp engines in order to make a rebellion by the Republic harder to carry out. Despite this limit placed upon it the Civil Guard has always been looked upon as a way to minimize Navy influence in the Republic and its government has cut no corners in funding and equipping it. Service in the Civil Guard has always been viewed as an honorable duty by Coletters, due to the popular view of it as a way to keep the Republic’s defense free of Navy influence. The overall commander of the Guard holds the rank of Admiral, in order to theoretically never outrank any Navy fleet commander. The Guard’s officers, and most of its enlisted, are drawn from San Colette’s population and the Republic has never instituted a draft in its history.

The soldiers and officers of the Civil Guard are well-equipped, well-trained, and well-motivated to defend their home. Civil Guard officers are easily distinguishable from their Solarian counterparts by their blue-and-white uniforms and peaked “crusher” caps. The marines of the Guard wear green fatigues and grey armor which is entirely atmospherically sealed— a design intended to assist in actions in the Republic’s phoronics facilities. Despite this training and funding, San Colette’s lack of a draft, and an unwillingness to implement one, has led to something of a manpower shortage during the Collapse. These experienced troops are supported by a robust network of semi-autonomous systems and drones which do much of the menial work for them. These robots are desperately needed now as the Civil Guard has, for as long as it has existed, been a relatively small organization and Navy personnel who were expected to fill in its gaps during a crisis have either defected, died, or turned mercenary.

Fortunately for the Civil Guard a readily-available source of personnel existed in the Republic during its darkest days: its refugee population, many desperate for work and motivated to hang onto what little peace they have managed to find in the Solarian Civil War. These refugees were most often human Solarian citizens from elsewhere in the Middle and Outer Rings and were given heavy incentives to join the Civil Guard, which desperately wished to not be seen as press-ganging refugees into joining its forces. Those that do join were often given menial work to free up Coletters and their automated drones for more important work. Easily distinguished from their Coletter counterparts by their drab brown uniforms the enlisted refugees of the Civil Guard are given as much training as time can spare and sent off to the Guard to serve in it as low-ranking enlisted. Many serve as staff on the myriad defensive installations of the Republic in a variety of roles, where they are often desperately needed.

The Civil Guard and its refugee soldiers performed better than any other non-Navy force during the Solarian Civil War, though at significant cost to themselves and the Civil Guard. Over the course of the final months of the Solarian Civil War it lost roughly half of its total vessel strength and hundreds of thousands of personnel were killed, wounded, or declared missing. But the Civil Guard stood and fought, and ultimately lasted long enough against numerically superior forces to allow the intervention of the Solarian Navy. Now it has begun the long process of rebuilding its strength and, for the first time in its history, the Civil Guard is set to be equipped with warp drives — a remarkable change from before the civil war.
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===Domestic Ship Designs===

The Republic is, by the standards of the Outer and Middle Rings, quite a wealthy and prosperous system with a large local fleet for its own defense. Thanks to its large amounts of funding the Civil Guard is one of the few local militias to field its own combat-capable designs. While not entirely original creations due to being heavily modified versions of typical Solarian Navy vessels, the locally-designed ships of San Colette are quite capable and, prior to the collapse, were often exported to Solarian systems across the Outer and Middle Rings.
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The most iconic Colettish ship design is the ''Castillo''-class battleship. First launched in 2442 and often locally referred to as a “dreadnought,” the Castillo is based upon a common Solarian battleship design dating back to the early 2430s, but trades the common “tuning fork,” design of typical Solarian Navy vessels for a boxier one. The Castillo lacks a warp drive and has a short operating range, but makes up for these drawbacks by possessing heavier weaponry and more armor than its Navy counterpart. Prior to the Collapse many ships of this class were produced on commission to be sold abroad. Following the Collapse the commissioned ships still in drydock were instead given over to the Civil Guard, customers be damned. Tourists visiting San Colette would often purchase small models of Castillo-class battleships as knickknacks. But with the civil war this industry faded rapidly, and untold miniatures of San Colette’s iconic dreadnought now languish in the back rooms of shops across the Republic.

While less iconic than its dreadnought counterpart the ''Caballero''-class heavy cruiser is another Colettish design which has been exported across Outer and Middle Ring. First launched in 2412 the Caballero-class is a mainstay of Civil Guard fleets and its updated 2452 version serves an important role as a screening ship for larger Castillo-class battleships. The Caballero is based on a Solarian Navy cruiser and, like its larger counterpart, trades the “tuning fork,” design for a boxier shape. It lacks a warp drive and has a much shorter operational range, but compensates for this by having heavier armor and more weaponry than its Navy counterpart. This class was commonly sold to other Solarian systems on commission prior to the Collapse and was used by every actor in the Northern Reaches aside from the Solarian Navy itself.!

One design which has not been exported is the small and relatively unassuming ''Cabral''-class light cruiser. Designed in 2427 the Cabral goes against typical Colettish ship design conventions: it is fast, able to fly long ranges without resupplying its fuel, and has few artillery pieces of its own. What it does have are large launch bays and a well-developed sensor suite to compliment its role as a drone carrier rather than a proper cruiser. A typical vessel of this class is fitted with a variety of Albatros type semi-autonomous drones which allow the vessel to punch far above its weight. The rare Civil Guard patrol fleets which can be found outside of San Colette in the wider Pact often consist of Cabral-class vessels escorted by FSF ships. Like its heavier counterparts the Cabral has no warp engines and cannot independently jump, but is capable of outrunning almost any vessels which attempt to close with it thanks to its powerful sublight engines. The Cabral-class was one of the most effective Civil Guard vessels of the War in the Northern Wildlands, with its drones inflicting many losses upon the League and Front.

The ''Mosquito''-class corvette is the smallest of the Civil Guard’s domestic designs. It is based on the Navy’s Montevideo-class patrol ship but diverges from its Navy counterpart in several manners. First is its removal of the “tuning fork,” design in favor of a central, and more armored, crew compartment. Second is its removal of the boarding arm in favor of two drone bays, one on each side of the vessel, and several fixed artillery guns. The Mosquito was originally designed for export alone as a smaller version of the Cabral-class light cruiser but has been pressed into service with the Civil Guard due to the Collapse. It is typically commanded by a junior Coletter officer and Coletter drone technician who are assisted by a crew of refugee soldiers.
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===Drone Warfare===

<center><i>“This is Operator 77 confirming good effect of my Navaja wing on target. Looks like the reactor’s hit. Might go critical soon, going to redirect an Albatros to it. Operator 77 out.”</i> - Lieutenant Emiliana del Moral (2441 - ) minutes before the 67th Fleet’s flagship, Redoubtable, was destroyed by a reactor explosion during the Battle of San Colette (20 November, 2462).</center>

The Civil Guard has long been limited by two things: its small size and its lack of independent warp capabilities, though it is currently being equipped with warp engines following the end of the Solarian Civil War. These limiters have turned it into a force focused on the defensive with only limited offensive capabilities and its small size has caused it to pursue a very unusual force multiplier for interstellar combat: the use of semi-autonomous drones controlled from either ships or stations. The first combat-capable Colettish drones and AI-managed weapons platforms were produced in the 2350s and have only improved over the intervening century. Colettish AI weaponry can be roughly divided into stationary and mobile categories, with stationary weaponry primarily serving as autonomous weapons platforms found throughout the defenses of the Republic and mobile weapons forming the category of drones.
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The mainstay drone of the Civil Guard is the ''Albatros'' type semi-autonomous drone. The Albatros is a relatively recent design which dates back to 2442 and utilizes Colettish AI designs rather than more complicated AIs found on [[Konyang]]. Despite repeated protests by some skrellian figures the Albatros has been a commercial success due and is well-known across the Alliance due to it being exported across Alliance space by Colettish defense firms. The Albatros is a highly modular design which is cheap to produce and effective in space combat due to its powerful engines, small profile, and relatively large missile payload. As a semi-autonomous drone the Albatros requires permission from a human operator before it is authorized to go “weapons hot,” and engage hostile targets. Most Guard defense installations have several wings of Albatros drones armed with a variety of weaponry up to and including anti-capital ship armaments.

The most well-known variant of the Albatros type drone is the ''Navaja'' type semi-autonomous drone. The Navaja trades the missile payload of the Albatros for a significantly more powerful engine and a large shaped charge which makes up the main body of the drone. The purpose of this drone is simple: upon being authorized to engage a target by an operator it will attempt to ram the target before detonating its charge (and itself, by proxy). A Navaja is not intended for more than one mission and is often stored in a folded-up position in order to fit more of the drones into a hangar. The drone’s name comes from the distinctive click-clack noise their wings make while unfolding, which resembles that of the fighting knife bearing the same name. The Navaja is not sold abroad but many are kept in Civil Guard facilities in the event of an attack. One of these drones destroyed the flagship of the 67th Fleet, the battleship Redoubtable, when its shaped charge penetrated into the ship’s engine room and caused its reactor to go critical, and they proved themselves an effective weapon during the Battle of Nueva Patria.

The largest of the Civil Guard’s drones is the ''Kestrel''-class gunboat. It is one of the older Guard drones still in service and dates back to 2398, though modernizations have kept it relatively viable. The Kestrel is the size of a corvette with heavy armor and more artillery than a typical ship of its size, and is typically used to patrol the defensive zones of San Colette due to its age. Like its smaller counterpart the Kestrel is very adaptable and can fulfill a variety of roles in the Guard. Like many Colettish designs the Kestrel was sold to Solarian systems across the Alliance prior to the Collapse and can be found in the hands of many formerly Solarian warlords. As a patrol vessel the Kestrel is more autonomous than most Colettish drones but still requires human authorization to engage its targets. Though scheduled for retirement in 2465, the chaos of the Collapse forced these dated drones to remain in service. Their dated nature led to many being destroyed during the Battle of San Colette, and few functional Kestrel-class drones survived until its end. Those that remain are now being retired and replaced by cheaper, smaller, and more modern drones. The Kestrel’s duty is finally done.
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===Mercenaries===

While the Civil Guard was able to secure the system of San Colette itself, its lack of warp engines and the short operational range of most of its vessels limited its ability to patrol the broader Pact. The Guard’s limited stock of ships which defected or were captured from the 67th Fleet have warp engines and a longer operating range, but are not present in sufficient numbers to effectively secure the borders of the Pact. Non-Colettish forces weee often in even worse states, with some having no local militaries to speak of. Others relied on hand-me-down Solarian Navy equipment which could not hope to win in an even fight against the more modern ships of the Front or League.
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In January 2463 a deal was struck by the Republic and other members of the Pact with the recently-former Free Solarian Fleets to have their mercenaries fill in where the Civil Guard could not. The Pact exchanged goods in the Colettish strategic reserve and berths in Colettish facilities for patrols of its border and skirmishes with both the Front and League. The arrangement proved to be quite beneficial, particularly due to the Republic placing cash bounties on the destruction, capture, or otherwise disabling of enemy vessels. Most FSF vessels found themselves engaged in the Pact and its surrounding territories rather than in the nearby Corporate Reconstruction Zone, with some notable exceptions such as the FSF Caravaggio and its expedition into the Badlands alongside the SCCV Horizon.

Not all appreciated the presence of the mercenaries in the Republic despite the security they offered to the Pact members outside of it. FSF mercenaries were known to become rowdy while on shore leave in the Republic and often ran afoul of its authorities. In a twist of irony many FSF mercenaries chose to rejoin the Solarian Navy after the end of the Solarian Civil War rather than following Pieter van der Rensburg’s efforts to remain a mercenary group loyal to its members rather than any nation.
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===Colettish Volunteer Batallions===

Formed during the final months of the Solarian Civil War from non-Pact fighters who had traveled to defend it, the three Colettish volunteer battalions were heavily involved in the War in the Northern Wildlands and the Battle of San Colette. The battalions were truly international formations, featuring troops and members from as far away as the Free System of Vysoka or the Imperial Mandate of Novi Jadran. They fought valiantly and were prominently featured in coverage of the conflict by the Xanu Prime-based Xanu News Service (XNS). The volunteers are popular across the Northern Reaches and are held up as an example of heroism by many in the region.
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Following the war’s end many volunteers have returned to their homelands, the Solarian Armed Forces, or have settled in San Colette. While Solarian and Dominian volunteers were mostly let go without questioning, those from the Coalition of Colonies, Republic of Elyra, or Republic of Biesel were often subjected to intense questioning by the Solarian Army or Solarian police forces before they were allowed to depart. Many Coalition volunteers were then sent to Konyang, where they were subjected to further questioning and border checks.

The first volunteer battalion was led by Michael “Mike” Forsythe, formerly a Legate of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, and Alexis Watts, formerly a 1st Lieutenant of the 37th Martian. It had a reputation as a “grab bag” of personnel and included individuals from as far away as the Empire of Dominia and Elyra's phoron-hunting mercenary companies. The first was heavily involved in fighting on the planet of New Peoria and in the city of Nueva Isabela on San Colette, where Legate Forsythe was killed in action, and on D'Anzin's surface. Most of the first’s members have returned home and few have joined the Solarian Armed Forces or remained in San Colette.

The second volunteer battalion was led by Lieutenant Colonel Hale Kaohi, formerly of the 12th Silversunner Coastal Infantry Division. Kaohi’s battalion was primarily made of fellow 12th Silversunner veterans and, while never confirmed, rumors have long circulated that Kaohi’s battalion was sanctioned by his divisional commanders. Prior to the Battle of San Colette the second was primarily responsible for training Colettish militia troops who had volunteered to fight against the Front. After the Solarian intervention the second was essentially completely absorbed by the Solarian Army, and many have now returned to the 12th Silversunner.

The third volunteer battalion was led by former Visegradi National Defense Force (NDF) officer Willerich Kozak. An unusual combination of former NDF personnel and Coalition volunteers, the third saw the most combat out of any of the three battalions during the Battle of San Colette and was heavily engaged during the Battle of Nuevo Villaviciosa and ground combat in D’Anzin. Following this it accompanied Solarian Army troops to Lycoris, where it was the last volunteer battalion to be demobilized. Kozak has been missing in action since the end of ground combat in Nuevo Villaviciosa, and rumors have begun to circle that he has appeared on Visegrad and offered his services to Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai.
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==Major Cities==

<center><i>“Sol’s Gateway to the Outer Ring.”</i> - Official motto of the city of Nueva Isabela.</center>

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===Nueva Isabela===
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Nueva Isabela is the capital and largest city on San Colette, and is home to much of the government of the Republic. The headquarters of PhoroCol and the Civil Guard both found inside its borders. Nueva Isabela is known for the large amount of architecture in the classical Iberian style which define its skyline. Its initial wealth came from the vast grasslands which surround it, known as the Colettish Plains which are still home to numerous outlying towns and villages, many of which remain dedicated to farming. Nueva Isabela’s fortunes rapidly shifted with the creation of the Warp Gate Project, as it was decided the operation would be headquartered within the city itself due to its relatively central location between the other four major cities of San Colette. Since the mid-2300s Nueva Isabela has grown into a city which scarcely resembles the agrarian hub and colonial capital of the initial colonial period: it is now a financial and cultural center where, prior to the Solarian Civil War, tourists from across the Middle and Outer Ring visited to sightsee and experience Colettish culture. Following the war’s end Nueva Isabela now serves as the hub of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate and is undergoing reconstruction efforts to repair parts of the city damaged in ground combat and by orbital artillery during the Battle of San Colette.
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===Montblanc===
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Montblanc is San Colette's third largest settlement, sitting at the mouth of the Riu Roig. The city is home to a multitude of industries ranging from automobiles to mining equipment to weaponry and is the current headquarters of CAISC, San Colette’s largest armaments company. Montblanc’s position on the Riu Roig, which has tributaries stretching to the Northern Range and into the interior of Cristobal, has historically allowed it easy access to the resources needed to fund its industrial boom. Itsindustry prior to the Warp Gate Project’s completion was dirty by modern standards and polluted much of the area surrounding the city. During the late 2300s the air quality of Montblanc was so poor the city was nicknamed Muntanya de Cendres (Mountain of Ashes) by its residents. But protests by residents, and money from the warp gates, helped Montblanc’s industry become cleaner and diversified its economy. Decades of work, often in collaboration with Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals, have done much to restore the environment in and around the city. Modern Montblanc is now known as the center of AI research in the Republic and the home of the prestigious Montblanc Institute of Research, and is rarely referred to as the Muntanya de Cendres – although tourists are often sold souvenirs with the earlier nickname printed on them. Montblanc was relatively unaffected by the Solarian Civil War as the city’s major exports – particularly weapons – remained in high demand across the Republic and beyond. Montblanc is home to one of the largest immigrant communities in San Colette: the district of Little New Hai Phong. The district is primarily populated by New Hai Phongese immigrants who came to San Colette during the construction of the Bastion and became involved in the industries of Montblanc which supplied weaponry to the orbital installations of the Bastion. Its residents are typically referred to as Colettish Haiphongers and can be found in a variety of careers and positions throughout the city, but remain a relatively small minority in the Republic. Following the Solarian reunification Montblanc’s Zeng-Hu facilities have once again begun operation, though at a reduced capacity, and some tourists have once again begun to visit the city. Montblanc was spared orbital bombardment due to the protection of railgun stations above it, and many of its tourist facilities are now being used as temporary housing for displaced Coletters.
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===Porto de Ouro===
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Porto de Ouro is the only major settlement on the continent of Morro, but is, ironically, not on Morro at all. It instead lies off of the continent’s shores on a series of islands, some natural and many artificial, but extends onto the continent’s coastline itself thanks to its size. The second-largest city on San Colette after Nueva Isabela itself, Porto de Ouro is the planet’s major offworld port and the vast, relatively flat scrublands on the continent near to its islands are home to massive facilities designed to house everything from interstellar cargo freighters to small private vessels. The city itself is often known as the “City of Bridges,” in local slang due to Porto de Ouro’s construction on a series of small islands. Numerous bridges connect the islands of Porto de Ouro and some are long enough to stretch to the mainland and its expansive facilities. Ferries are a common form of transportation in Porto de Ouro due to necessity as many people live on the islands of the city and work in its more industrial districts on the continent itself. Prior to the Collapse Porto de Ouro was where most off-world tourists and visitors arrived on San Colette and there was a small industry dedicated to taking tourists up the rivers of Morro into its interior. With the Solarian Civil War this industry, and others like it, dried up and forced many of their former employees to find new work – often in the continental dockyards of the city or the Civil Guard. Its residents, spared the heavy fighting of other cities, now await the day tourists will once again come to the City of Bridges.
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===Vila Nova de Norte===
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Also known as Norte or Vila Nova to its residents, the city sits in the far, far north of the continent of Nuevo Norte. Although the smallest of San Colette’s five major cities, Vila Nova has become an important research hub due to its relative isolation and the large, mostly empty, tundra around it known locally as the Guard’s Tundra. The Tundra is home to one of the Republic’s largest proving grounds: the Civil Guard compound commonly referred to as Castillo San Cristóbal, originally established in 2365. The Castillo is the primary employer of Vila Nova and supports much of the city’s economy as its employees, both Civil Guard and civilian, must live, work, and spend much of their time in Vila Nova as it is the only settlement for miles in any direction. Vila Nova is well-known across San Colette for its frequent snowstorms, which often bring work in the city to a halt. When the weather is clear residents of the city are often able to hear the distant thunder of weaponry at the Castillo as sound easily travels across the frozen tundra. Vila Nova is only reachable by boat and by plane and, despite its ability to serve as a year-round port, the city maintains a small fleet of icebreakers for emergency purposes. Those in Vila Nova not employed by the Castillo often work in its declining offshore petrochemical industry which once fed the factories of Montblanc decades ago. Many of the oil reserves found offshore have since dried up and the fuel itself has steadily declined in price, and usability, for years thanks to increased trade bringing new – and more efficient – sources of energy. The few rigs which continue to pump oil from below the ocean floor now mostly send their resources straight to the Civil Guard, and many former rig workers are now employed as low-level staff at the Castillo. This historically led to bitterness between employees of the Castillo, which the original settlers see as driving up prices in the city, and the original settlers prior to the Battle of San Colette. During the battle the Castillo intercepted almost every shell fired at Vila Nova, sparing the city the widespread damage suffered by Nuevo Villaviciosa and Nueva Isabela. This action has mended much of the animosity between the original settlers and immigrant population, and both now intend to move into a better future together.
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===Nuevo Villaviciosa===
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At the far south of Nuevo Norte, Nuevo Villaviciosa is the most populated city on the continent and site of the heaviest fighting of the Battle of San Colette. Villaviciosa has long been the home of San Colette’s shipbuilding industry and is the current headquarters of its major shipbuilding concern: TyVS. The city is in a relatively temperate region of Morro and is surrounded by a landscape of gently rolling hills and plains which are home to a scattering of smaller towns, villages, and farms. Villaviciosa itself is a heavily-industrialized town built upon a slope which gently opens into the Bay of Villaviciosa, the city’s major port. The waters outside the Bay are home to a unique structure on San Colette: the Castrejon Space Elevator. The elevator is a massive offshore structure built into the shallow seas surrounding Villaviciosa which allows for ship parts – often individually built in its drydocks – to be hauled into low Colette orbit before being placed onto the relevant hull in orbit above the city. An overwhelming majority of the Civil Guard’s ships can trace their origins to Villaviciosa’s facilities and, prior to the Solarian Civil War, the city produced many ships for export. The Solarian Civil War severely impacted the city’s economy during its initial stages as shipbuilding contracts dried up or were suddenly canceled. Only intervention by the Republic’s government and the Civil Guard’s increasing demand for ships, along with orders from the wider Shield Pact, saved Nuevo Villaviciosa’s economy from a total meltdown. During the Battle of San Colette Nuevo Villaviciosa was orbirally bombarded by the Front and was the site of heavy house-to-house urban combat in its suburbs as Colettish and Pact troops attempted to repulse Front invaders. Over a weekend of fighting much of the city’s outlying urban sprawl was destroyed and tens of thousands were displaced, with thousands of troops on each side perishing. The Front was ultimately repulsed and the city saved, and the Mandate government has committed to rebuilding all which was destroyed.
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[[Category:Humanity]]
[[Category:Planets and Systems]]

San Colette

2024-07-04T23:12:58Z

La Villa Strangiato: makes drop-downs cleave more to the infobox

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<center><i>'''The flag of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette during the Solarian Civil War (2462-65).'''</i></center>
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = San Colette
|System = Nueva Patria
|Image = San_Colette.png
|Sector = [[The_Orion_Spur#Northern_Reaches|Northern Reaches]]
|Capital = Nueva Isabela
|Species = Humans, [[IPC|IPCs]]
|Languages = Tradeband, Sol Common
|Demonyms = San Colettish
|Nation = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
In the Solarian Northern Reaches lies the system of Nueva Patria, located auspiciously on the border between the Outer and Middle Rings, directly at the conflux of the warp gates that allow easy transition between the two. At the heart of the system lies the '''Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette''', a Solarian nation where many things meet: the Middle and Outer Ring, the Coalition and Alliance. It was the scene of intense fighting during the final phase of the Solarian Civil War (2462-65) following the destruction of Mass and assassination of Prime Minister Frost. Once again in the Alliance, San Coletters now the capital world of the Northern Wildlands Reconstruction Mandate — the Alliance’s special zone established to rebuild the Northern Reaches. San Colette has been ravaged by war but stands unbroken and proud as it enters the latter half of the 2460s.

'''Because of the ethnic make-up of San Colette’s original settlers and assimilation of immigrants into the native population during and following the Warp Gate Project, human characters born on San Colette will have appearances consistent with the people of Iberian Peninsula. This is enforceable by server moderators and admins.'''

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==History==

<center><i>“To understand the history of the Alliance, one must first understand the history of our Republic,” - President (2405-2413) Valentia Carabello, 2352 - 2454.</i></center>

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===Discovery and Interstellar War History===
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The system of San Colette was first discovered by astronomers from France in 2272, in the years immediately preceding the devastating Interstellar War. Its original discoverers named it after Saint Colette of Corbie, in the hopes that the system would bring about a peaceful future for the then-struggling Alliance. The system was quite desirable for the Alliance as it contained one readily habitable world, San Colette, and a small planet, D’Anzin, with Helium-3 deposits sufficient enough to justify the expensive task of colonization. The Alliance, desperate for money in the midst of the Second Great Depression, sold off the system’s colonization rights in 2274. The rights were purchased by an unexpected source: rather than a nation-state or corporation purchasing the system’s colonization rights an alliance of Spanish and Portuguese business magnates secured the winning bid with seconds on the clock. The magnates – perhaps out of patriotism or perhaps out of a desire to win the economic goodwill of the government while avoiding the true cost of colonization – gifted the rights of colonization to the governments of Spain and Portugal. Before a colonization plan could be created the Interstellar War (2278 - 2287) broke out, effectively dashing the hopes of many of the prospective settlers.

While the initial hope of an Iberian colony faded in the chaos of the Interstellar War and its economic impact, the desire of many in the region was not extinguished. By the 2330s the worst of the economic crisis had faded into the background and Iberia once again prepared to journey to the stars and in 2338 they launched the first colony ships to San Colette, and towards a new future.
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===The Early Colonial Era===
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The journey to San Colette took almost two years due to the distance traversed from Earth and the ad-hoc nature of many of the Alliance’s transportation networks, which had been ravaged by both the Interstellar War and the Second Great Depression. As the five colony ships sent to San Colette traveled across the breadth of the Alliance one of the scientists aboard the lead ship, Doctor Ernesto Castrejon, observed the sorry state of the Alliance’s warp network. Doctor Castejon was, at the time, a scientist of little importance simply sent to assist in the construction of a theoretical warp gate for San Colette which would connect it to the broader Alliance. But as the journey dragged on and Ernesto became increasingly irate, he began to form a greater idea which would transform the broader Alliance. At long last, in 2340, the first colonists arrived in the system of San Colette, ready to begin the immense undertaking of colonizing a new world for the Alliance.

These colonists who landed on San Colette found, as the reports had suggested, an Earthlike world with a pleasant, if somewhat dry, climate. The first colonists to land found themselves on the coast of the largest of San Colette’s three major continents, overlooking a vast blue sea on one side and kilometer after kilometer of grassy, fertile flatlands on the other. The colonists, ecstatic at the good fortune, decided upon a historical name for what would become their capital city: Nueva Isabela. Over time Nueva Isabela would grow and become the primary agricultural and political hub of the fledgling colony as the other four colony ships formed similar settlements. In the far north of its largest continent the settlement of Montblanc was formed, which would become its technological hub. Across the sea from Nueva Isabela the settlement of Porto de Ouro was established, later becoming a major hub for off-world travel. The settlements of Vila Nova de Norte – the most northern major settlement on the planet and one of the few able to function year-round despite the poles’ snowstorms – and Nuevo Villaviciosa – an industrial center located at the mouth of a major river – were both founded on the same continent, the smallest of the three. The five original cities of San Colette would go on to become its hubs, and still dominate its economy today.

Within a decade San Colette had established itself as a young, though quite productive, colony. Helium-3 mining on D’Anzin kept its budget in check and a warp gate, first completed in 2344, ensured shipments of materials were never long in reaching the new colony. But for one man, who had now been promoted to the lead scientist in charge of the Coletter warp gate, it was not enough. What Doctor Castejon had in mind was far greater than one planet, one warp gate, and Helium-3 mining. The doctor had turned his mind towards the future and realized something: with San Colette’s position, which straddled the line between the Middle and Outer Rings, it had a unique opportunity to establish itself as the main point of transit between both rings. Doctor Castejon intended to turn San Colette into a transportation hub, and to transform its economy in the process.
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===The Warp Gate Project===
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Doctor Castejon took his idea for a warp gate network in the northern section of the Alliance to the then-governor of San Colette, Beatriz Rada, in 2349. What happened behind the closed doors of the governor’s residence may never be truly known, but both Governor Rada and Doctor Castejon left the meeting with a drive to see the project realized. Following six years of debate, backroom dealings, and extensive political maneuverings the Warp Gate Project – the largest project undertaken by the Alliance – was approved by the Solarian government, and the majority of the construction contracts were awarded to Einstein Engines. Governor Rada and Doctor Castejon had achieved their dream: to make San Colette the largest point of transit between the Middle and Outer Rings, and to bring immense wealth to it in the process.

But there was a catch to this deal. Despite the efforts of Rada and Castejon they were unable to proceed without the support of one of the Alliance’s most significant forces: the Navy, which had become even more powerful in the aftermath of the Interstellar War. The Navy demanded oversight of the project in San Colette’s system itself and the ability to take “reasonable precautions,” in designing a defense for San Colette. The Coletter delegation attempted to protest but rapidly found themselves shut down by the Naval delegation and, surprisingly, the Alliance’s central government. With its economy and prestige battered and bruised by the Interstellar War the civilian government of the Alliance was, at best, unwilling to argue with the Navy and often deferred to it – a trend which would continue into the 25th century, with devastating consequences.

The Navy’s demands for its support were deceptively simple on paper, and only contained one requirement: that San Colette be designated a “fallback point,” for any future conflict with the Coalition. This simple requirement would go on to define San Colette due to the factors required to meet the Navy’s standards for its fallback point. First: A large stockpile – fuel, weaponry, and assorted equipment – would have to be assembled, designated, and placed in the system. Second: Fortifications would have to be constructed to hold off the Coalition for an extended period and the Navy, rather than San Colette, would be the final judge of what constituted enough fortifications to hold off the Coalition from San Colette. Third: A local military, which San Colette had nothing resembling, would have to be formed to man the defenses and secure the system. The gravity of what would have to be done to fulfill this demand, and the impact it would have on the system’s budget, almost immediately caused a crisis in the government which only ended when the Alliance, along with the Navy, promised to subsidize much of the work. But despite the Alliance and Navy’s funding the project remained daunting and would date years, if not decades. Further negotiations ensured San Colette would not have to finish the defenses before the warp gates were built, but they were required to start as soon as possible.

In 2356, following a short period of internal debate regarding the practicality of the Navy’s demands, the warp gate project began in San Colette in earnest. By 2357 the first gate – which connected San Colette to [[Callisto]], another Alliance member state chosen for the Warp Gate Project – opened, and equipment for the creation of additional gates began to flow from the Sol System to San Colette. Gate after gate opened over the following years, bringing more materials and more wealth to San Colette. The gate network brought new industries to San Colette beyond its previous exports, which had mostly consisted of foodstuffs from San Colette itself and Helium-3 mined on D’Anzin. This economic diversification was also driven in part by desperation, as the Navy now required much of the system’s He3 production to be stored for a theoretical emergency. A local shipbuilding industry which specialized in ships designed to work in San Colette itself, rather than traveling abroad, formed as a result of the influx of trade goods. Most importantly for San Colette’s future a local artificial intelligence industry began to grow in the late 2360s. While Colettish AI would never reach the level of sophistication of IPCs on [[Konyang]] due to being based upon indigenous AI designs instead of Glorsh-derived designs, it would become very effective at carrying out the tasks needed to run dozens of warp gates in a singular system. One of the tasks commonly assigned to Colettish AI was the identifying of ships in the system and determining their destinations, which would later prove itself to be of stunning importance.

But the demands of the Navy never left the mind of the inhabitants of the system and, in 2362, work began on the first of what would eventually become four lines of defense of San Colette. The “Rock of San Colette,” as it would become known, was designed to fulfill the Navy’s demands while not destroying San Colette’s budget. At the time of its completion in 2398 the Rock consisted of a series of armed space installations. But this was not enough for the Navy and the government of San Colette was sent back to the drawing board. To the Rock was added the Tools and Field of San Collette, which would become the second and first layers of San Colette’s defensive lines. The Field itself was self-explanatory: a large section of space on the edge of the system was designated as a stellar minefield and filled with a variety of anti-vessel mines. Built from 2375 to 2405, the Tools consist of a ring of automated defenses built using Colettish AI.

While the Navy was relatively content with San Colette’s defenses there remained the matter of training and equipping a local military arm to defend San Colette in the event of a dire emergency. In 2356 the Civil Guard of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette, or simply the Civil Guard, was founded in response to the Navy’s demands. The Civil Guard, over the next few decades, proved to be a competent and relatively well-equipped force. Its size remained relatively small due to the Guard’s focus on defensive readiness and automated weapons, but constant funding ensured it was never free of willing volunteers. A sense of patriotic duty related to the Civil Guard also began to slowly develop and many Coletters began to view service in it as a way to seize some of their military autonomy back from the Solarian Navy, which had become increasingly unpopular due to its demands.
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===The Discovery of Phoron===
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By the early 2400s San Colette had become a beacon of economic stability in the outer Alliance, and served as a hub for trade flowing from much of the northern Spur into the Alliance. In 2402 it was officially declared to be the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette, finally shedding its colonial roots and ascending as a full Solarian member state. As the first decade of the 25th century came to a close the Republic had one of the highest standards of living in the Middle and Outer Rings thanks to its status as a trade hub. But the relationship between the Navy and Republic remained poor and efforts by the Civil Guard to further expand their capabilities were often frustrated by the Navy. In 2415 the Navy-Guard relationship reached a new low when the Guard’s ships were banned from possessing warp engines capable of traveling without a gate, despite the protests of the Republic.

But these protests were soon drowned out in 2417 by the discovery of phoron in the system of Biesel. Coletters, ever poised to increase the prominence of their Republic, rapidly managed to carve out a niche in the growing phoronics industry by establishing processing facilities for the fuel on the surface of D’Anzin. Unused and neglected Einstein facilities were rapidly bought up by the government and converted into facilities which turned inert phoron crystals into a usable form, which was then sold to actors across the Orion Spur. Colettish facilities, while they would not reach the output of Tau Ceti, became an important link in the phoron economy between Tau Ceti and much of the outer Alliance and inner Coalition. Trade to the Coalition was initially severely protested by the Navy, and required the addition of phoron to the Colettish strategic reserve in order to appease them.

The addition of a phoronics industry to the system brought the wealth of the Republic to new levels as the 25th century progressed. The Civil Guard was equipped with domestic ship designs for the first time, another layer — the Spears of the Saint, a series of fifteen massive orbital railguns — was added to the Republic’s defenses at the Navy’s insistence, and a local arms industry began to develop in response to growing fears concerning the Solarian government’s seeming unwillingness to assist more distance colonies such as the Republic. Perhaps most importantly the AI industry of San Colette continued to develop, with more and more deadly semi-autonomous drones being created for the defense of San Colette. While skrellian dignitaries were sometimes quick to point out the dangers of such weapons, Republic officials dissuaded them by noting their semi-autonomous nature required a human hand to guide them and make final decisions, and explaining the designs — unlike typical IPCs — were based on human algorithms and technology.

During the golden years of the phoronics boom, which followed the secession of Biesel, San Colette produced much of the processed phoron consumed by the Alliance. Solarian patriotism and distaste for the Republic of Biesel fueled much of the initial boom, but tight controls by the Navy — which frowned upon selling Colettish phoron to non-Solarian customers — began to slow the boom by the late 2450s. Despite slowing in the 2450s the phoronics boom lasted until the early 2460s. By 2461 the flow of phoron gradually began to slow and many facilities opted to limit their production or entirely cease their operations. Some blamed it on NanoTrasen, which had long had a poor relationship with the Republic, while others claimed the decreasing flow was due to Elyran isolationism. Throughout 2461 and into 2462 the Republic stockpiled more and more phoron, hoping it would be able to slowly release fuel from its strategic reserve in order to preserve their economy during what many viewed as an incoming fuel crisis.

Unfortunately, few could anticipate how grim the crisis would become as 2462 neared its end and many families in the Republic prepared for Christmas.
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===The Solarian Collapse===
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Coletters often argue over when the Solarian Collapse truly became unavoidable. Some argue that the Clandestine Incident of 24 October, 2462 — which many in the Republic believe was carried out deliberately by Biesel — marked the start of the end. Others believe the end truly began on 07 November, 2462, when Mars ceased responding to interstellar communications. Or perhaps it was on 11 November, 2462, when the Prime Minister was found dead in his suite. But most argue the Collapse was truly, irreversibly set to happen on 17 November, 2462, when forces from the 58th Fleet opened fire on fellow Solarians. This, to most in the Republic, marked the decisive turning point.

Mere days after this, on 20 November, 2462, the Collapse came to the Republic. The garrison fleet stationed in San Colette, the 67th Fleet, attempted to seize the system for itself. The 67th Fleet, much like its Konyanger counterpart — the 58th — was a smaller fleet loyal more to its admiral, Frederich Müller, than the Solarian government. Admiral Müller demanded the civilian government surrender and hand over the phoron stockpile to him. They refused, and the Battle of San Colette began between the Civil Guard and the 67th Fleet. The Civil Guard and San Colette’s defenses, aided by deserters from the 67th and a home field advantage, eventually routed the 67th and chased them from the system at little cost to themselves. But, due to their inability to pursue them, the 67th was eventually able to find its way to New Atlantica, where its remnants formed the basis of the Anti-Corporate League.

With the defeat of the 67th Fleet the immediate danger had passed for the Republic. However, the chaos of the Solarian Collapse was far from over and during the final two months of 2462 chaos reigned throughout the region San Colette called home. To its galactic west Konyang seceded and the Anti-Corporate League filled the vacuum left by the collapse of Solarian authority in the region. To its east Lycoris, which had at one point helped build the Colettish warp gate network, fell to the Solarian Restoration Front, which began to brutally purge all non-humans from its territory. Solarian fleets collapsed entirely, defected, resorted to piracy, and sometimes became roaming mercenary bands. Refugees began to flow into the Republic from both sides, and the systems around San Colette — many of them too small or otherwise unable to maintain their own fleets — looked to it for aid and some form of protection in this desperate time.

In January 2463 the Republic answered the call of its neighbors by forming a defensive Alliance known as the '''Middle Ring Shield Pact'''. The Pact, unfortunately, quickly ran into problems. Many of its systems, while wealthy, were reliant on the Solarian Navy for protection prior to the Collapse and had no appreciable navies of their own. Most, aside from San Colette, additionally suffered from high degrees of megacorporate domination in their local economies. None had the defenses of San Colette and the Civil Guard was unable to patrol every system vying for membership due to its small size and lack of independent warp engines. Even worse was the economic situation: many gates into Sol itself had been damaged or otherwise closed during the months of the Collapse and the businesses of the Republic now had a desperate need to find new markets before an economic meltdown began.

Salvation would arrive later in January in an unusual form: the former 5th Middle Ring Battlegroup, now better known as the Free Solarian Fleets, under the command of Fleet Admiral van der Rensburg. The mercenaries of the Fleets were tempted by the Republic with a rare prize: phoron from its stockpile and a port to call home. The current President of the Republic, Maribel Sarmiento, and van der Rensburg have a very amiable relationship but many in the Republic — particularly in its Civil Guard — know the loyalty of the Fleets, despite the privileges granted to them, only goes as deep as the Republic’s pockets. Whether they will stand and fight against the enemies of the Pact remains a matter of great concern, particularly for those beyond the reach of San Colette’s defenses.

Resolving the economic crisis caused by the Collapse was simpler than many in the Pact and Republic originally expected. With the collapse of Solarian authority in what became the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, much of the food supply line was interrupted and a new need for weaponry emerged. San Colette, stripped of many of its more high-end export routes, has fallen back onto exporting two mainstays of humanity to the CRZ via Tau Ceti in the meantime: foodstuffs and weaponry. By summer 2463 the economic crisis was resolved. However the necessity to maintain good trade relations with Biesel has led to the SRF and League becoming more vitriolic in their rhetoric towards the Pact, but what can one do? To trade with the Alliance means trade must go through the SRF, and to trade with the Coalition one must go through the League. Coletters have thus been forced into an awkward, perhaps temporary, economic relationship with Biesel.
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===The War in the Northern Reaches===
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In early 2465 tensions in the Northern Reaches boiled over into all-out war between the League, Pact, and Front. The War started with the invasion of the Pact by the Front, pitting forces aligned to the 35th Fleet against the vessels of the Colettish Civil Guard, their Pact allies, and Free Solarian Fleet mercenaries. Despite initial successes against the Front which were aided by phoron acquired by the FSF Caravaggio in 2464, the Pact was pushed further and further back as it was caught in a two-front fight against numerically superior League and Front forces. Within a few months of fighting the Pact had been forced back to the strategic defensive fortifications of Nueva Patria and San Colette, where it decided to make its last stand.

As the Pact entrenched the Front and League fought for dominance of the Northern Reaches as the Alliance and Coalition debated intervention. In the Coalition, member-states voted against intervention and ultimately sanctioned Gadpathur for its support of the League. In the Alliance, pro-intervention profests, with some on Callisto descending into rioting, broke out. The Front eventually triumphed over the League, with the survivors of the League retreating across the border and into the Coalition. With the Northern Reaches now secure aside from limited pockets of Pact or League resistance, the Front now began its assaults on Nueva Patria directly.

The Rock of San Colette resisted valiantly, destroying much of the Front’s strength, but ultimately vulnerabilities in the Rock’s defensive line due to a lack of available resources resulted in it being breached and ground combat commending first on D’Anzin and then on San Colette itself, where fighting was concentrated in the industrial city of Nuevo Villaviciosa. Urban fighting in Nuevo Villaviciosa ultimately became a block-by-block urban engagement during the peak of fighting. The Front was ultimately repulsed from San Colette proper and the Solarian Alliance intervened shortly after the end of ground fighting, finally relieving the beleaguered fighters of the Pact.

As the Northern Reaches recovers San Colette finds itself once again in the Alliance and even more prominent than it once was due to its newfound status as the capital of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate. But the system has been scarred by war: thousands are dead, many more are displaced, and there is much rebuilding to do. But Coletters remain hopeful, and confident they will build a better and stronger Alliancd upon the remains of the Solarian Civil War.
</div></div>

==Environment==

<center><i>“Oh, San Colette! My homeland so fair! The land of our own, and no others compare!”</i> - Excerpt from the Anthem of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette (2408)</center>

===The System of Nueva Patria===

The system of San Colette consists of four major stellar bodies including its star, Nueva Hispaniola. The nearest stellar body to Nuevo Hispaniola is a small and barren planet known as San Felipe. Due to its closeness to the star San Felipe is entirely uninhabitable and its only man-made features are a neglected series of solar power facilities built by Einstein Engines during the Warp Gate Project which exist both in the orbit of San Felipe and on its surface. The rusting hulks of these facilities are occasionally used for target practice by the Civil Guard but otherwise rarely receive visitors due to their proximity to Nuevo Hispaniola and the presence of unexploded firing range munitions aboard them.

Further out from Nuevo Hispaniola lies the temperate world of San Colette, where the vast majority of the system’s population can be found. San Colette’s surface is defined by its three large continents and large ice cape at its poles. The planet is remarkably hospitable and relatively Earthlike, with no major meteorological phenomena occurring on its surface. It has one natural satellite, San Colette Minor. The moon of San Colette is a barren rock without any major settlements. Scattered Civil Guard facilities and private mining platforms can be seen across its surface. But no reasonable Coletter would describe San Colette Minor as their home.

Thousands of miles beyond San Colette, towards the edge of its system, lies the frozen planet of D’Anzin. The thick layers of ice and rock which cover the surface of D’Anzin are rich in deposits of Helium-3, the fuel which powers the warp gates of the Republic. For nearly as long as humans have called the system home there have been mining operations on the surface of D’Anzin and the planet is covered in a variety of mines, in various states of repair and functionality, as a result. Recently D’Anzin had become home to a new form of energy production: phoronics. The planet’s remote location and lack of large settlements has made it the ideal location to process raw phoron into usable fuel, and all of the Republic’s processing facilities can be found on D’Anzin itself or in its orbit.

Beyond the orbit of D’Anzin and the massive warp gates near it lies the Colettish Belt, a sizable ring of asteroids which surrounds the system. Asteroids and comets found in the Belt contain little of value and much of the Belt itself is designated as a restricted military zone due to the presence of the Republic’s second layer of defense: the Tools of the Saint. Automated defenses are scattered throughout the Belt and wandering into it, or deliberately tampering with the defenses, often results in injury, death, or time in a prison on San Colette. The extent to which the Belt is fortified remains a secret of the Republic few are aware of.

All throughout Nueva Patria one can now find the drifting remains of wrecked vessels, stations, and facilities — the physical remains of the Solarian Civil War. These ruins are being slowly salvaged and removed by the Solarian Navy, Civil Guard, and civilian contractors of the Colettish government to restore the system to its prior condition. Access to these ruins is restricted to licensed personnel as many are filled with unexploded munitions, half-deactivated reactors, and at times the bodies of deceased crew which must be identified and returned to their planet of origin.

===The Planet of San Colette===

The climate of San Colette is temperate and relatively Earthlike, which helped ease its colonization. Its surface is defined by three continents — Maria, Nueva Norte, and Morro — separated by large seas and covered in a variety of climates. The planet’s poles are covered in ice caps which have shrunk following colonization by an insignificant amount, and San Colette Minor provides enough of a gravitational pull to create a system of tides. San Colette is relatively free of freak meteorological phenomena and has four seasons which roughly correspond to their earthbound counterparts.

====Regions====

The continent of Maria is the largest of the three and is home to the capital of Nueva Isabela and the industrial center of Montblanc, which is in its more northern regions. Maria is easily divided into two major regions: a large, grassy flatland called the Colettish Plains known for its rich soil which has long been the agricultural heartland of San Colette and the more northern forests of Cristobal. The Colettish Plains are home to Nueva Isabela and are dotted by many smaller towns, ranging from cities of thousands to villages of mere hundreds. It is separated from Cristobal by the uncreatively named Northern Range, a old and quite short mountain range which bisects the continent and is home to many mining operations. Cristobal is colder and criss-crossed by various rivers, eventually transitioning into taiga and then polar ice in its north. Montblanc, a Colettish industrial center, sits at the mouth of one of these rivers, which allows it to easily receive minerals from the Range and lumber from further inside Cristobal.

Across the sea from Maria, to its west, lies the mostly unpopulated continent of Morro. The continent is dominated by a large, arid scrubland known as the Hinterlands which often suffers from droughts and fires. It is home to the settlement of Porto de Ouro, which is unique among San Colette’s major settlements as it mostly lies off of the shore of Morro on a series of island chains — some natural and some artificial. The flat planes near it have been mostly cleared of plant life by Coletters and now serve as a major offworld hub. Much of Morro is poorly explored aside from satellite photography and rumors of mineral wealth have long motivated expeditions into it — though few return with much of value.

The third, and smallest, of the continents is Nuevo Norte, a highly-populous region home to two major settlements. Nuevo Norte is the furthest north of the three continents and is mostly defined by taiga and tundra, though some regions in its south are more hospitable. In its far north lies Vila Nova de Norte, a scientific hub which is known for its freezing temperatures and frequent snowstorms. Vila Nova stands on the edge of a large, flat tundra known as the Guard’s Tundra due to its use as a proving ground for Civil Guard weaponry. To the south of the continent in one of its few temperate regions is Nuevo Villaviciosa, the planet’s major shipbuilding center. Nuevo Villaviciosa is one of the few locations in the Middle Ring to feature a functional space elevator, which lies slightly offshore and is visible from almost anywhere on Nuevo Norte.
==Economics==

<center><i>“The main export of San Colette should be the business of trade, not bushels of wheat.”</i> - Doctor Ernesto Castrejon (2298-2386), regarding his proposed Warp Gate Project (2353).</center>

The Republic’s economy is diverse and well-developed by the standards of the Middle and Outer Rings. However, it does not rise to the level of Jewel Worlds such as Callisto and Venus or the level of Tau Ceti. Its economy is large enough to support native corporations and stave off attempts by megacorporations to intrude into its industries, which has not endeared it to some corporate actors. Trade between the Outer and Middle Ring and the Jewel Worlds has historically flown through Colettish warp gates to Callisto, which has given it the ability to punch above its weight economically. Aside from trade San Colette’s primary exports are foodstuffs, refined phoron, and weaponry.

The state-run Colettish phoronics industry was its most profitable prior to the events of 2462, which cut off many of its markets. Much of the phoron which entered the Alliance’s markets was sent to Colettish refinement facilities on D’Anzin where it was turned from useless, if flammable, crystals into gaseous phoron for use as fuel or liquid phoron for use in various industries such as the medical field. Often this phoron went into the Colettish Strategic Stockpile at the Navy’s demand, to the endless frustration of Colettish businesses. But this has given San Colette an unexpected boon as the phoron in its stockpile is now a valuable, rare resource which was used to purchase the most valuable thing in the Solarian Civil War: security. Following the Collapse and the 35th Fleet’s invasion, a large amount of Biesel’s raw phoron was processed in D’Anzin’s facilities due to many of Biesel’s plants having been either damaged or destroyed in the incursion. But as facilities in Biesel were slowly repaired and brought back online this flow of goods slowed and eventually stopped with the start of the War in the Northern Wildlands and the encirclement of San Colette. Now, with the Alliance in control of the Northern Reaches once again, the future of the Colettish phoron industry is in question.

Though not as profitable as the phoronics industry, San Colette’s native armaments industry has long been a mainstay of the local economy. The industry covers everything from arms and armor produced in Montblanc to entire combat-capable space vessels produced by the dockyards associated with Nuevo Villaviciosa. Like the phoronics industry San Colette’s armaments industry has always had a significant level of government involvement, both to ensure sensitive equipment is not sold to the highest bidder and to keep the best designs for the Civil Guard itself. The exports of this industry have, aside from spaceships, spiked following the Collapse. Many Colettish small arms find their way into the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, where they are used for both good and ill. Accusations of Solarian Interstellar Intelligence Bureau involvement in this flow of arms have been consistently denied by Colettish corporations and the Solarian government.

===Colettish Corporations===
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====Colettish Phoronics (PhoroCol)====
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Colettish Phoronics, or PhoroCol, is the most prolific of the planet's corporations. Established in 2419 and headquartered in Nueva Isabela, PhoroCol is responsible for all phoron-related activities in the system of San Colette and manages the refinement facilities on D’Anzin. The Republic’s government is the majority stakeholder of PhoroCol and, despite protests by the Trasen family, no megacorporation has been allowed to purchase a stake in it. PhoroCol is one of the only companies outside of the Republic of Biesel and Republic of Elyra which is able to refine phoron into its more usable forms, which has made it into one of the wealthiest non-megacorporate companies in the Northern Reaches. Post-reunification PhoroCol’s future is in question due to the Alliance’s poor relations with Biesel and decreasing phoron use across it.
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====Tiscareno y Volante Shipbuilding (TyVS)====
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TyVS is located in Nuevo Villaviciosa and founded in 2298; it has long been the primary shipbuilding company of the Republic. A producer of everything from private vessels to Civil Guard warships, TyVS is one of the most widely recognized corporations of San Colette. Prior to the Collapse TyVS often cooperated with Hephaestus Industries during projects in the Middle and Outer Ring of Solarian space but, with the Collapse, these contracts have dried up. However, the friendship between Titaneus Aeson, Hephaestus CEO, and, Consuela Volante II, TyVS co-CEO, has remained and many speculate the Fighting Titan has sent some of his fortune to Volante in order to help TyVS remain afloat. Following the Solarian reunification TyVS has found itself with much more business: it is now responsible for constructing much of the Civil Guard’s replacement vessels and assisting other System Defense Forces throughout the Northern Reaches.
</div></div>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
====San Colette Interstellar Armaments Company (CAISC)====
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Headquartered in Montblanc and established in 2378 through a merger of several smaller companies, CAISC is responsible for the Republic’s non-spaceborne armaments industry. Firearms, protective equipment, and energy weaponry from CAISC have long provided the Civil Guard’s forces with everything from the sidearms used by its officers to the Morion armored suit used by its marines. Arms from CAISC have become even more widespread in the post-Collapse era due to a significantly greater demand for firearms. Most of these firearms are sent out of the Northern Wildlands and are sold by CAISC and its subsidiaries to actors in the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, where many eventually make their way to the Badlands and Sparring Sea. CAISC now serves as a major supplier for the Solarian military in the Northern Reaches, having stepped in to fill a gap left by Zavodskoi’s retreat from the region following anti-corporate legislation. At its current rate of expansion CAISC may soon overtake PhoroCol as the most profitable Colettish corporation.
</div></div>
==Government==

<center><i>“We, as the government of the Republic of San Colette, derive our legitimacy from the people, not the Solarian Navy! I will not stand idly by while Solarian officers who have never set foot in our Republic demand more and more from us!”</i> - Excerpt from a speech by Representative Leandro Resendes (2418 - ) protesting the transfer of more phoron to San Colette’s strategic reserve (15 August, 2462).</center>

The Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette is a democratic republic and Solarian member state — though it was technically not under Solarian control during much of the civil war (2462-65). The Republic is ruled by a President elected by popular vote for a maximum of two four-year terms. Immediately below the President is the Colettish Assembly, a single-house representative body made up of Representatives elected by Colettish citizens. These representatives serve for a single six year term and cannot be re-elected — a deliberate choice by the Republic’s founders to avoid an oligarchy.

Coletters have a relatively high amount of confidence in their government when compared to their Middle Ring counterparts such as New Hai Phongers and Silversunners. The most common reasons given for this are a lack of corruption, minimal megacorporate presence in local politics, and a perception that Colettish politicians place the good of the Republic above their personal gain. Many believe this dedication to the Republic is rooted in many Colettish politicians having served with the Civil Guard prior to entering politics.

Politically the Civil Guard is generally uninvolved and uninterested. From its creation there was an express intent to avoid the level of political tampering the Solarian Navy is known for and the consequences that have resulted from this tampering, such as — arguably — the Solarian Civil War itself. The Admiral of the Civil Guard, its overall commander, is subordinate to the President. The vast majority of Civil Guard personnel see it as their duty to serve the Republic, rather than the Republic serving them. Some theorists argue that the cultural veneration of the Civil Guard has been a major contributing factor to its comfort with being subordinate to the civilian government of the Republic. Others, however, point out that the Civil Guard tampers with politics in its own way: many politicians have a background in the Guard and have long been willing to give it preferential treatment for what they argue is the good of the Republic as a whole.

The current President of the Republic is Maribel Sarmiento (2412 - ). Elected in 2462 and a current member of the Colettish Progressive Party, President Sarmiento’s term has been marked by crisis after crisis. As of 2465 she has so far effectively led the Republic through the most turbulent time in its history but remains concerned she will be unable to handle everything thrown at her, particularly with the Progressive Party’s (PPC) loss of an electoral majority in 2463. The President remains wildly popular and is seen by many as the Savior of San Colette in the era of the Solarian Civil War. Now, with Sarmiento having seen San Colette re-enter the Alliance, many predict her PPC will emerge with a landslide victory in the upcoming 2466 general elections.

===Political Parties===

Politics in the Republic have long been dominated by three major political parties: the Republican Unity Party, the Colettish Progressive Party, and the Socialist Party of San Colette. None of the three parties maintains absolute dominance and the status of largest party in the Republic often switches hands. As a general rule all Coletter political parties are fairly hawkish due to the deep integration of service in the Civil Guard in the system’s cultural identity. To go against this cultural trend in the Republic is to effectively commit political suicide.
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====Republican Unity Party (PUR)====
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The Republican Unity Party is the currently dominant party in San Colette’s government. While broadly viewed as belonging to the ideological school of Solarian Conservatism the PUR differs on several points from its Lunan counterpart. It is more militant and favors greater military spending and is generally anti-corporate while being pro-Coletter businesses. These two differences, along with the PUR opting to keep social welfare policies established by their rivals in place, have allowed the PUR to successfully retain power after the Collapse when so many other conservatives lost their power.
</div></div>
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====Colettish Progressive Party (PPC)====
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The main rival of the PUR, the Colettish Progressive Party holds a position that is widely considered a variation on traditional Callistean social democracy, the PPC is significantly more hawkish than its jewel world counterparts and is well known for establishing a robust system of social programs in the Republic during the 2410s. The PPC had the misfortune of being in power during the start of the Solarian Civil War and quickly lost much of its influence during the elections of 2463, but has managed to retain a significant minority in the government. When it can cooperate with its more socialist counterpart, the PPC, itis fully capable of passing legislation, despite being a minority.
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====Socialist Party of San Colette (PSSC)====
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The smallest party of the three, the PSSC is a strange combination of mainstream Solarian populist thought and New Hai Phongese socialist theory which abhors corporations while at the same time voicing unwavering support for the military. The eclectic stance of the PSSC has given it the least presidencies of the three parties but has turned it into an effective swing bloc in the government: PSSC representatives will typically vote with the PPC but have been known to cross the isle to vote with the PUR when matters of the Civil Guard are concerned.
</div></div>
===Police===

The civilian police of the Republic have been heavily influenced by the cultural emphasis placed upon military service in San Colette. The ''Planetary Police of San Colette'' (PPSC) are a highly-trained and competent force by the standards of Solarian policing agencies. It almost always recruits its patrol officers from former members of the Civil Guard, leading to an older-than-average street police force as a result. Coletters have a high level of trust in the PPSC due to its reputation as a competent and incorruptible agency. PPSC officers often work alongside their still-serving counterparts in the Civil Guard, which has caused many outside observers to sarcastically refer to the PPSC as a retirement club for Civil Guard troops. Due to the difficulty of becoming a patrol officer and the high standards which must be met to remain in service, the PPSC has a relatively small number of officers on the street.

The small number of the PPSC’s officers led to difficulties as the number of refugees traveling to the Republic increased and FSF mercenaries chose San Colette for their shore leave. Many departments opted to loosen their infamously high recruitment standards to keep pace with demands, to varying degrees of success. Some departments instead opted to rely on the assistance of Civil Guard military police, which was not always readily available. The PPSC and its officers ultimately kept control of the situation and formed a valuable component of San Colette’s defense in Nueva Isabela and Nuevo Villaviciosa, where they served as second-line troops and sometimes as frontline combatants during the Front’s invasion of the planet. Many officers gave their lives defending the Republic, but their cities were ultimately kept safe and secure.
===Education===

The most well-known school of higher learning in the Republic is likely the '''Naval Academy of Nueva Isabela''', located in the capital city of the same name. The Academy, as it is often simply known, has trained all Civil Guard officers since the Guard’s founding without exception. Prior to the Collapse it occasionally hosted officers from other Solarian militias and was very rarely visited by the Solarian Navy itself. The Academy has an attached AI research facility where new drones are produced for use by the Civil Guard or export beyond the Republic’s borders and is most recently known for producing the Navaja type semi-autonomous drone, which is itself a variant on the earlier Albatros type semi-autonomous drone.

The primary producer of Colettish AI is not the Academy but the '''Montblanc Institute of Research''', or '''MIR'''. Arguably the most prestigious university on San Colette, the MIR has produced many of the designs the Civil Guard now uses, with its most famous product assuredly being the Albatros type semi-autonomous drone. Due to the sensitive nature of much of its research, the MIR only accepts students from San Colette itself and does not permit those from other Solarian worlds, or foreigners, to attend. While this has proven to be a controversial stance, the government has always sided with the MIR, citing reasons of national security as their motivation.
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
===Foreign Relations===

Having rejoined the Alliance in 2465 with the end of the Solarian Civil War, '''the Republic no longer has an effectively independent foreign policy'''. This section has been preserved to show how it interacted with the broader Spur between 2462 and 2465.
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The position of the Republic and the Pact more generally is an awkward one. It is sandwiched between two outright hostile warlords, the League and the SRF, to its galactic east and west and is bordered by the chaotic CRZ to its galactic south. Above it to its flaccid north lies mostly uncolonized space free of major powers. The Republic and Pact must thus play their cards very carefully or risk losing the thing they value the most: their independence from the neighboring states.

A state of undeclared war exists between the Pact and both the Solarian Restoration Front and the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems. The SRF despises the Pact as a weak proxy of alien-dominated corporations, while the League views it as simply dominated by corporations — and many former 67th Fleet members view San Colette with exceptional bitterness.

In contrast to these twin threats is the nearby Republic of Biesel. Due to currently being gripped by the spasms of an ongoing phoron crisis Biesel, and the corporate masters which control it, have a desperate need for phoron and phoron processing facilities. San Colette can provide both and has successfully used this to open up the CRZ and Tau Ceti for trade. Colettish facilities provide a small yet significant part of the Republic’s phoron processing capabilities. While this small percentage means severing San Colette’s facilities from Biesel would not be fatal for either party, it would certainly be inconvenient and is thus best avoided. While Biesel has not yet offered military aid to San Colette and the Pact directly it has, at the least, helped to relieve its post-Collapse economic woes. But many in the Pact look to Biesel with caution, concerned of becoming another sector of the increasingly unstable CRZ. The question for the Pact is deceptively simple: at which point does cooperation become dependence, and dependence annexation?

Beyond the SRF lies the former master of the Northern Wildlands, the now-shrunken Solarian Alliance. Trade with the broader Alliance, which at one point fueled the Colettish economy, has become impossible due to having to pass through the hostile SRF. Even worse, the Alliance is seen by many Coletters as being inactive — or even complicit — with the problem of the SRF. But many look back on the era of the Alliance prior to its Collapse with great nostalgia, viewing it as a time of relative stability — or at least an era where Solarians were unified instead of killing one another over politics and fuel.
</div></div>

==Culture and Demographics==

<center><i>“I swear to defend the Republic, its people, and its values at any cost. I will uphold the values of freedom enshrined in our constitution, even if it costs me my life.”</i> - Except from the Colettish Oath taken by Civil Guard personnel prior to beginning training.</center>

The culture and daily life of a typical Coletter is informed by both the planet’s past as a planet settled by the nations of Iberia and its more recent history as a trade hub for the broader Alliance. Coletters value familial bonds, duty to the Republic, and are often seen as friendly and outgoing people by the broader Alliance. Coletters are known to be very talkative abroad and often stand very close to their conversation partners, which can result in some awkward encounters for those unused to Colettish conversation customs.

To a typical Coletter familial bonds are very important, and several generations of the same family will often live very close to one another — occasionally even in the same house! Holidays are viewed as a chance to catch up with one’s family and, prior to the Collapse, Coletters abroad would often return home for major holidays even as the cost of travel increased due to the phoron crisis. These holiday celebrations are often accompanied by the traditional dance of San Colette: the flamenco.

One of the key cultural tenets of Colettish life is a sense of duty to the Republic which has been ingrained in Colettish culture for several generations. Initially starting as a reaction to the anger many felt at the Solarian Navy, this feeling has helped cement the Civil Guard as a key cultural pillar of the Republic. Enlistment, particularly enrolling as an officer, is seen as a prestigious duty and many middle class Coletter families will try to enroll at least one child into the Civil Guard. In many Colettish households it is a common sight to see a photo of a relative in the uniform of the Civil Guard placed prominently on a wall or above a fireplace. Following the War in the Northern Wildlands many of these photographs now have a black strip of cloth wrapped around a corner — a common method of mourning a deceased relative.

===Holidays===

The Republic celebrates a multitude of holidays throughout the year. Some are derived from historical events while others are rooted in the historical culture and religion of the original Iberian settlers of San Colette. Listed below are some of the more notable holidays in the Republic:

* The Beatification (23 January): A celebration of the beatification of Colette of Corbie, whom the Republic derives its name from. Perhaps the most important holiday in the Republic, the Beatification is often marked by celebrations of the previous year and public carnivals.

* Holy Week (movable — generally falls in late March or early April): A religious, cultural, and social event combined into one, the Holy Week has its roots in both Catholicism and the Spanish roots of San Colette’s settlers. Holy Week celebrations vary based upon the region of the planet they take place in but often involve distinctive costumed processions, many of which date back to Earth.

* Intervention Day (June 8): A celebration of the SAMV ''Gunnhildr''’s arrival in the Nueva Patria system, which signaled the beginning of the end of the War in the Northern Wildlands. Intervention Day is a new holiday first created in 2465 following the Solarian Navy’s intervention.

* Republic Day (15 June): A celebration of San Colette being officially declared the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette.

* Reunification Day (17 July): A holiday celebrated across the Alliance, Reunification Day celebrates the end of the Solarian Civil War and the reintegration of the Northern and Southern Reaches. It is a new holiday which dates to 2465.

* Civil Guard Day (22 June): A celebration of the establishment of the Civil Guard, San Colette’s local military force. Traditionally, Civil Guard officer candidates officially graduate from the Naval Academy of Nueva Isabela on this day.

* Colonization Day (5 October): The day the first settlers landed on the surface of San Colette. Officially made a holiday in 2421, shortly after the Republic was declared. This holiday is often viewed as a chance to reflect upon San Colette’s past and future, and has become quite solemn following the Solarian Collapse.

* Christmas Day (December 25): Christmas in San Colette arguably starts with the drawing of the Christmas lottery on 22 December, which itself has its own traditions around its first prize (locally referred to as “the Big One,”) and “luck pilgrimages,” made to the lottery booty which sold the last year’s first prize ticket. Christmas itself has changed little from its Earther roots and serves as a day to celebrate with one’s family and relatives.

* Saint Sebastian’s Day (December 26): Often considered to be a continuation of Christmas, this holiday has similar religious and cultural roots. It is typically treated as a quiet day to spend time with family and reflect upon the previous year.

===Refugees===

Most current residents of the Republic who are not native Coletters are instead refugees from other sections of the Northern Reaches. These refugees are a diverse group of Solarians, and other citizens, drawn to San Colette by its relative stability in the maelstrom of the Solarian Civil War. The refugees are a diverse group due to their variety of origins: some come from the industrial world of Lycoris and have opted to flee the violence of the SRF, while others are offworlders from stations cannibalized by the League for spare parts. Rarely non-human refugees — skrell, the rare tajara, and handfuls of IPCs — trickle into the system from territory now controlled by the SRF, exhausted from a harrowing journey barely ahead of the Front’s internal police.

When they arrived most were sent to refugee settlements on San Colette — temporary arrangements on the edge of Colettish cities — where they are given a residence and the option of work. Most of these refugees followed two career paths: enlisting in the Civil Guard, which desperately requires troops to defend San Colette or working in the phoron refineries of D’Anzin, which few choose to do. Those who did opt to work on the phoronics facilities often found themselves away from their families for weeks at a time due to the remote location of D’Anzin and the difficulties of travel due to fuel rationing. IPC refugees, due to their status in Sol, did not have the liberty to choose. They were conscripted into the Civil Guard upon arrival in the Republic, regardless of ownership status, and given a chance to earn freedom, in the form of transport to Biesel or another system of choice, through two years of military service.

Not all refugees found San Colette welcoming. Resources were often limited due to the economic malaise inflicted by the Collapse and native Coletters often received goods before their refugee counterparts, who must depend on the government for support. Policing in refugee camps was difficult due to the small size of San Colette’s domestic police force and the large number of refugees. Many were concerned that the Republic would eventually be unable to accept refugees at all due to their sheer number, but this did not come to pass.

Following the end of the Solarian Civil War most refugees in the Nueva Patria System have begun the slow process of returning home to their worlds of origin, many of which have been devastated by the Solarian Civil War and are now undergoing the long process of rebuilding. Some refugees, particularly those who have been in the Republic since near the civil war’s start, have opted to stay and make lives for themselves in their new home, seeing nothing for themselves outside of San Colette.

===Language===

The primary language of San Colette is the Colettish dialect of Tradeband, which is often simply referred to as Colettish Tradeband. This variant of Tradeband has been heavily influenced by its Iberian roots but has its own unique twists. The name of the system, San Colette, is typically rendered in Colettish Tradeband rather than in its original names of Sainte-Colette and Santa Coleta.

Solarian Common is the typical secondary language for most Coletters out of necessity, and is taught in Colettish primary schools. Other human languages, such as Elyran Standard and Freespeak, are rarely spoken by natives of the Republic. Freespeak is the more common of the two due to the Republic’s status as a trade hub of the northern Alliance, but is rarely spoken by native Coletters.

==Military==

===The Defenses of San Colette===

<center><i>“We must form a wall of steel around our Republic. We must ensure no invader is able to seize San Colette. We must be ready to die for our Republic if necessary.”</i> - Admiral Emerico Tolentino (2403 - ), Commander of the Civil Guard (2455 - Present)</center>

The defenses of the system of San Colette are a complex, multi-layered ring of defenses which completely surround the system on all sides. Built by both the Republic and Navy over the course of decades, the Bastion of San Colette cost a massive amount of Solarian Credits to construct and stands as a contemporary marvel of spaceborne engineering. The Bastion has four layers, with the first being the most outer, which have their own names and purposes. The garrison of the Bastion has long been the Civil Guard, the Republic’s local military force. The value of the Bastion was proven during the final months of the Solarian Civil War, where it repelled multiple assaults by the Solarian Restoration Front and was vital in ensuring Solarian reinforcements eventually reached the beleaguered Civil Guard and Pact.

The first layer of the Bastion is the most simple one. Typically referred to as the Field of San Colette, the first layer consists of a wide arrangement of anti-ship mines intended to slow and deter potential attackers. The mines themselves can often be decades old due to the sheer amount used, but remain an effective deterrent for all but the most organized attackers. A recent addition to the first layer are the destroyed husks of several 67th Fleet vessels which were lost inside it during the Battle of San Colette. As removing them was deemed too risky, the husks remained in the Field of San Colette as grim warnings for any warlord who wishes to assail the Republic. The first layer is the only defensive layer beyond the Colettish belt, the asteroid field at the end of San Colette’s system. Much of this layer was lost during the Solarian Civil War, and the Solarian Navy is in the process of mining the Field once again and removing dozens of ruined Front and League vessels, destroyed either by mines or by gunfire.

After the minefields lies the Colettish Belt, which is home to the second layer of the Bastion: the Tools of San Colette. The Tools which this layer derives its name from are a series of automated defenses spread throughout the asteroid belt which switch online if given the appropriate signal by operators further inside the Republic. Many of the defenses in this layer have been built into asteroids and are very difficult to spot from a distance. The second layer is not intended to stop an invader on its own, and its primary purpose is to delay them for the next layers. Its use as a delaying mechanism was proven to be effective during the Front assaults against the Bastion. While most of the Tools were destroyed during the assaults a significant amount of the Front’s losses were in the second layer, either from the automated weapons platforms, hidden drones and mines, gunfire from the other layers, or simply running afoul of asteroids.

The third of the Bastion’s layers is the Rock of San Colette. This layer consists of a large number of stellar facilities, many of which are considered to be stellar fortresses, intended to hold off any attacker until they exhaust themselves or reinforcements arrive. The majority of the Civil Guard serves in these fortifications, which also serve as a berth for the Guard’s fleets. While intimidating, the Rock is the oldest of the Bastion’s defensive lines and many of its fortifications were originally constructed in the mid 24th century. Modernization efforts began in the mid 25th century but slowed in the years leading up to the Collapse due to a lack of Navy funding. Following the Collapse the Republic began a rapid effort to modernize the Rock in order to hold off a theoretical attack by both the League and SRF, and ultimately succeeded in modernizing upwards of 80% of the Rock. The remaining 20% ultimately became the focus of the Front’s final, and most successful, assault which ultimately punched through the Rock. While they were ultimately defeated upwards of 15% of the third layer’s defenses were destroyed, and thousands of Civil Guard troops perished at their positions.

The fourth, and technically smallest, layer of the Bastion are the appropriately-named Spears of Saint Colette. A modern array of fifteen defensive stations equipped with massive Magellan-class interstellar railguns, the Spears are able to target and destroy an enemy vessel in any of the Bastion’s layers. The Spears are staffed by the best troops of the Civil Guard and require an immense amount of power to fire their tungsten rod projectiles, which can weigh up to several tons. As a result of their power requirements the Spears have large solar arrays which provide them with enough power to charge their railguns. The Spears are able to hold enough power for several sequential shots before recharging is required, but the size of their projectiles — which must be moved into place by massive machines — naturally limits their rate of fire. But when the Spears do strike true, they bring devastating consequences. The railgun station El Conquistador impacted a Taipei-class vessel during the Battle of San Colette, disabling it in one hit and causing its reactor to go critical, eventually consuming the entire ship in a massive explosion. These stations, supported by San Colette’s space elevator in Nuevo Villaviciosa, proved decisive in turning the tide against the Front and inflicting massive damage upon their advances. The railgun station Esmeralda was eventually destroyed by the Front, signaling the start of ground combat on San Colette.

The railgun stations of San Colette have been given nicknames by their crew and are often referred to by said nicknames in the press. Below are the nicknames of the Spears of San Colette.

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'''The Railguns'''
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* El Conquistador
* El Cid
* A Matadeira
* Rey Carlos III
* Lanza Sagrada
* Vasco da Gama
* Esmeralda (destroyed in the Solarian Civil War)
* Dom Henrique
* Reina Isabela
* Médico Castrejon
* Governadora Rada
* Senhor Presidente
* Mano de Dios
* Rey de la Guerra
* Dedo do Destino
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===The Civil Guard===
[[File:Civil_Guard.png|thumb|The coat of arms of the Civil Guard of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette, adopted shortly after its creation.]]
<center><i>“Hold, Fight, Win.”</i> - Official motto of the Civil Guard of San Colette, adopted in 2435. </center>

The uniformed military of San Colette is the '''Civil Guard of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette''', often simply referred to as the '''Civil Guard'''. Prior to the Solarian Collapse the Civil Guard was a local [[Solarian Armed Forces#System Defense Forces|System Defense Force (SDF)]] branch of the Solarian Navy tasked with defending San Colette itself which was not expected to travel beyond its borders for any serious duties. As with many SDFs the ships of the Civil Guard were not equipped by the Navy with warp engines in order to make a rebellion by the Republic harder to carry out. Despite this limit placed upon it the Civil Guard has always been looked upon as a way to minimize Navy influence in the Republic and its government has cut no corners in funding and equipping it. Service in the Civil Guard has always been viewed as an honorable duty by Coletters, due to the popular view of it as a way to keep the Republic’s defense free of Navy influence. The overall commander of the Guard holds the rank of Admiral, in order to theoretically never outrank any Navy fleet commander. The Guard’s officers, and most of its enlisted, are drawn from San Colette’s population and the Republic has never instituted a draft in its history.

The soldiers and officers of the Civil Guard are well-equipped, well-trained, and well-motivated to defend their home. Civil Guard officers are easily distinguishable from their Solarian counterparts by their blue-and-white uniforms and peaked “crusher” caps. The marines of the Guard wear green fatigues and grey armor which is entirely atmospherically sealed— a design intended to assist in actions in the Republic’s phoronics facilities. Despite this training and funding, San Colette’s lack of a draft, and an unwillingness to implement one, has led to something of a manpower shortage during the Collapse. These experienced troops are supported by a robust network of semi-autonomous systems and drones which do much of the menial work for them. These robots are desperately needed now as the Civil Guard has, for as long as it has existed, been a relatively small organization and Navy personnel who were expected to fill in its gaps during a crisis have either defected, died, or turned mercenary.

Fortunately for the Civil Guard a readily-available source of personnel existed in the Republic during its darkest days: its refugee population, many desperate for work and motivated to hang onto what little peace they have managed to find in the Solarian Civil War. These refugees were most often human Solarian citizens from elsewhere in the Middle and Outer Rings and were given heavy incentives to join the Civil Guard, which desperately wished to not be seen as press-ganging refugees into joining its forces. Those that do join were often given menial work to free up Coletters and their automated drones for more important work. Easily distinguished from their Coletter counterparts by their drab brown uniforms the enlisted refugees of the Civil Guard are given as much training as time can spare and sent off to the Guard to serve in it as low-ranking enlisted. Many serve as staff on the myriad defensive installations of the Republic in a variety of roles, where they are often desperately needed.

The Civil Guard and its refugee soldiers performed better than any other non-Navy force during the Solarian Civil War, though at significant cost to themselves and the Civil Guard. Over the course of the final months of the Solarian Civil War it lost roughly half of its total vessel strength and hundreds of thousands of personnel were killed, wounded, or declared missing. But the Civil Guard stood and fought, and ultimately lasted long enough against numerically superior forces to allow the intervention of the Solarian Navy. Now it has begun the long process of rebuilding its strength and, for the first time in its history, the Civil Guard is set to be equipped with warp drives — a remarkable change from before the civil war.
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===Domestic Ship Designs===

The Republic is, by the standards of the Outer and Middle Rings, quite a wealthy and prosperous system with a large local fleet for its own defense. Thanks to its large amounts of funding the Civil Guard is one of the few local militias to field its own combat-capable designs. While not entirely original creations due to being heavily modified versions of typical Solarian Navy vessels, the locally-designed ships of San Colette are quite capable and, prior to the collapse, were often exported to Solarian systems across the Outer and Middle Rings.
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The most iconic Colettish ship design is the ''Castillo''-class battleship. First launched in 2442 and often locally referred to as a “dreadnought,” the Castillo is based upon a common Solarian battleship design dating back to the early 2430s, but trades the common “tuning fork,” design of typical Solarian Navy vessels for a boxier one. The Castillo lacks a warp drive and has a short operating range, but makes up for these drawbacks by possessing heavier weaponry and more armor than its Navy counterpart. Prior to the Collapse many ships of this class were produced on commission to be sold abroad. Following the Collapse the commissioned ships still in drydock were instead given over to the Civil Guard, customers be damned. Tourists visiting San Colette would often purchase small models of Castillo-class battleships as knickknacks. But with the civil war this industry faded rapidly, and untold miniatures of San Colette’s iconic dreadnought now languish in the back rooms of shops across the Republic.

While less iconic than its dreadnought counterpart the ''Caballero''-class heavy cruiser is another Colettish design which has been exported across Outer and Middle Ring. First launched in 2412 the Caballero-class is a mainstay of Civil Guard fleets and its updated 2452 version serves an important role as a screening ship for larger Castillo-class battleships. The Caballero is based on a Solarian Navy cruiser and, like its larger counterpart, trades the “tuning fork,” design for a boxier shape. It lacks a warp drive and has a much shorter operational range, but compensates for this by having heavier armor and more weaponry than its Navy counterpart. This class was commonly sold to other Solarian systems on commission prior to the Collapse and was used by every actor in the Northern Reaches aside from the Solarian Navy itself.!

One design which has not been exported is the small and relatively unassuming ''Cabral''-class light cruiser. Designed in 2427 the Cabral goes against typical Colettish ship design conventions: it is fast, able to fly long ranges without resupplying its fuel, and has few artillery pieces of its own. What it does have are large launch bays and a well-developed sensor suite to compliment its role as a drone carrier rather than a proper cruiser. A typical vessel of this class is fitted with a variety of Albatros type semi-autonomous drones which allow the vessel to punch far above its weight. The rare Civil Guard patrol fleets which can be found outside of San Colette in the wider Pact often consist of Cabral-class vessels escorted by FSF ships. Like its heavier counterparts the Cabral has no warp engines and cannot independently jump, but is capable of outrunning almost any vessels which attempt to close with it thanks to its powerful sublight engines. The Cabral-class was one of the most effective Civil Guard vessels of the War in the Northern Wildlands, with its drones inflicting many losses upon the League and Front.

The ''Mosquito''-class corvette is the smallest of the Civil Guard’s domestic designs. It is based on the Navy’s Montevideo-class patrol ship but diverges from its Navy counterpart in several manners. First is its removal of the “tuning fork,” design in favor of a central, and more armored, crew compartment. Second is its removal of the boarding arm in favor of two drone bays, one on each side of the vessel, and several fixed artillery guns. The Mosquito was originally designed for export alone as a smaller version of the Cabral-class light cruiser but has been pressed into service with the Civil Guard due to the Collapse. It is typically commanded by a junior Coletter officer and Coletter drone technician who are assisted by a crew of refugee soldiers.
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===Drone Warfare===

<center><i>“This is Operator 77 confirming good effect of my Navaja wing on target. Looks like the reactor’s hit. Might go critical soon, going to redirect an Albatros to it. Operator 77 out.”</i> - Lieutenant Emiliana del Moral (2441 - ) minutes before the 67th Fleet’s flagship, Redoubtable, was destroyed by a reactor explosion during the Battle of San Colette (20 November, 2462).</center>

The Civil Guard has long been limited by two things: its small size and its lack of independent warp capabilities, though it is currently being equipped with warp engines following the end of the Solarian Civil War. These limiters have turned it into a force focused on the defensive with only limited offensive capabilities and its small size has caused it to pursue a very unusual force multiplier for interstellar combat: the use of semi-autonomous drones controlled from either ships or stations. The first combat-capable Colettish drones and AI-managed weapons platforms were produced in the 2350s and have only improved over the intervening century. Colettish AI weaponry can be roughly divided into stationary and mobile categories, with stationary weaponry primarily serving as autonomous weapons platforms found throughout the defenses of the Republic and mobile weapons forming the category of drones.
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The mainstay drone of the Civil Guard is the ''Albatros'' type semi-autonomous drone. The Albatros is a relatively recent design which dates back to 2442 and utilizes Colettish AI designs rather than more complicated AIs found on [[Konyang]]. Despite repeated protests by some skrellian figures the Albatros has been a commercial success due and is well-known across the Alliance due to it being exported across Alliance space by Colettish defense firms. The Albatros is a highly modular design which is cheap to produce and effective in space combat due to its powerful engines, small profile, and relatively large missile payload. As a semi-autonomous drone the Albatros requires permission from a human operator before it is authorized to go “weapons hot,” and engage hostile targets. Most Guard defense installations have several wings of Albatros drones armed with a variety of weaponry up to and including anti-capital ship armaments.

The most well-known variant of the Albatros type drone is the ''Navaja'' type semi-autonomous drone. The Navaja trades the missile payload of the Albatros for a significantly more powerful engine and a large shaped charge which makes up the main body of the drone. The purpose of this drone is simple: upon being authorized to engage a target by an operator it will attempt to ram the target before detonating its charge (and itself, by proxy). A Navaja is not intended for more than one mission and is often stored in a folded-up position in order to fit more of the drones into a hangar. The drone’s name comes from the distinctive click-clack noise their wings make while unfolding, which resembles that of the fighting knife bearing the same name. The Navaja is not sold abroad but many are kept in Civil Guard facilities in the event of an attack. One of these drones destroyed the flagship of the 67th Fleet, the battleship Redoubtable, when its shaped charge penetrated into the ship’s engine room and caused its reactor to go critical, and they proved themselves an effective weapon during the Battle of Nueva Patria.

The largest of the Civil Guard’s drones is the ''Kestrel''-class gunboat. It is one of the older Guard drones still in service and dates back to 2398, though modernizations have kept it relatively viable. The Kestrel is the size of a corvette with heavy armor and more artillery than a typical ship of its size, and is typically used to patrol the defensive zones of San Colette due to its age. Like its smaller counterpart the Kestrel is very adaptable and can fulfill a variety of roles in the Guard. Like many Colettish designs the Kestrel was sold to Solarian systems across the Alliance prior to the Collapse and can be found in the hands of many formerly Solarian warlords. As a patrol vessel the Kestrel is more autonomous than most Colettish drones but still requires human authorization to engage its targets. Though scheduled for retirement in 2465, the chaos of the Collapse forced these dated drones to remain in service. Their dated nature led to many being destroyed during the Battle of San Colette, and few functional Kestrel-class drones survived until its end. Those that remain are now being retired and replaced by cheaper, smaller, and more modern drones. The Kestrel’s duty is finally done.
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===Mercenaries===

While the Civil Guard was able to secure the system of San Colette itself, its lack of warp engines and the short operational range of most of its vessels limited its ability to patrol the broader Pact. The Guard’s limited stock of ships which defected or were captured from the 67th Fleet have warp engines and a longer operating range, but are not present in sufficient numbers to effectively secure the borders of the Pact. Non-Colettish forces weee often in even worse states, with some having no local militaries to speak of. Others relied on hand-me-down Solarian Navy equipment which could not hope to win in an even fight against the more modern ships of the Front or League.
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In January 2463 a deal was struck by the Republic and other members of the Pact with the recently-former Free Solarian Fleets to have their mercenaries fill in where the Civil Guard could not. The Pact exchanged goods in the Colettish strategic reserve and berths in Colettish facilities for patrols of its border and skirmishes with both the Front and League. The arrangement proved to be quite beneficial, particularly due to the Republic placing cash bounties on the destruction, capture, or otherwise disabling of enemy vessels. Most FSF vessels found themselves engaged in the Pact and its surrounding territories rather than in the nearby Corporate Reconstruction Zone, with some notable exceptions such as the FSF Caravaggio and its expedition into the Badlands alongside the SCCV Horizon.

Not all appreciated the presence of the mercenaries in the Republic despite the security they offered to the Pact members outside of it. FSF mercenaries were known to become rowdy while on shore leave in the Republic and often ran afoul of its authorities. In a twist of irony many FSF mercenaries chose to rejoin the Solarian Navy after the end of the Solarian Civil War rather than following Pieter van der Rensburg’s efforts to remain a mercenary group loyal to its members rather than any nation.
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===Colettish Volunteer Batallions===

Formed during the final months of the Solarian Civil War from non-Pact fighters who had traveled to defend it, the three Colettish volunteer battalions were heavily involved in the War in the Northern Wildlands and the Battle of San Colette. The battalions were truly international formations, featuring troops and members from as far away as the Free System of Vysoka or the Imperial Mandate of Novi Jadran. They fought valiantly and were prominently featured in coverage of the conflict by the Xanu Prime-based Xanu News Service (XNS). The volunteers are popular across the Northern Reaches and are held up as an example of heroism by many in the region.
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Following the war’s end many volunteers have returned to their homelands, the Solarian Armed Forces, or have settled in San Colette. While Solarian and Dominian volunteers were mostly let go without questioning, those from the Coalition of Colonies, Republic of Elyra, or Republic of Biesel were often subjected to intense questioning by the Solarian Army or Solarian police forces before they were allowed to depart. Many Coalition volunteers were then sent to Konyang, where they were subjected to further questioning and border checks.

The first volunteer battalion was led by Michael “Mike” Forsythe, formerly a Legate of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, and Alexis Watts, formerly a 1st Lieutenant of the 37th Martian. It had a reputation as a “grab bag” of personnel and included individuals from as far away as the Empire of Dominia and Elyra's phoron-hunting mercenary companies. The first was heavily involved in fighting on the planet of New Peoria and in the city of Nueva Isabela on San Colette, where Legate Forsythe was killed in action, and on D'Anzin's surface. Most of the first’s members have returned home and few have joined the Solarian Armed Forces or remained in San Colette.

The second volunteer battalion was led by Lieutenant Colonel Hale Kaohi, formerly of the 12th Silversunner Coastal Infantry Division. Kaohi’s battalion was primarily made of fellow 12th Silversunner veterans and, while never confirmed, rumors have long circulated that Kaohi’s battalion was sanctioned by his divisional commanders. Prior to the Battle of San Colette the second was primarily responsible for training Colettish militia troops who had volunteered to fight against the Front. After the Solarian intervention the second was essentially completely absorbed by the Solarian Army, and many have now returned to the 12th Silversunner.

The third volunteer battalion was led by former Visegradi National Defense Force (NDF) officer Willerich Kozak. An unusual combination of former NDF personnel and Coalition volunteers, the third saw the most combat out of any of the three battalions during the Battle of San Colette and was heavily engaged during the Battle of Nuevo Villaviciosa and ground combat in D’Anzin. Following this it accompanied Solarian Army troops to Lycoris, where it was the last volunteer battalion to be demobilized. Kozak has been missing in action since the end of ground combat in Nuevo Villaviciosa, and rumors have begun to circle that he has appeared on Visegrad and offered his services to Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai.
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==Major Cities==

<center><i>“Sol’s Gateway to the Outer Ring.”</i> - Official motto of the city of Nueva Isabela.</center>

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===Nueva Isabela===
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Nueva Isabela is the capital and largest city on San Colette, and is home to much of the government of the Republic. The headquarters of PhoroCol and the Civil Guard both found inside its borders. Nueva Isabela is known for the large amount of architecture in the classical Iberian style which define its skyline. Its initial wealth came from the vast grasslands which surround it, known as the Colettish Plains which are still home to numerous outlying towns and villages, many of which remain dedicated to farming. Nueva Isabela’s fortunes rapidly shifted with the creation of the Warp Gate Project, as it was decided the operation would be headquartered within the city itself due to its relatively central location between the other four major cities of San Colette. Since the mid-2300s Nueva Isabela has grown into a city which scarcely resembles the agrarian hub and colonial capital of the initial colonial period: it is now a financial and cultural center where, prior to the Solarian Civil War, tourists from across the Middle and Outer Ring visited to sightsee and experience Colettish culture. Following the war’s end Nueva Isabela now serves as the hub of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate and is undergoing reconstruction efforts to repair parts of the city damaged in ground combat and by orbital artillery during the Battle of San Colette.
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===Montblanc===
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Montblanc is San Colette's third largest settlement, sitting at the mouth of the Riu Roig. The city is home to a multitude of industries ranging from automobiles to mining equipment to weaponry and is the current headquarters of CAISC, San Colette’s largest armaments company. Montblanc’s position on the Riu Roig, which has tributaries stretching to the Northern Range and into the interior of Cristobal, has historically allowed it easy access to the resources needed to fund its industrial boom. Itsindustry prior to the Warp Gate Project’s completion was dirty by modern standards and polluted much of the area surrounding the city. During the late 2300s the air quality of Montblanc was so poor the city was nicknamed Muntanya de Cendres (Mountain of Ashes) by its residents. But protests by residents, and money from the warp gates, helped Montblanc’s industry become cleaner and diversified its economy. Decades of work, often in collaboration with Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals, have done much to restore the environment in and around the city. Modern Montblanc is now known as the center of AI research in the Republic and the home of the prestigious Montblanc Institute of Research, and is rarely referred to as the Muntanya de Cendres – although tourists are often sold souvenirs with the earlier nickname printed on them. Montblanc was relatively unaffected by the Solarian Civil War as the city’s major exports – particularly weapons – remained in high demand across the Republic and beyond. Montblanc is home to one of the largest immigrant communities in San Colette: the district of Little New Hai Phong. The district is primarily populated by New Hai Phongese immigrants who came to San Colette during the construction of the Bastion and became involved in the industries of Montblanc which supplied weaponry to the orbital installations of the Bastion. Its residents are typically referred to as Colettish Haiphongers and can be found in a variety of careers and positions throughout the city, but remain a relatively small minority in the Republic. Following the Solarian reunification Montblanc’s Zeng-Hu facilities have once again begun operation, though at a reduced capacity, and some tourists have once again begun to visit the city. Montblanc was spared orbital bombardment due to the protection of railgun stations above it, and many of its tourist facilities are now being used as temporary housing for displaced Coletters.
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===Porto de Ouro===
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Porto de Ouro is the only major settlement on the continent of Morro, but is, ironically, not on Morro at all. It instead lies off of the continent’s shores on a series of islands, some natural and many artificial, but extends onto the continent’s coastline itself thanks to its size. The second-largest city on San Colette after Nueva Isabela itself, Porto de Ouro is the planet’s major offworld port and the vast, relatively flat scrublands on the continent near to its islands are home to massive facilities designed to house everything from interstellar cargo freighters to small private vessels. The city itself is often known as the “City of Bridges,” in local slang due to Porto de Ouro’s construction on a series of small islands. Numerous bridges connect the islands of Porto de Ouro and some are long enough to stretch to the mainland and its expansive facilities. Ferries are a common form of transportation in Porto de Ouro due to necessity as many people live on the islands of the city and work in its more industrial districts on the continent itself. Prior to the Collapse Porto de Ouro was where most off-world tourists and visitors arrived on San Colette and there was a small industry dedicated to taking tourists up the rivers of Morro into its interior. With the Solarian Civil War this industry, and others like it, dried up and forced many of their former employees to find new work – often in the continental dockyards of the city or the Civil Guard. Its residents, spared the heavy fighting of other cities, now await the day tourists will once again come to the City of Bridges.
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===Vila Nova de Norte===
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Also known as Norte or Vila Nova to its residents, the city sits in the far, far north of the continent of Nuevo Norte. Although the smallest of San Colette’s five major cities, Vila Nova has become an important research hub due to its relative isolation and the large, mostly empty, tundra around it known locally as the Guard’s Tundra. The Tundra is home to one of the Republic’s largest proving grounds: the Civil Guard compound commonly referred to as Castillo San Cristóbal, originally established in 2365. The Castillo is the primary employer of Vila Nova and supports much of the city’s economy as its employees, both Civil Guard and civilian, must live, work, and spend much of their time in Vila Nova as it is the only settlement for miles in any direction. Vila Nova is well-known across San Colette for its frequent snowstorms, which often bring work in the city to a halt. When the weather is clear residents of the city are often able to hear the distant thunder of weaponry at the Castillo as sound easily travels across the frozen tundra. Vila Nova is only reachable by boat and by plane and, despite its ability to serve as a year-round port, the city maintains a small fleet of icebreakers for emergency purposes. Those in Vila Nova not employed by the Castillo often work in its declining offshore petrochemical industry which once fed the factories of Montblanc decades ago. Many of the oil reserves found offshore have since dried up and the fuel itself has steadily declined in price, and usability, for years thanks to increased trade bringing new – and more efficient – sources of energy. The few rigs which continue to pump oil from below the ocean floor now mostly send their resources straight to the Civil Guard, and many former rig workers are now employed as low-level staff at the Castillo. This historically led to bitterness between employees of the Castillo, which the original settlers see as driving up prices in the city, and the original settlers prior to the Battle of San Colette. During the battle the Castillo intercepted almost every shell fired at Vila Nova, sparing the city the widespread damage suffered by Nuevo Villaviciosa and Nueva Isabela. This action has mended much of the animosity between the original settlers and immigrant population, and both now intend to move into a better future together.
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===Nuevo Villaviciosa===
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At the far south of Nuevo Norte, Nuevo Villaviciosa is the most populated city on the continent and site of the heaviest fighting of the Battle of San Colette. Villaviciosa has long been the home of San Colette’s shipbuilding industry and is the current headquarters of its major shipbuilding concern: TyVS. The city is in a relatively temperate region of Morro and is surrounded by a landscape of gently rolling hills and plains which are home to a scattering of smaller towns, villages, and farms. Villaviciosa itself is a heavily-industrialized town built upon a slope which gently opens into the Bay of Villaviciosa, the city’s major port. The waters outside the Bay are home to a unique structure on San Colette: the Castrejon Space Elevator. The elevator is a massive offshore structure built into the shallow seas surrounding Villaviciosa which allows for ship parts – often individually built in its drydocks – to be hauled into low Colette orbit before being placed onto the relevant hull in orbit above the city. An overwhelming majority of the Civil Guard’s ships can trace their origins to Villaviciosa’s facilities and, prior to the Solarian Civil War, the city produced many ships for export. The Solarian Civil War severely impacted the city’s economy during its initial stages as shipbuilding contracts dried up or were suddenly canceled. Only intervention by the Republic’s government and the Civil Guard’s increasing demand for ships, along with orders from the wider Shield Pact, saved Nuevo Villaviciosa’s economy from a total meltdown. During the Battle of San Colette Nuevo Villaviciosa was orbirally bombarded by the Front and was the site of heavy house-to-house urban combat in its suburbs as Colettish and Pact troops attempted to repulse Front invaders. Over a weekend of fighting much of the city’s outlying urban sprawl was destroyed and tens of thousands were displaced, with thousands of troops on each side perishing. The Front was ultimately repulsed and the city saved, and the Mandate government has committed to rebuilding all which was destroyed.
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{{Navbox Human Lore}}
{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category:Humanity]]
[[Category:Planets and Systems]]

Visegrad

2024-07-04T23:12:10Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infobox

{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Navbox Human Lore}}
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Visegrad
|System = Danube
|Image = Newvisegrad.png
|Sector = [[The Orion Spur#Southern Reaches|Southern Reaches]]
|Capital = Fellegvar
|Species = Human
|Languages = Tradeband, Visegradi
Creole, Sol Common
|Demonyms = Visegradi
|Nation = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}

An outer ring colony of the Solarian Alliance, '''Visegrad''' was first colonized by the Warsaw Pact during the early Interstellar Era and used as a dumping ground for the Pact’s politically least-desirable, before evolving into a noteworthy world in its own right. Since then it has been wracked by two civil wars: first in the face of the Interstellar War, and then in the wake of the Solarian Collapse of 2462. Today, the rainy world exists as the base of Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai’s power, serving as the capital of the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate.

'''Due to Visegrad's history as a former penal colony housing Eastern European political dissidents and its current status as the de facto capital of a warlord state hostile to outsiders, characters born on Visegrad will have names and appearances consistent with the peoples of Non-Soviet Eastern Europe, East Germany, and the Non-Yugoslav & non-Greek Balkans. Only native Visegradis may take the Visegradi accent. This is enforceable by server moderators and admins.'''
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==History==
<center><i>“Centuries ago, when Visegrad needed the Alliance’s aid, it was there for us. And now, as Sol crumbles from threats within and without, we will answer her call and return the favor in kind! I speak to you now, my countrymen, and I say this - The Alliance is still worth fighting for! Your country is still worth fighting for!”</i> — Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai, addressing the people of Fellegvar shortly after the First Middle Ring Battlegroup’s arrival in orbit of the planet.</center>

Visegrad's history is a long and storied one filled with momentous events that span centuries, from its founding as a penal colony for political dissidents from the Warsaw Pact to its current status as the de facto capital of the [[Human Wildlands#The_Southern_Solarian_Military_District|Southern Solarian Military District]]. The planet's history is generally accepted as defined by certain phases which are listed below.

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===Founding===
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[[File:Visegradflagpast.png|thumb|The flag of Visegrad during its colonial administration by the Warsaw Pact.]]
At the start of the interstellar era, the USSR along with the Warsaw Pact would emerge as one of the foremost human colonial powers. Wielding a huge chunk of the [[Earth|Earth’s]] population, economic power, and industrial capacity, the Soviets and their satellites would spread throughout the stars, settling world after world both in the Sol system and beyond. However, unlike on many of these worlds, not all of Visegrad’s colonists were volunteers. The foundation of the planet was a means to an end: a group of Warsaw Pact states consisting of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and East Germany designed Visegrad as a dumping ground for political dissidents. Visegrad, with a name invoking notions of socialist unity and brotherhood, would become a drop-off point for much of the Pact’s unruly artists, subversive elements, religious figures, opposition intelligentsia and politicians, union leaders and members, and anyone else who could prove to be a problem to the state.

Initially chosen because it was assessed as a relatively marginal planet, Visegrad was the world for the black sheep of the Warsaw Pact— where people could be sent to be out of public sight and mind. Development of the colony was no easy process, though. The weather complicated colonial development, but the worst of it was the foliage. Excavators, controlled explosions, and herbicides were all put to use in the creation of Fellegvar, the cramped and highly vertical initial colonial site. Besides those technical complications, the colonists themselves would present a number of issues ranging from general discontent to underground subterfuge. Not only were they being forced to live on the planet, but it would also prove to be a harsh home, and the capital itself was even harsher. Fellegvar resembled its namesake: a fortress with bleak and functionalist design, and one more designed to keep its population in rather than keep others out.

Many people diffused into the countryside, seeking refuge from the oppressive situation in the cities. The simple fact of geography meant that there could be no suburban sprawl. Colonists either stuck to the cities or embraced a rural way of life, creating settlements referred to somewhat inaccurately as “communes” and individual structures referred to as “homesteads.” Generally, anyone living outside of an urban center was referred to as a Homesteader, and those who stuck to them were the Stadters.

As the colony grew, so did the problem of keeping people in line. Unrest began to become unmanageable as many of the worst troublemakers began to migrate into the countryside. With most of the population being politically unreliable to begin with, it became clear that a centralized, domestic policing apparatus would be necessary. As a result, the '''Visegradi People’s Security Service''' would emerge as the solution to the Warsaw Pact’s governing woes. While fulfilling the niche of a typical colonial defense force, it also doubled as a highly militarized police force, wielding an expansive surveillance network that reached all walks of life. Furthermore, the office of '''Colonial Premier''' would emerge, serving as both commander of the Security Service and the governor of the planet.

As time passed and natives began to outnumber imported dissidents— and the Security Service waged its campaign of dissident suppression— the situation on Visegrad gradually normalized. While rabble-rousers and recusants would continue to be sent to the rainy world, it became less like the Siberia of the stars and gradually shifted to a state of being more typical of a colony of the Warsaw Pact. Below the surface, however, aggressive police actions and authoritarian scheming worked to crush dissent, yet paradoxically and simultaneously contributed to it as many grew to resent the tyranny that the administration presented.
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===The Interstellar War===
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The fragile facade of peace and unity crumbled when the Second Great Depression struck the Pact and the greater Alliance. Almost immediately, the Warsaw Pact’s hold on Visegrad began to dissolve. With prosperity down the drain, those who fought against the colonial government were emboldened by a sudden wave of support. Mass protests and strikes seriously challenged the government’s hold on power. Eventually a leak of Security Service information exposed the extent of their actions, and public order began to fall apart and eventually collapse with the assassination of Colonial Premier '''Andrzej Nowak'''. When a bomb in his office killed him along with some of his ranking staff, elements of the security forces were charged with responsibility— many anti-government groups simultaneously claiming the bombing as their own. Nowak’s legacy would prove to be one of civil strife as his successor, '''Jarmila Szwedko''', engaged in a merciless purge of suspected opponents. This exacerbated the issue of questionable loyalty: in response, an attempted coup to stop Jarmila’s rule by officers of the Security Service turned into civil war.

There were three predominant factions in this conflict: the Loyalists, Regionalists, and Secessionists. The Loyalists were those who remained aligned with the Warsaw Pact. Despite enjoying some initial successes, the Loyalists collapsed after a few years— with support from both the Pact and the populace drying up. The Regionalists wished to remain within the Alliance, but did not support continued Pact control. The most radical faction were the Secessionists, who desired unilateral secession from the Alliance and realignment towards the fledgling Coalition. Support for each faction was heterogeneous, with allegiance varying greatly between city, commune, homestead and individual. In the end, the Regionalists received support from a key outside party: Sol.

With the Secessionists taking the side of the Coalition during their guerrilla war against Solarian rule, the Alliance backed the Regionalists, sending them strategic and material aid. Reorganized and wielding the Visegradi National Defense Force, forged from elements of the Security Service, the Regionalists continued their war against the Secessionists. After a grueling insurgency which saw countless deaths, the Regionalists eventually gained total control of the planet. With the Warsaw Pact out of the picture, and the Secessionists defeated, democracy— albeit illiberal, in the typical Solarian style— finally came to the rainy world.
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===The Solarian Collapse of 2462===
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Being a Solarian outer colony, the Solarian Collapse struck Visegrad with full force. For the most part it largely avoided the military’s phoron seizures, as there existed only small stores of the resource on the planet. Instead, the real trouble began with the death of Frost and the tragedy on Mars. The Secessionist cause, suppressed since the end of the Interstellar War, flared up once more. Protesters took to the streets all throughout Visegrad, demanding unilateral secession from the Alliance and a realignment towards the Coalition. The government found itself hard-pressed to control the unrest, which grew even worse after the military garrison abandoned the world and began a sudden retreat to the Sol system.

The world’s colonial assembly was led by a Sol First Party minority government which collapsed nearly immediately, a motion of no confidence leading to its dissolution. With a defunct assembly, the head of the National Defense Force, Commandant '''Mariusz Kovacs''', declared the government adjourned in perpetuity and that a state of martial law would be in place until a Solarian relief force would arrive, of which there was no guarantee would ever happen.

This was a measure that proved deeply unpopular with the anti-government populace and other pro-secession groups, and the protests turned to riots and riots to firefights. NDF troopers and police engaged in combat with Secessionist militias, echoing the state of affairs during the Interstellar War. Monorails were bombed or captured, major and minor starports seized or sabotaged. A general state of anarchy ruled on Visegrad, much like on many abandoned Solarian worlds, and no unified planetary government existed by the time the conflict in Tau Ceti ended. Secessionist militias controlled Sloboda and vast swathes of the rural countryside, while an uncertain peace existed in the rest of the world, ruled by the colony’s defense force. While the NDF’s fleet was still operational and capable of fighting off rogue military vessels and pirate fleets, Kovacs and his clique knew they stood no chance against an invasion by one of the wildlands’ warlords. On Visegrad, the few months of interregnum were a bloody and uncertain time, and nobody knew what the fate of the world would be.
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===The First Middle Ring Battlefleet===
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Being one of the better-trained and equipped battlegroups in the Alliance Navy, and most certainly the best in the region, the First Middle Ring Battlefleet (FMRB) under Fleet Admiral '''Klaudia Szalai''' was in the middle of peacekeeping duties when the order to retreat to the Sol system was given to many of the Alliance’s remaining forces. Thinly spread out and one of the few effective units in a region normally patrolled by the Navy’s worst, the battlefleet was in no position to retreat in good order, phoron shortages aside. When the collapse came, the chaos would’ve destroyed a lesser unit— but the high level of cohesion and comparative quality of the soldiers under Klaudia’s command allowed for a sluggish but successful rendezvous.

By the time Szalai’s forces had reconstituted, however, Sol’s withdrawal was all but finished and the wildlands had become a place without any clear governmental authority. The Fleet Admiral was given a difficult choice: attempt to make her way back to the Sol system through now-hostile territory and with a severe lack of fuel, or attempt to restore order and find safe harbor in the southern wildlands. The choice for Klaudia was obvious; a committed Solarian loyalist, she strived to preserve the Alliance however she could. As for the safe harbor, the choice was equally apparent to the Fleet Admiral. Kovacs, in the end, was right, and a Solarian relief force would eventually make its way to Visegrad.

When the FMRB’s detachment to Visegrad arrived, the NDF’s beleaguered government welcomed them with open arms. Most Secessionist militias were unprepared for the all-out assault that came with the District’s arrival, and many surrendered outright in the face of the overwhelming force suddenly sent their way. Some well-equipped, fanatical, or isolated hardliners that went underground persisted in their efforts, but for the most part the Secessionist insurgency was abruptly extinguished. Almost immediately, Visegrad would serve to be one of the springboards of Szalai’s stabilization of the Southern Solarian Military District.

Being Visegradi herself, it might be possible to level an accusation of bias against Szalai for her pick in a base of operations, but Visegrad was a fair choice. The established shipbuilding industry and starports would allow for maintenance of the battlefleet’s vessels, and the populace stood a chance of being easily pacified by one of their own. Perhaps the most significant factor in the strategic decision to occupy Visegrad was the nature of the aforementioned shipbuilding industry: Visegradi shipyards specialized in vessels that would be exported to the frontier, and therefore typically used warp drives instead of bluespace drives. With phoron supplies already nearly depleted, the option to refit the FMRB’s ships with obsolete-but-effective warp drives was key to Szalai’s long-term strategy, and likely equally important to other competing warlords in the region.
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===The Southern Solarian Military District===
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From 2462 to 2465 Visegrad served as the bona fide seat of command for the SSMD’s leadership apparatus, and a base of operations for the military forces of the military district. Every day, ships flew in and out of the planet’s orbital facilities, receiving repairs and supplies—and what phoron that can be gathered from trade or storage, for ships that haven’t already been refitted.
Meanwhile, Szalai’s anti-corporate agenda saw Zeng-Hu’s previously profitable and expansive operations on the planet completely shut down. Additionally, many Visegradi secessionists were m indefinitely detained for their rebellion. A substantial portion of the SSMD’s replacement troops are Visegradi recruits, as the people of the rainy planet recently put out of work are forced to find an alternative livelihood. Even the Visegradi National Defense Force was disbanded as a distinct entity, quickly being incorporated into the FMRB’s structure following its arrival. Conflicts with Biesel and the Southern Fleet Administration put a crosshair over the rainy planet: as the lynchpin world of Szalai’s regime, defeat here would have been a harsh blow to her forces and the Alliance’s influence in the Southern Reaches. Finally, hardliner secessionist cells continued to operate, trying — and failing — to derail the path to Solarian reintegration.

The SSMD’s rule over the planet lasted until July 2465, when the rainy world was reintegrated into the Alliance through the creation of the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate (SSRM).
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===The Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate===
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Since July 2465 Visegrad has officially rejoined the broader Solarian Alliance following the formal end of the Solarian Civil War, and now serves as the capital world of the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate. As it reenters the Alliance most Visegradis are full of hope for the future, though many problems remain unresolved and must be addressed: the gradual withdrawal of the Navy from ruling, the trialing and releasing of secessionist actors, the fate of corporate facilities, and the potential re-establishment of the National Defense Force as the civilian government prepares to begin leadership of the planet.

Furthermore, Szalai must work to rebuild much of the Southern Reaches while protecting the SSRM from pirate raids originating in the nearby Wasteland and balancing the political influence of other actors in the region, such as Fleet Admiral Myo Yunso and Sankt Frederick Governor Adrien MacPherson. But the majority of Visegradis are confident their Fleet Admiral will see them through this, and towards a better future.
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===Visegradi-Plutonian Enmity===
A longstanding sense of enmity exists between the people of Visegrad and [[Pluto]], owing largely to the ideological differences between the two planets’ populations, and also for the Warsaw Pact’s tendency to use Plutonians as additional manpower in the Security Service due to the ever-present shortcomings in drumming up local support end enlistees.

Visegradi people see the Plutonians as emblematic of the institutions that deported their ancestors to Visegrad in the first place, and as jackbooted thugs who oppressed the population of the rainy planet. Plutonians, on the other hand, view the Visegradi people as reactionaries and hereditary criminals, a belief only steeled by the fact that the Plutonian guards and government employees unlucky enough to be left behind during the Pact’s withdraw found themselves sent to Visegradi prisons at worse, or unceremoniously exiled to the nearest inhabited planet at best.

==Environment==
<center><i>“Danube-2 is… Habitable, but marginal. It’s much, much wetter than Earth, considerably colder, and unremarkable geologically. In short: not really the lucrative find we were hoping for...”</i> — Starshey Leytenant Petrik Szoke, science officer aboard the Warsaw Pact survey ship “Vizsla”.</center>
Visegrad is a sullen and tempestuous world of ultra-dense temperate rainforests, frigid bogs, and swamps so thick with murk and mire so as to render a crossing by land impractical. Located on the cooler side of the goldilocks zone in the Danube star system, Visegrad’s defining trait in the eyes of the average observer is the profound moisture of it all. Perpetual and torrential storms rack the surface of the world, which feed the enormous forests and the vast equatorial ocean spanning the surface of the planet. Much of the precipitation can ultimately be traced back to Visegrad’s prominent and exceptionally dense planetary ring— consisting mostly of ice, the debris here often crashes to the planet’s surface and is promptly introduced into the water cycle.

Most settlements are located in the northern hemisphere— the temperate and boreal rainforests there are far more suitable to human habitation than the south’s vast bogs, swamps, and ice caps. The blackwood forests here stand taller than any on Earth, providing ample coverage and soil anchorage for buildings and other structures. The planetary capital, Fellegvar, is located in one of these forests. Other notable settlements include Nowa Bratislava, a coastal city in the far north, and Sloboda, the planet’s largest commune, which was built on the remains of a long-term survey outpost.

Aside from Visegrad itself, the Danube system is relatively unremarkable - the star itself is a yellow dwarf, and two other unnoteworthy, barren planets orbit it, along with a moderately-sized gas giant. Though all three have been exploited in the past, these efforts were unprofitable and most attention has been paid to Visegrad itself. Along with its ice belt, Visegrad also possesses a modestly-sized moon called Morana, which is host to a number of research and development outposts, formerly owned by Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals which now sit abandoned, being mothballed after the Solarian Collapse and not yet put back into regular use.

===Flora and Fauna===
<center><i>“I’ve never seen so much green in my entire life. The trees seem endless! To see them sway during a storm - it is mesmerizing.”</i> — Oda Jakuchu, writer for “The Spur’s Many Sights”, a Solarian travel guide.</center>
====Flora====

Life native to Visegrad all shares a common nature in their adaptations: they are prepared for the rain. The flora on Visegrad takes advantage of the constant rainfall, growing as quickly as it can. Trees here anchor themselves with resilient networks of roots, growing tall and strong. The overgrowth on Visegrad is stifling, and the soil is rich. Wildfires are common in spite of the rain as lightning strikes are frequent.

Especially notable flora are the blackwood trees, which are similar to the sitka spruce of Earth but with wood the color of rich ebony. Visegrad is famous for blackwood trinkets which are supposedly carved by hand— or as the more honest vendors would say, by sophisticated machines. A notable accoutrement to the trees themselves is raindrop moss, a plant which strongly resembles spanish moss from Earth in both form and biology. This moss is moisture-rich, and is frequently pressed to yield (grassy-tasting) drinking water.

Carpet moss, on the other hand, blankets the ground alongside the planet’s many fern species. Thick and plush, it exists in a semi-aquatic state, weathering flooding until the water recedes. Before the advent of prefabricated homesteads, early treehouses frequently used carpet moss for sod roofing as its sponge-like qualities helped prevent leaks.

====Fauna====

To describe the bulk of Visegradi fauna would be to describe a great number of mammalian or otherwise endothermic creatures with thick waterproof coats of fur or feathers and either an arboreal or semi-aquatic lifestyle. However, amphibians are also common as well.

No creature registers in the curious minds of the public as the Skriatoks: a species of arboreal bipeds, remarkably intelligent and standing at around four feet tall. Hunched, covered in slick black fur, and possessing a pair of bulbous eyes and jutting horns, they are seldom seen in the civilized portions of the world. Some suggest that they are a pre-sophont species as tool use, outpacing even the most sophisticated of non-human apes, has been alleged by some xenobiologists.

Also infamous is the Szazlabu, a creature that defies typical taxonomic classification. Possessing dozens of gripping tendrils, this three-meter long beast is wholly arboreal and glides from tree to tree using its many limbs to grab branches. While terrifying to many by virtue of appearance, startling speed, and the large groups it congregates in, the Szazlabu is a harmless, intelligent, and even affectionate herbivore that has even been domesticated for transportation in remote areas.

Marine life is not so dissimilar to life on Earth, with the same niches seen there being fulfilled in a similar capacity. One of the sole exceptions is the Turul, an apex predator that spends much of its time in the air, yet dives into the ocean when hunting, capable of holding its breath for hours at a time in the search of prey. While capable of killing a human, the creatures typically do not target them; most attacks seem to be a case of mistaken identity, usually when the victim’s silhouette is altered or obscured enough to resemble a fish.

One freshwater amphibian often loved by children is the Przewoznik, a portly disk of a creature that is just as clumsy in the water as it is out of it. Its distinctive screeches are heard all throughout the day and night and can occasionally be loud enough to disrupt the sleep of those who live close to courting pairs.

==Economy==
<center><i>“Years of pharmaceutical research and millions of credits-worth of funding - gone, just like that. The marines showed up and took it all, and arrested half the team to boot! And for what - because we worked for Zeng-Hu?”</i> — Doctor Erika Kosmatka, in an interview for an SCC internal news bulletin.</center>
A socialist economic system had dominated the world throughout much of its history, though it liberalized to a substantial degree after the end of Pact control on the planet. The Visegradi economy is diverse, with every economic sector represented depending primarily on location. Communes often exist to extract resources, and the cities will process and market them. Lumber is a major resource on the rainy world and is the colony’s most significant export in terms of pure tonnage. Notably, there also exists an established shipbuilding industry on the planet, inherited from a Pact-then-[[Zavodskoi Interstellar]] shipyard designed to serve as a hub for the middle and outer colonies. This fact along with its relatively central position in southern Solarian space made it into something of a center of commerce before recent events, though largely as a waystation to richer Solarian space and [[Biesel]].

The megacorporation who had the greatest level of investment on the planet for many years was [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]], owing to the fact that substances potentially medically-applicable are found in great supply on a planet so rich in biological resources. Zeng-Hu employed a statistically significant proportion of the population in some way or the other and the rainy world was considered something of an economic stronghold for the megacorporation. Generally, reception of the corporation was mixed - many welcomed the economic prosperity they brought, while others decried the environmental damage that they caused. Of special note to Zeng-Hu was a species of rare arboreal fungi with potentially mind-altering qualities, and the corporation paid top credit in exchange for viable samples.

Following the establishment of Szalai’s control over the world, much of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate|Stellar Corporate Conglomerate’s]] property on the planet was seized. Many high-ranking employees found themselves on official watch or outright arrested, and the SCC’s influence on Visegrad has been diminished near-completely. Zeng-Hu in particular was very hard-hit, on account of their previous hold over the planet. It was seen as a key strategic decision to remove the corporation, in spite of its relatively acceptable working relationship with Sol. As a result of this, a lucrative smuggling industry arose, with former employees wanted by the District paying countless Credits to be trafficked into Biesel space; a difficult trip, on account of patrols that stop any ships attempting to cross the border. Furthermore, the healthcare industry has been completely reorganized, with naval doctors being used to fill the gap left by the ejection of Zeng-Hu medical professionals. Following the Solarian reunification rumors have circulated regarding Zeng-Hu’s return to Visegrad, but no concrete information has emerged.

Some corporate assets, however, have survived the reorganization intact, albeit weakened. Due to their good working relationship with Sol, [[Idris Incorporated]] in particular has seen relatively little in the way of losses, with substantial monetary and logistical aid being given to the military administration in order to continue operating on Visegrad to some degree. Idris has even tentatively been permitted to continue hiring new employees, some of whom were blacklisted from other fields due to prior involvement with other SCC corporations on the planet. Zavodskoi Interstellar, who had been operating on the planet for centuries on account of their origin in the USSR, has also survived, though on a very tight leash. In exchange for allowing them to keep some of their factories on the planet, they are required to provide armaments and ammunition to the SSMD’s forces at a rate far below market value. It is also through these two corporations that many people leave Visegrad for friendlier waters, either to the Alliance itself, or through Alliance space to get to Biesel. Personnel from both corporations can request transfers to other facilities controlled by the SCC, and many end up using this fact as an out.

A newcomer to Visegrad is [[Einstein Engines]], which has been allowed to take over the previously Zavodskoi-owned shipyards at no cost. In exchange, they assist with the refitting of warp drives onto the District’s military vessels. Due to Einstein’s extremely warm relations with Sol, the same enmity that the surviving SCC corporations on the planet suffer from does not extend to them. As such, EE is able to operate somewhat freely, with the administration allowing them to expand their operations as they see fit. Many of the planets’ citizens who aren’t getting involved with the military or Idris find themselves seeking employment with Einstein, as a result. Of those who previously worked on the shipyards and other heavy industries which weren’t promptly poached by Einstein, many have found employment off-world with Hephaestus, who welcome their skillset. As a result, Visegradi employees are becoming somewhat more common in Hephaestus employ throughout the spur.

==Culture and Demographics==
<center><i>“Don’t mind the suspicious looks. Trust is earned here, not freely given. Don’t worry - let them get to know you, and you’ll see how the Visegradi really are. And if someone invites you out to get a bite to eat along the way, accept!”</i> — Ambroz Gorka, for “Does the Red Banner Yet Fly?”, a documentary about Warsaw Pact and USSR colonies.</center>
Visegradi society is notably characterized by geography. The urban population lives in cramped high-rise apartment buildings and typically travel by suspended monorail. They form the bulk of the educated specialists in the workforce and have a lifestyle more typical to heavily developed worlds. Homesteaders, on the other hand, are the group that constitutes the rural population. While many communes exist on the periphery of more developed urban centers, those further away from the cities live a rugged lifestyle not too dissimilar from the less-developed worlds of the Solarian outer ring or human frontier. Suburban sprawl is completely non-existent due to the complications of the biosphere, hence the relatively clear line of demarcation. Another notable aspect of Visegradi life is the somewhat high concentration of higher education facilities relative to the planet’s fame— Visegrad is well-known for having a fair number of universities, esteemed for their focus on xenobotany, xenobiology, and other life sciences.

In terms of ethnic makeup, the overwhelming majority of the population are ethnic Visegradi, being people who are the descendants of the original colonists and outcasts from the Warsaw Pact. There are almost no aliens on Visegrad with the immigration process for any non-human being as difficult as it was anywhere else in the Alliance. Almost always, any alien found on Visegrad would be a Skrell, typically one affiliated with the academic community. This has become even more noticeable as Visegrad’s separation from Sol between 2462 and 65 stopped nearly all immigration of any species to the planet, human or not. It did not stop emigration, and with the SSMD’s borders being essentially open with Sol, some have taken the opportunity to flee to safer Alliance space for the time being. Secessionists who would find themselves unwelcome in Sol have a more difficult journey with refugees resorting to braving the Wasteland m and then attempting passage through or around Elyran space to get to the Coalition. Some secessionists have opted to remain in the Wasteland, believing its anarchy represents true freedom. Regardless of where one goes, Biesel is a logical next step for some looking to start a new life.

===Societal Attitudes===
One common aspect of Visegradi conversation and culture is the mention of geography, weather, and flora to describe a subject. A common statement would be something akin to, “it’s a rainy day.” In a figurative sense, this means it’s a normal, boring day. Other examples might be to say that “a storm is coming,” if someone feels uneasy, or that “The clouds are clearing up,” if someone’s mood is improving. Additionally, this extends to more physical things too, such as describing being outside, as “under the clouds,” even if no clouds are actually present, or going on a walk often being called “going rainspotting.” In general, Visegradi people are frequently described as being a rather gloomy, suspicious sort with a generally pessimistic outlook. Decades of oppression by an authoritarian government has also instilled an intrinsic distrust of authority and government in some communities and people. This extends to new people as well as many supposed “friends” worked as informants for the Security Service during the Pact era. Also notable is a general predisposition towards superstition: Visegradi culture places a substantial emphasis on luck and fatalism, and there are a number of perhaps unusual traditions that relate to this. There is additionally an emphasis on hard work, recreation, and living; it is not uncommon for natives to turn their noses up at softer lifestyles and those who live them. Backpacking and hunting, in particular, are pastimes strongly cemented in Visegradi culture.

Some notable superstitions among Visegradi people are an apprehension or even offense to having one’s photograph taken without one’s knowledge, it being considered a bad omen due to the historical trend of the old Security Service photographing people without their knowing. Similarly, due to the history of Security Service members wearing face masks, masked people or those who otherwise obscure their faces are seen as particularly suspicious in the culture, to the point where many from Visegrad will outright avoid people who wear facemasks for purposes outside of necessity and profession, such as doctors or those who work around harmful particulates. Even then though, explanations are usually warranted. Lastly, a notable superstition among some Visegradi people is to never leave doors or windows open, believing that it may let bad luck, or more practically, rain, inside.

A more sinister superstition revolves around the idea of the “Leszy”, or forest spirits, which are said to take the form of large green Skriatoks - with leaves, branches, and other plants growing from their bodies. Leszy can be benevolent or malevolent, and are considered to be somewhat unpredictable; they have been credited with guiding people through the thickest of storms back to civilization, while simultaneously blamed for the disappearances of lost travelers. One common method of warding off or gaining the favor of Leszy is to tattoo oneself with a depiction of a Visegradi animal, or likewise to carry a wooden carving of a Visegradi creature on your person, which is said to appease the Leszy and serve as a sort of guardian charm. Leszy have been historically used as a euphemism for the security service’s forced disappearances during the Pact era - and the word continues to be used as a tongue-in-cheek way of referring to malicious or bumbling governments.

===Language===
Visegradi Creole is the dialect of Tradeband native to Visegrad. As a result of the unique origins of the planet's colonists, Sol Common never had an opportunity to cement itself on the rainy world. Instead, communication with outside traders led to an eclectic, harsh, and relatively unique version of Tradeband to take hold as the local lingua franca, a position that it has held to the present day. Sol Common in spite of this still sees heavy use in schools and in the government as an official language mandated by the Solarian Alliance before its collapse. While the Warsaw Pact experimented with Tradeband as a language to unify the linguistically-diverse population, a different variant took hold in the planet’s population, one heavily influenced by the many languages of the founding population. Visegradi Creole was originally intended to act as an argot language, one designed to be incomprehensible to the planet’s Warsaw Pact guards - at one point, a whole unit of the Security Service was dedicated to deciphering and understanding the ever-changing creole language. After the end of Pact rule, Visegradi Creole was rehabilitated and standardized, being made the planet’s official language alongside Sol Common.

Music on the rainy world is somewhat notable, with folk and polka being popular styles, almost always being sung in Visegradi Creole.

===Cuisine===
Visegradi cuisine is famous for the heavy use of paprika in many recipes. Adapted versions of paprikash, goulash, and marhaporkolt are famous in some culinary circles and any visitor to the rainy world is bound to enjoy the food, at the very least. One uniquely Visegradi dish is Stormbreak Eggs. A form of street food popular amongst Stadters, they are fried in paprika-infused cooking oil alongside kielbasa and served on lye bread toasted in that same oil. Also famous are the Visegradi Coffee Houses, which were copied from Viennese tradition by some Hungarian colonists. These rustic and comfortable cafes are a defining aspect of the rainy planet’s social life. Notable menu options include items such as einspanner coffee and pine needle tea. Additionally, Visegradi agriculture is somewhat unique in that it revolves around the cultivation of fungi, most often different kinds of mushrooms endemic to the rainy world.

Borovicka is by far the most popular liquor on the planet, owing both to Visegrad’s pine tree-analogues and the Slovak origins of some of the original settlers. The gin-like beverage is so popular that it is said to be something that any alcohol-inclined traveller should enjoy, with it often being exported to other Solarian colonies or even further abroad. Spritzers (called froccs, in the local dialect) are also popular if one is in search of a more mild drink.

===Drugs===
Drug usage rates on Visegrad are similar to other Solarian worlds, but uniquely the most popular illicit drugs on the planet are native psychoactive fungus. Visegrad has been referred to as “the psilocybin capital of the spur” by some self-proclaimed drug “experts”, though such a moniker may be seen with embarrassment or disdain by a native Visegradi. Another recreational drug that has a uniquely Visegradi system of use is tobacco - actual cigarettes one would smoke are essentially extinct on the planet, as the endless drizzle and moisture makes using them nearly impossible outdoors. Instead, chewing tobacco, nicotine gum, specially-designed smoking pipes, and electronic cigarettes are all far more popular.

===Fashion===
Clothing on Visegrad is quite utilitarian with the most popular garments being warm, waterproof, and, if a Homesteader is the one wearing it, rugged. Woolen flannel is a popular material, in spite of the headaches that come with grazing sheep in an ultra-dense forest. Also popular is any sort of water-resistant synthetic fiber. One particularly universal article of clothing is the lavvu ponczo, or simply ponczo. Originally popularized by the shelter-halves of the original colonization effort, the ponczo has evolved into a common tool for everyday wear— many people wouldn’t be caught dead leaving their home without one. A similarly ubiquitous piece of headwear is the Nyakas. A derivative of the flap hat, it is designed to keep rain off of the neck and head. While not strictly clothing, arborescent cologne is very popular on Visegrad.

===Architecture===
Architecture on Visegrad is a notable attraction, or at least a feature of the planet's cities. The style is unique, a sort of fusion between socialist realism and stripped classicism. Known as "Visegradi Contemporary", architects and critics are divided on the look— some praise it as a striking and dignified style that pairs well with the planet's stormy weather, while detractors pan it as a reminder of the oppressive past and a sign of reluctance to go forward. In terms of the design of settlements themselves, cities are compact and highly vertical, with narrow streets home to only bicyclists, police patrol carts, and pedestrians. Instead, monorails are used as the primary method of transportation. With flooding and the rain being such an issue, most highly trafficked surfaces are protected by a complex network of retractable awnings and gutters that safely divert much of the water away from populated areas. Additionally, most structures and even cities themselves exist on raised platforms, to minimize contact with the ground and prevent flooding. Homesteads and communes on the other hand are organized around the kabina, a prefabricated treehouse structure assembled in parts and placed on stilts, wrapped around the trunk of a sturdy tree for support and for protection from ground-level flooding and the elements.

==Government and Politics==
[[File:Visegradflagcurrent.png|thumb|The de facto current flag of Visegrad used by most to represent the planet.]]
<center><i>“With my signature on this document, we begin the Visegradi democratic tradition, ending decades of Pact and military government. We must never again let a tyrant rule this world - from now until the end of time, this planet will be governed '''solely''' with the consent of the people.”</i> — Visegrad’s first Chancellor, Pawel Lehmann, on signing Visegrad’s first democratic constitution after the end of the Visegradi civil war.</center>
Originally a one-party socialist state subservient to the Warsaw Pact on Earth, Visegrad’s government changed after it broke away from the Pact’s rule. Prior to the Solarian Civil War and the FMRB’s takeover of the planet, the political structure of Visegrad was the same as it was on many other Solarian planets: an illiberal representative democracy. Unique, though, was the Electoral Service system, the method of voter registration on Visegrad.

Electoral Service was a concept inherited from the Warsaw Pact days - it is essentially a program that makes a public servant of the prospective voter for a period of eighteen months. Unlike conscription, though, there are a number of fields that the inductees can partake in. The most common choice is service in the National Defense Force, or since the planet’s induction into the SSMD, the armed forces of the military district. The other options for Electoral Service are the Medical Service, a public healthcare organization; the Development Bureau, which deals with public labor; the Agricultural Bureau, where inductees typically work as farmhands; and the Civil Commission, which recruits miscellaneous governmental workers like secretaries and pages.

During the Solarian Civil War democracy fell to the wayside in the wake of the SSMD establishing control on Visegrad. From 2462-65 a military junta ruled Visegrad under a state of martial law, much like in the rest of the Military District. Described as being a temporary measure until Solarian control can be re-established in the Southern Wildlands, the junta has declared they will step down when the region is more stable — whenever this may be. Electoral Service has notably been maintained by Szalai’s regime, though the goal has largely shifted to boosting the SSMD’s manpower in lieu of its original purpose. While electoral politics are irrelevant for the time being, Solarian Populism has strongly established itself as the dominant ideology among pro-government Visegradi people, while secessionists subscribe to a broad range of libertarian ideologies.

==Military and Law Enforcement==
<center><i>“Now is not the first time men and women in uniform have had to step in to save Visegrad from disaster. This is the Interstellar War of our times; and we will stand strong for the good of our homeworld and for our country, as our forebears did.”</i> — Commandant Mariusz Kovacs, declaring the imposition of martial law on Visegrad in the wake of the Solarian Collapse.</center>
Like many Solarian worlds, Visegrad had a System Defense Force. Created from the remnants of the Visegradi People’s Security Service, the Visegradi National Defense Force maintained much of its original power due to its influence among the Regionalists - it was still responsible for all policing on the planet, with militarized officers patrolling the streets and forests. This resulted in a degree of discomfort with some sympathetic to the Secessionist cause, who felt it too strongly echoed the repressive past of the planet. Many outspoken Secessionists even claimed that the surveillance network of old was never dismantled, and instead was kept in place to serve both the NDF and Alliance Strategic Intelligence. The Defense Force also fielded a number of patrol ships, some even rating destroyer classification, though the objective for this force was primarily protecting commerce in-system.

In spite of remaining loyal to the Alliance after the collapse, the NDF was disbanded when Szalai’s fleet took control of Visegrad; the admiral had no interest in taking the risk of allowing a parallel military organization to exist alongside her own. Those who seemed faithful to her goals were incorporated into her forces, and those assessed as being unreliable or outright seditious were dismissed at best, and detained with the Secessionists at worst. Ever since then, marines and sailors of the SSMD have taken over all policing and law enforcement on the planet and in-system. The state of martial law and intermittent curfews are considered a necessity by the authorities and those who support them, but those who reject District control consider it an intolerable transgression against their civil liberties. Regardless, their strength and level of control over the planet makes resistance difficult at the very least.

Now, with the SSMD having been superseded by the SSRM, some have begun to discuss reforming the NDF and releasing its personnel from the Navy. Szalai’s government has, for the time being, begun talks with former NDF personnel — some in the Navy, some retired, and some having returned from fighting in San Colette — regarding its reformation.

==Major Settlements==
Visegrad's geography is home to numerous cities and rural homesteader communes which vary in size, scope, and local culture as well. Among the many, those listed below are the planet's most notable.

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===Fellegvar===
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The oldest city on Visegrad, Fellegvar is both the capital city of the planet and the most populous settlement. It was established in a sheltered valley where the planet’s meteorological quirks are lessened, allowing for the continuous operation of the city’s large and economically vital spaceport. In many respects, it also has the strongest visible resemblance to a Warsaw Pact city, especially in the walled and fortified city center - which is home to a Pact monument, Konev Tower, which has since been rehabilitated as Freiheit Tower, following the planet’s independence.

Fellegvar’s Pact-era fortifications, status as host of the headquarters of the National Defense Force, and place at the heart of Visegrad led to its status as the Southern Solarian Military District’s command center, both on-world and off of it. Through the Solarian Civil War District personnel were seen all throughout the city, busying themselves in service of Admiral Szalai’s government. Now things are much the same, but the SSMD iconography has been replaced by Solarian Alliance banners and flags. Some citizens appreciate the increased security and business the Navy brings, while others find themselves wondering when, and even if, this state of affairs will go back to the old normal.
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===Nowa Bratislava===
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Nowa Bratislava is Visegrad’s sole coastal city, and to understand why, one must merely look at the vast network of drainage canals and immense seawalls put in place to keep it from being swallowed up by the ocean. Established during an era where marine transportation was being considered as an alternative to monorail-based commerce and transit, Nowa Bratislava is also one of the planet’s northernmost settlements, and can experience snowfall instead of rain for a fair part of the year.

Though seafaring ended up being a dead end solution to Visegrad’s logistical problems, Nowa Bratislava nonetheless found new life as home to many of the planet’s well-respected universities. One such example is the Nowa Bratislava Xenosciences Research Institute, the planet’s most esteemed university, and generally considered to be one of the finest universities to be found in the Alliance outside of the Jewel Worlds. Additionally, it was in Nowa Bratislava that former Fleet Admiral F.R. Beauchamp was found guilty of his myriad list of crimes and executed by firing squad, on the steps of the city’s top court.
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===Zbior===
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Although small, Zbior is the wealthiest city on the planet, located in the shadow of the rainy world’s tallest mountain range. The city’s main claim to fame is that it is the only settlement on the world where the perpetual drizzle and rainstorms cease more than a few times a year. Such a state of affairs is a natural attraction for those less precipitation-inclined - if they can afford to live there - but more importantly it allows for the mass agriculture of crops that are not as storm-tolerant. Immense greenhouses line Zbior’s broad and occasionally uncovered pathways, full of plants that might otherwise need to be imported from off-world.

Zbior is also home to Idris Incorporated’s fledgling foothold on Visegrad, having taken over the corporate facilities that were once property of Zeng-Hu, the city’s previous patron and benefactor. Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals was in fact responsible for much of the city’s success, having designed and funded the establishment of countless planting and growing facilities for their own gain. Zbiorians are generally held in contempt by much of the rest of the Visegradi population, both for their affluence and for a reputation of corporate snobbery.
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===Sloboda===
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Sloboda, the planet’s largest homesteader commune, comes closest to depicting what a true city would look like if done in the homesteader-fashion. Kabinas are stacked upon each other, forming huge complexes that are all interlinked by a complex system of semi-permanent walkways. Linked to Fellegvar by the planet’s monorail system, Sloboda is nonetheless confusing to navigate and frequently changes, with kabinas constantly being dismantled, assembled, or moved.

Sloboda has a reputation for being a strongly pro-secession locality, and it was one of the first settlements on the planet to come under control of secessionist rebels after the Solarian collapse. The insurgents here refused to surrender after the arrival of Admiral Szalai’s forces, and instead a protracted battle for control of the commune took place, with countless homes damaged or destroyed in the process before an eventual victory for pro-Solarian forces.
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San Colette

2024-07-04T23:08:36Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infobox, makes system name consistent (the star can be nueva hispaniola still, I GUESS)

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<center><i>'''The flag of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette during the Solarian Civil War (2462-65).'''</i></center>
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = San Colette
|System = Nueva Patria
|Image = San_Colette.png
|Sector = [[The_Orion_Spur#Northern_Reaches|Northern Reaches]]
|Capital = Nueva Isabela
|Species = Humans, [[IPC|IPCs]]
|Languages = Tradeband, Sol Common
|Demonyms = San Colettish
|Nation = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
In the Solarian Northern Reaches lies the system of Nueva Patria, located auspiciously on the border between the Outer and Middle Rings, directly at the conflux of the warp gates that allow easy transition between the two. At the heart of the system lies the '''Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette''', a Solarian nation where many things meet: the Middle and Outer Ring, the Coalition and Alliance. It was the scene of intense fighting during the final phase of the Solarian Civil War (2462-65) following the destruction of Mass and assassination of Prime Minister Frost. Once again in the Alliance, San Coletters now the capital world of the Northern Wildlands Reconstruction Mandate — the Alliance’s special zone established to rebuild the Northern Reaches. San Colette has been ravaged by war but stands unbroken and proud as it enters the latter half of the 2460s.

'''Because of the ethnic make-up of San Colette’s original settlers and assimilation of immigrants into the native population during and following the Warp Gate Project, human characters born on San Colette will have appearances consistent with the people of Iberian Peninsula. This is enforceable by server moderators and admins.'''

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==History==

<center><i>“To understand the history of the Alliance, one must first understand the history of our Republic,” - President (2405-2413) Valentia Carabello, 2352 - 2454.</i></center>

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===Discovery and Interstellar War History===
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The system of San Colette was first discovered by astronomers from France in 2272, in the years immediately preceding the devastating Interstellar War. Its original discoverers named it after Saint Colette of Corbie, in the hopes that the system would bring about a peaceful future for the then-struggling Alliance. The system was quite desirable for the Alliance as it contained one readily habitable world, San Colette, and a small planet, D’Anzin, with Helium-3 deposits sufficient enough to justify the expensive task of colonization. The Alliance, desperate for money in the midst of the Second Great Depression, sold off the system’s colonization rights in 2274. The rights were purchased by an unexpected source: rather than a nation-state or corporation purchasing the system’s colonization rights an alliance of Spanish and Portuguese business magnates secured the winning bid with seconds on the clock. The magnates – perhaps out of patriotism or perhaps out of a desire to win the economic goodwill of the government while avoiding the true cost of colonization – gifted the rights of colonization to the governments of Spain and Portugal. Before a colonization plan could be created the Interstellar War (2278 - 2287) broke out, effectively dashing the hopes of many of the prospective settlers.

While the initial hope of an Iberian colony faded in the chaos of the Interstellar War and its economic impact, the desire of many in the region was not extinguished. By the 2330s the worst of the economic crisis had faded into the background and Iberia once again prepared to journey to the stars and in 2338 they launched the first colony ships to San Colette, and towards a new future.
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===The Early Colonial Era===
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The journey to San Colette took almost two years due to the distance traversed from Earth and the ad-hoc nature of many of the Alliance’s transportation networks, which had been ravaged by both the Interstellar War and the Second Great Depression. As the five colony ships sent to San Colette traveled across the breadth of the Alliance one of the scientists aboard the lead ship, Doctor Ernesto Castrejon, observed the sorry state of the Alliance’s warp network. Doctor Castejon was, at the time, a scientist of little importance simply sent to assist in the construction of a theoretical warp gate for San Colette which would connect it to the broader Alliance. But as the journey dragged on and Ernesto became increasingly irate, he began to form a greater idea which would transform the broader Alliance. At long last, in 2340, the first colonists arrived in the system of San Colette, ready to begin the immense undertaking of colonizing a new world for the Alliance.

These colonists who landed on San Colette found, as the reports had suggested, an Earthlike world with a pleasant, if somewhat dry, climate. The first colonists to land found themselves on the coast of the largest of San Colette’s three major continents, overlooking a vast blue sea on one side and kilometer after kilometer of grassy, fertile flatlands on the other. The colonists, ecstatic at the good fortune, decided upon a historical name for what would become their capital city: Nueva Isabela. Over time Nueva Isabela would grow and become the primary agricultural and political hub of the fledgling colony as the other four colony ships formed similar settlements. In the far north of its largest continent the settlement of Montblanc was formed, which would become its technological hub. Across the sea from Nueva Isabela the settlement of Porto de Ouro was established, later becoming a major hub for off-world travel. The settlements of Vila Nova de Norte – the most northern major settlement on the planet and one of the few able to function year-round despite the poles’ snowstorms – and Nuevo Villaviciosa – an industrial center located at the mouth of a major river – were both founded on the same continent, the smallest of the three. The five original cities of San Colette would go on to become its hubs, and still dominate its economy today.

Within a decade San Colette had established itself as a young, though quite productive, colony. Helium-3 mining on D’Anzin kept its budget in check and a warp gate, first completed in 2344, ensured shipments of materials were never long in reaching the new colony. But for one man, who had now been promoted to the lead scientist in charge of the Coletter warp gate, it was not enough. What Doctor Castejon had in mind was far greater than one planet, one warp gate, and Helium-3 mining. The doctor had turned his mind towards the future and realized something: with San Colette’s position, which straddled the line between the Middle and Outer Rings, it had a unique opportunity to establish itself as the main point of transit between both rings. Doctor Castejon intended to turn San Colette into a transportation hub, and to transform its economy in the process.
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===The Warp Gate Project===
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Doctor Castejon took his idea for a warp gate network in the northern section of the Alliance to the then-governor of San Colette, Beatriz Rada, in 2349. What happened behind the closed doors of the governor’s residence may never be truly known, but both Governor Rada and Doctor Castejon left the meeting with a drive to see the project realized. Following six years of debate, backroom dealings, and extensive political maneuverings the Warp Gate Project – the largest project undertaken by the Alliance – was approved by the Solarian government, and the majority of the construction contracts were awarded to Einstein Engines. Governor Rada and Doctor Castejon had achieved their dream: to make San Colette the largest point of transit between the Middle and Outer Rings, and to bring immense wealth to it in the process.

But there was a catch to this deal. Despite the efforts of Rada and Castejon they were unable to proceed without the support of one of the Alliance’s most significant forces: the Navy, which had become even more powerful in the aftermath of the Interstellar War. The Navy demanded oversight of the project in San Colette’s system itself and the ability to take “reasonable precautions,” in designing a defense for San Colette. The Coletter delegation attempted to protest but rapidly found themselves shut down by the Naval delegation and, surprisingly, the Alliance’s central government. With its economy and prestige battered and bruised by the Interstellar War the civilian government of the Alliance was, at best, unwilling to argue with the Navy and often deferred to it – a trend which would continue into the 25th century, with devastating consequences.

The Navy’s demands for its support were deceptively simple on paper, and only contained one requirement: that San Colette be designated a “fallback point,” for any future conflict with the Coalition. This simple requirement would go on to define San Colette due to the factors required to meet the Navy’s standards for its fallback point. First: A large stockpile – fuel, weaponry, and assorted equipment – would have to be assembled, designated, and placed in the system. Second: Fortifications would have to be constructed to hold off the Coalition for an extended period and the Navy, rather than San Colette, would be the final judge of what constituted enough fortifications to hold off the Coalition from San Colette. Third: A local military, which San Colette had nothing resembling, would have to be formed to man the defenses and secure the system. The gravity of what would have to be done to fulfill this demand, and the impact it would have on the system’s budget, almost immediately caused a crisis in the government which only ended when the Alliance, along with the Navy, promised to subsidize much of the work. But despite the Alliance and Navy’s funding the project remained daunting and would date years, if not decades. Further negotiations ensured San Colette would not have to finish the defenses before the warp gates were built, but they were required to start as soon as possible.

In 2356, following a short period of internal debate regarding the practicality of the Navy’s demands, the warp gate project began in San Colette in earnest. By 2357 the first gate – which connected San Colette to [[Callisto]], another Alliance member state chosen for the Warp Gate Project – opened, and equipment for the creation of additional gates began to flow from the Sol System to San Colette. Gate after gate opened over the following years, bringing more materials and more wealth to San Colette. The gate network brought new industries to San Colette beyond its previous exports, which had mostly consisted of foodstuffs from San Colette itself and Helium-3 mined on D’Anzin. This economic diversification was also driven in part by desperation, as the Navy now required much of the system’s He3 production to be stored for a theoretical emergency. A local shipbuilding industry which specialized in ships designed to work in San Colette itself, rather than traveling abroad, formed as a result of the influx of trade goods. Most importantly for San Colette’s future a local artificial intelligence industry began to grow in the late 2360s. While Colettish AI would never reach the level of sophistication of IPCs on [[Konyang]] due to being based upon indigenous AI designs instead of Glorsh-derived designs, it would become very effective at carrying out the tasks needed to run dozens of warp gates in a singular system. One of the tasks commonly assigned to Colettish AI was the identifying of ships in the system and determining their destinations, which would later prove itself to be of stunning importance.

But the demands of the Navy never left the mind of the inhabitants of the system and, in 2362, work began on the first of what would eventually become four lines of defense of San Colette. The “Rock of San Colette,” as it would become known, was designed to fulfill the Navy’s demands while not destroying San Colette’s budget. At the time of its completion in 2398 the Rock consisted of a series of armed space installations. But this was not enough for the Navy and the government of San Colette was sent back to the drawing board. To the Rock was added the Tools and Field of San Collette, which would become the second and first layers of San Colette’s defensive lines. The Field itself was self-explanatory: a large section of space on the edge of the system was designated as a stellar minefield and filled with a variety of anti-vessel mines. Built from 2375 to 2405, the Tools consist of a ring of automated defenses built using Colettish AI.

While the Navy was relatively content with San Colette’s defenses there remained the matter of training and equipping a local military arm to defend San Colette in the event of a dire emergency. In 2356 the Civil Guard of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette, or simply the Civil Guard, was founded in response to the Navy’s demands. The Civil Guard, over the next few decades, proved to be a competent and relatively well-equipped force. Its size remained relatively small due to the Guard’s focus on defensive readiness and automated weapons, but constant funding ensured it was never free of willing volunteers. A sense of patriotic duty related to the Civil Guard also began to slowly develop and many Coletters began to view service in it as a way to seize some of their military autonomy back from the Solarian Navy, which had become increasingly unpopular due to its demands.
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===The Discovery of Phoron===
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By the early 2400s San Colette had become a beacon of economic stability in the outer Alliance, and served as a hub for trade flowing from much of the northern Spur into the Alliance. In 2402 it was officially declared to be the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette, finally shedding its colonial roots and ascending as a full Solarian member state. As the first decade of the 25th century came to a close the Republic had one of the highest standards of living in the Middle and Outer Rings thanks to its status as a trade hub. But the relationship between the Navy and Republic remained poor and efforts by the Civil Guard to further expand their capabilities were often frustrated by the Navy. In 2415 the Navy-Guard relationship reached a new low when the Guard’s ships were banned from possessing warp engines capable of traveling without a gate, despite the protests of the Republic.

But these protests were soon drowned out in 2417 by the discovery of phoron in the system of Biesel. Coletters, ever poised to increase the prominence of their Republic, rapidly managed to carve out a niche in the growing phoronics industry by establishing processing facilities for the fuel on the surface of D’Anzin. Unused and neglected Einstein facilities were rapidly bought up by the government and converted into facilities which turned inert phoron crystals into a usable form, which was then sold to actors across the Orion Spur. Colettish facilities, while they would not reach the output of Tau Ceti, became an important link in the phoron economy between Tau Ceti and much of the outer Alliance and inner Coalition. Trade to the Coalition was initially severely protested by the Navy, and required the addition of phoron to the Colettish strategic reserve in order to appease them.

The addition of a phoronics industry to the system brought the wealth of the Republic to new levels as the 25th century progressed. The Civil Guard was equipped with domestic ship designs for the first time, another layer — the Spears of the Saint, a series of fifteen massive orbital railguns — was added to the Republic’s defenses at the Navy’s insistence, and a local arms industry began to develop in response to growing fears concerning the Solarian government’s seeming unwillingness to assist more distance colonies such as the Republic. Perhaps most importantly the AI industry of San Colette continued to develop, with more and more deadly semi-autonomous drones being created for the defense of San Colette. While skrellian dignitaries were sometimes quick to point out the dangers of such weapons, Republic officials dissuaded them by noting their semi-autonomous nature required a human hand to guide them and make final decisions, and explaining the designs — unlike typical IPCs — were based on human algorithms and technology.

During the golden years of the phoronics boom, which followed the secession of Biesel, San Colette produced much of the processed phoron consumed by the Alliance. Solarian patriotism and distaste for the Republic of Biesel fueled much of the initial boom, but tight controls by the Navy — which frowned upon selling Colettish phoron to non-Solarian customers — began to slow the boom by the late 2450s. Despite slowing in the 2450s the phoronics boom lasted until the early 2460s. By 2461 the flow of phoron gradually began to slow and many facilities opted to limit their production or entirely cease their operations. Some blamed it on NanoTrasen, which had long had a poor relationship with the Republic, while others claimed the decreasing flow was due to Elyran isolationism. Throughout 2461 and into 2462 the Republic stockpiled more and more phoron, hoping it would be able to slowly release fuel from its strategic reserve in order to preserve their economy during what many viewed as an incoming fuel crisis.

Unfortunately, few could anticipate how grim the crisis would become as 2462 neared its end and many families in the Republic prepared for Christmas.
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===The Solarian Collapse===
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Coletters often argue over when the Solarian Collapse truly became unavoidable. Some argue that the Clandestine Incident of 24 October, 2462 — which many in the Republic believe was carried out deliberately by Biesel — marked the start of the end. Others believe the end truly began on 07 November, 2462, when Mars ceased responding to interstellar communications. Or perhaps it was on 11 November, 2462, when the Prime Minister was found dead in his suite. But most argue the Collapse was truly, irreversibly set to happen on 17 November, 2462, when forces from the 58th Fleet opened fire on fellow Solarians. This, to most in the Republic, marked the decisive turning point.

Mere days after this, on 20 November, 2462, the Collapse came to the Republic. The garrison fleet stationed in San Colette, the 67th Fleet, attempted to seize the system for itself. The 67th Fleet, much like its Konyanger counterpart — the 58th — was a smaller fleet loyal more to its admiral, Frederich Müller, than the Solarian government. Admiral Müller demanded the civilian government surrender and hand over the phoron stockpile to him. They refused, and the Battle of San Colette began between the Civil Guard and the 67th Fleet. The Civil Guard and San Colette’s defenses, aided by deserters from the 67th and a home field advantage, eventually routed the 67th and chased them from the system at little cost to themselves. But, due to their inability to pursue them, the 67th was eventually able to find its way to New Atlantica, where its remnants formed the basis of the Anti-Corporate League.

With the defeat of the 67th Fleet the immediate danger had passed for the Republic. However, the chaos of the Solarian Collapse was far from over and during the final two months of 2462 chaos reigned throughout the region San Colette called home. To its galactic west Konyang seceded and the Anti-Corporate League filled the vacuum left by the collapse of Solarian authority in the region. To its east Lycoris, which had at one point helped build the Colettish warp gate network, fell to the Solarian Restoration Front, which began to brutally purge all non-humans from its territory. Solarian fleets collapsed entirely, defected, resorted to piracy, and sometimes became roaming mercenary bands. Refugees began to flow into the Republic from both sides, and the systems around San Colette — many of them too small or otherwise unable to maintain their own fleets — looked to it for aid and some form of protection in this desperate time.

In January 2463 the Republic answered the call of its neighbors by forming a defensive Alliance known as the '''Middle Ring Shield Pact'''. The Pact, unfortunately, quickly ran into problems. Many of its systems, while wealthy, were reliant on the Solarian Navy for protection prior to the Collapse and had no appreciable navies of their own. Most, aside from San Colette, additionally suffered from high degrees of megacorporate domination in their local economies. None had the defenses of San Colette and the Civil Guard was unable to patrol every system vying for membership due to its small size and lack of independent warp engines. Even worse was the economic situation: many gates into Sol itself had been damaged or otherwise closed during the months of the Collapse and the businesses of the Republic now had a desperate need to find new markets before an economic meltdown began.

Salvation would arrive later in January in an unusual form: the former 5th Middle Ring Battlegroup, now better known as the Free Solarian Fleets, under the command of Fleet Admiral van der Rensburg. The mercenaries of the Fleets were tempted by the Republic with a rare prize: phoron from its stockpile and a port to call home. The current President of the Republic, Maribel Sarmiento, and van der Rensburg have a very amiable relationship but many in the Republic — particularly in its Civil Guard — know the loyalty of the Fleets, despite the privileges granted to them, only goes as deep as the Republic’s pockets. Whether they will stand and fight against the enemies of the Pact remains a matter of great concern, particularly for those beyond the reach of San Colette’s defenses.

Resolving the economic crisis caused by the Collapse was simpler than many in the Pact and Republic originally expected. With the collapse of Solarian authority in what became the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, much of the food supply line was interrupted and a new need for weaponry emerged. San Colette, stripped of many of its more high-end export routes, has fallen back onto exporting two mainstays of humanity to the CRZ via Tau Ceti in the meantime: foodstuffs and weaponry. By summer 2463 the economic crisis was resolved. However the necessity to maintain good trade relations with Biesel has led to the SRF and League becoming more vitriolic in their rhetoric towards the Pact, but what can one do? To trade with the Alliance means trade must go through the SRF, and to trade with the Coalition one must go through the League. Coletters have thus been forced into an awkward, perhaps temporary, economic relationship with Biesel.
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===The War in the Northern Reaches===
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In early 2465 tensions in the Northern Reaches boiled over into all-out war between the League, Pact, and Front. The War started with the invasion of the Pact by the Front, pitting forces aligned to the 35th Fleet against the vessels of the Colettish Civil Guard, their Pact allies, and Free Solarian Fleet mercenaries. Despite initial successes against the Front which were aided by phoron acquired by the FSF Caravaggio in 2464, the Pact was pushed further and further back as it was caught in a two-front fight against numerically superior League and Front forces. Within a few months of fighting the Pact had been forced back to the strategic defensive fortifications of Nueva Patria and San Colette, where it decided to make its last stand.

As the Pact entrenched the Front and League fought for dominance of the Northern Reaches as the Alliance and Coalition debated intervention. In the Coalition, member-states voted against intervention and ultimately sanctioned Gadpathur for its support of the League. In the Alliance, pro-intervention profests, with some on Callisto descending into rioting, broke out. The Front eventually triumphed over the League, with the survivors of the League retreating across the border and into the Coalition. With the Northern Reaches now secure aside from limited pockets of Pact or League resistance, the Front now began its assaults on Nueva Patria directly.

The Rock of San Colette resisted valiantly, destroying much of the Front’s strength, but ultimately vulnerabilities in the Rock’s defensive line due to a lack of available resources resulted in it being breached and ground combat commending first on D’Anzin and then on San Colette itself, where fighting was concentrated in the industrial city of Nuevo Villaviciosa. Urban fighting in Nuevo Villaviciosa ultimately became a block-by-block urban engagement during the peak of fighting. The Front was ultimately repulsed from San Colette proper and the Solarian Alliance intervened shortly after the end of ground fighting, finally relieving the beleaguered fighters of the Pact.

As the Northern Reaches recovers San Colette finds itself once again in the Alliance and even more prominent than it once was due to its newfound status as the capital of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate. But the system has been scarred by war: thousands are dead, many more are displaced, and there is much rebuilding to do. But Coletters remain hopeful, and confident they will build a better and stronger Alliancd upon the remains of the Solarian Civil War.
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==Environment==

<center><i>“Oh, San Colette! My homeland so fair! The land of our own, and no others compare!”</i> - Excerpt from the Anthem of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette (2408)</center>

===The System of Nueva Patria===

The system of San Colette consists of four major stellar bodies including its star, Nueva Hispaniola. The nearest stellar body to Nuevo Hispaniola is a small and barren planet known as San Felipe. Due to its closeness to the star San Felipe is entirely uninhabitable and its only man-made features are a neglected series of solar power facilities built by Einstein Engines during the Warp Gate Project which exist both in the orbit of San Felipe and on its surface. The rusting hulks of these facilities are occasionally used for target practice by the Civil Guard but otherwise rarely receive visitors due to their proximity to Nuevo Hispaniola and the presence of unexploded firing range munitions aboard them.

Further out from Nuevo Hispaniola lies the temperate world of San Colette, where the vast majority of the system’s population can be found. San Colette’s surface is defined by its three large continents and large ice cape at its poles. The planet is remarkably hospitable and relatively Earthlike, with no major meteorological phenomena occurring on its surface. It has one natural satellite, San Colette Minor. The moon of San Colette is a barren rock without any major settlements. Scattered Civil Guard facilities and private mining platforms can be seen across its surface. But no reasonable Coletter would describe San Colette Minor as their home.

Thousands of miles beyond San Colette, towards the edge of its system, lies the frozen planet of D’Anzin. The thick layers of ice and rock which cover the surface of D’Anzin are rich in deposits of Helium-3, the fuel which powers the warp gates of the Republic. For nearly as long as humans have called the system home there have been mining operations on the surface of D’Anzin and the planet is covered in a variety of mines, in various states of repair and functionality, as a result. Recently D’Anzin had become home to a new form of energy production: phoronics. The planet’s remote location and lack of large settlements has made it the ideal location to process raw phoron into usable fuel, and all of the Republic’s processing facilities can be found on D’Anzin itself or in its orbit.

Beyond the orbit of D’Anzin and the massive warp gates near it lies the Colettish Belt, a sizable ring of asteroids which surrounds the system. Asteroids and comets found in the Belt contain little of value and much of the Belt itself is designated as a restricted military zone due to the presence of the Republic’s second layer of defense: the Tools of the Saint. Automated defenses are scattered throughout the Belt and wandering into it, or deliberately tampering with the defenses, often results in injury, death, or time in a prison on San Colette. The extent to which the Belt is fortified remains a secret of the Republic few are aware of.

All throughout Nueva Patria one can now find the drifting remains of wrecked vessels, stations, and facilities — the physical remains of the Solarian Civil War. These ruins are being slowly salvaged and removed by the Solarian Navy, Civil Guard, and civilian contractors of the Colettish government to restore the system to its prior condition. Access to these ruins is restricted to licensed personnel as many are filled with unexploded munitions, half-deactivated reactors, and at times the bodies of deceased crew which must be identified and returned to their planet of origin.

===The Planet of San Colette===

The climate of San Colette is temperate and relatively Earthlike, which helped ease its colonization. Its surface is defined by three continents — Maria, Nueva Norte, and Morro — separated by large seas and covered in a variety of climates. The planet’s poles are covered in ice caps which have shrunk following colonization by an insignificant amount, and San Colette Minor provides enough of a gravitational pull to create a system of tides. San Colette is relatively free of freak meteorological phenomena and has four seasons which roughly correspond to their earthbound counterparts.

====Regions====

The continent of Maria is the largest of the three and is home to the capital of Nueva Isabela and the industrial center of Montblanc, which is in its more northern regions. Maria is easily divided into two major regions: a large, grassy flatland called the Colettish Plains known for its rich soil which has long been the agricultural heartland of San Colette and the more northern forests of Cristobal. The Colettish Plains are home to Nueva Isabela and are dotted by many smaller towns, ranging from cities of thousands to villages of mere hundreds. It is separated from Cristobal by the uncreatively named Northern Range, a old and quite short mountain range which bisects the continent and is home to many mining operations. Cristobal is colder and criss-crossed by various rivers, eventually transitioning into taiga and then polar ice in its north. Montblanc, a Colettish industrial center, sits at the mouth of one of these rivers, which allows it to easily receive minerals from the Range and lumber from further inside Cristobal.

Across the sea from Maria, to its west, lies the mostly unpopulated continent of Morro. The continent is dominated by a large, arid scrubland known as the Hinterlands which often suffers from droughts and fires. It is home to the settlement of Porto de Ouro, which is unique among San Colette’s major settlements as it mostly lies off of the shore of Morro on a series of island chains — some natural and some artificial. The flat planes near it have been mostly cleared of plant life by Coletters and now serve as a major offworld hub. Much of Morro is poorly explored aside from satellite photography and rumors of mineral wealth have long motivated expeditions into it — though few return with much of value.

The third, and smallest, of the continents is Nuevo Norte, a highly-populous region home to two major settlements. Nuevo Norte is the furthest north of the three continents and is mostly defined by taiga and tundra, though some regions in its south are more hospitable. In its far north lies Vila Nova de Norte, a scientific hub which is known for its freezing temperatures and frequent snowstorms. Vila Nova stands on the edge of a large, flat tundra known as the Guard’s Tundra due to its use as a proving ground for Civil Guard weaponry. To the south of the continent in one of its few temperate regions is Nuevo Villaviciosa, the planet’s major shipbuilding center. Nuevo Villaviciosa is one of the few locations in the Middle Ring to feature a functional space elevator, which lies slightly offshore and is visible from almost anywhere on Nuevo Norte.
==Economics==

<center><i>“The main export of San Colette should be the business of trade, not bushels of wheat.”</i> - Doctor Ernesto Castrejon (2298-2386), regarding his proposed Warp Gate Project (2353).</center>

The Republic’s economy is diverse and well-developed by the standards of the Middle and Outer Rings. However, it does not rise to the level of Jewel Worlds such as Callisto and Venus or the level of Tau Ceti. Its economy is large enough to support native corporations and stave off attempts by megacorporations to intrude into its industries, which has not endeared it to some corporate actors. Trade between the Outer and Middle Ring and the Jewel Worlds has historically flown through Colettish warp gates to Callisto, which has given it the ability to punch above its weight economically. Aside from trade San Colette’s primary exports are foodstuffs, refined phoron, and weaponry.

The state-run Colettish phoronics industry was its most profitable prior to the events of 2462, which cut off many of its markets. Much of the phoron which entered the Alliance’s markets was sent to Colettish refinement facilities on D’Anzin where it was turned from useless, if flammable, crystals into gaseous phoron for use as fuel or liquid phoron for use in various industries such as the medical field. Often this phoron went into the Colettish Strategic Stockpile at the Navy’s demand, to the endless frustration of Colettish businesses. But this has given San Colette an unexpected boon as the phoron in its stockpile is now a valuable, rare resource which was used to purchase the most valuable thing in the Solarian Civil War: security. Following the Collapse and the 35th Fleet’s invasion, a large amount of Biesel’s raw phoron was processed in D’Anzin’s facilities due to many of Biesel’s plants having been either damaged or destroyed in the incursion. But as facilities in Biesel were slowly repaired and brought back online this flow of goods slowed and eventually stopped with the start of the War in the Northern Wildlands and the encirclement of San Colette. Now, with the Alliance in control of the Northern Reaches once again, the future of the Colettish phoron industry is in question.

Though not as profitable as the phoronics industry, San Colette’s native armaments industry has long been a mainstay of the local economy. The industry covers everything from arms and armor produced in Montblanc to entire combat-capable space vessels produced by the dockyards associated with Nuevo Villaviciosa. Like the phoronics industry San Colette’s armaments industry has always had a significant level of government involvement, both to ensure sensitive equipment is not sold to the highest bidder and to keep the best designs for the Civil Guard itself. The exports of this industry have, aside from spaceships, spiked following the Collapse. Many Colettish small arms find their way into the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, where they are used for both good and ill. Accusations of Solarian Interstellar Intelligence Bureau involvement in this flow of arms have been consistently denied by Colettish corporations and the Solarian government.

===Colettish Corporations===
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====Colettish Phoronics (PhoroCol)====
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Colettish Phoronics, or PhoroCol, is the most prolific of the planet's corporations. Established in 2419 and headquartered in Nueva Isabela, PhoroCol is responsible for all phoron-related activities in the system of San Colette and manages the refinement facilities on D’Anzin. The Republic’s government is the majority stakeholder of PhoroCol and, despite protests by the Trasen family, no megacorporation has been allowed to purchase a stake in it. PhoroCol is one of the only companies outside of the Republic of Biesel and Republic of Elyra which is able to refine phoron into its more usable forms, which has made it into one of the wealthiest non-megacorporate companies in the Northern Reaches. Post-reunification PhoroCol’s future is in question due to the Alliance’s poor relations with Biesel and decreasing phoron use across it.
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====Tiscareno y Volante Shipbuilding (TyVS)====
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TyVS is located in Nuevo Villaviciosa and founded in 2298; it has long been the primary shipbuilding company of the Republic. A producer of everything from private vessels to Civil Guard warships, TyVS is one of the most widely recognized corporations of San Colette. Prior to the Collapse TyVS often cooperated with Hephaestus Industries during projects in the Middle and Outer Ring of Solarian space but, with the Collapse, these contracts have dried up. However, the friendship between Titaneus Aeson, Hephaestus CEO, and, Consuela Volante II, TyVS co-CEO, has remained and many speculate the Fighting Titan has sent some of his fortune to Volante in order to help TyVS remain afloat. Following the Solarian reunification TyVS has found itself with much more business: it is now responsible for constructing much of the Civil Guard’s replacement vessels and assisting other System Defense Forces throughout the Northern Reaches.
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====San Colette Interstellar Armaments Company (CAISC)====
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Headquartered in Montblanc and established in 2378 through a merger of several smaller companies, CAISC is responsible for the Republic’s non-spaceborne armaments industry. Firearms, protective equipment, and energy weaponry from CAISC have long provided the Civil Guard’s forces with everything from the sidearms used by its officers to the Morion armored suit used by its marines. Arms from CAISC have become even more widespread in the post-Collapse era due to a significantly greater demand for firearms. Most of these firearms are sent out of the Northern Wildlands and are sold by CAISC and its subsidiaries to actors in the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, where many eventually make their way to the Badlands and Sparring Sea. CAISC now serves as a major supplier for the Solarian military in the Northern Reaches, having stepped in to fill a gap left by Zavodskoi’s retreat from the region following anti-corporate legislation. At its current rate of expansion CAISC may soon overtake PhoroCol as the most profitable Colettish corporation.
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==Government==

<center><i>“We, as the government of the Republic of San Colette, derive our legitimacy from the people, not the Solarian Navy! I will not stand idly by while Solarian officers who have never set foot in our Republic demand more and more from us!”</i> - Excerpt from a speech by Representative Leandro Resendes (2418 - ) protesting the transfer of more phoron to San Colette’s strategic reserve (15 August, 2462).</center>

The Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette is a democratic republic and Solarian member state — though it was technically not under Solarian control during much of the civil war (2462-65). The Republic is ruled by a President elected by popular vote for a maximum of two four-year terms. Immediately below the President is the Colettish Assembly, a single-house representative body made up of Representatives elected by Colettish citizens. These representatives serve for a single six year term and cannot be re-elected — a deliberate choice by the Republic’s founders to avoid an oligarchy.

Coletters have a relatively high amount of confidence in their government when compared to their Middle Ring counterparts such as New Hai Phongers and Silversunners. The most common reasons given for this are a lack of corruption, minimal megacorporate presence in local politics, and a perception that Colettish politicians place the good of the Republic above their personal gain. Many believe this dedication to the Republic is rooted in many Colettish politicians having served with the Civil Guard prior to entering politics.

Politically the Civil Guard is generally uninvolved and uninterested. From its creation there was an express intent to avoid the level of political tampering the Solarian Navy is known for and the consequences that have resulted from this tampering, such as — arguably — the Solarian Civil War itself. The Admiral of the Civil Guard, its overall commander, is subordinate to the President. The vast majority of Civil Guard personnel see it as their duty to serve the Republic, rather than the Republic serving them. Some theorists argue that the cultural veneration of the Civil Guard has been a major contributing factor to its comfort with being subordinate to the civilian government of the Republic. Others, however, point out that the Civil Guard tampers with politics in its own way: many politicians have a background in the Guard and have long been willing to give it preferential treatment for what they argue is the good of the Republic as a whole.

The current President of the Republic is Maribel Sarmiento (2412 - ). Elected in 2462 and a current member of the Colettish Progressive Party, President Sarmiento’s term has been marked by crisis after crisis. As of 2465 she has so far effectively led the Republic through the most turbulent time in its history but remains concerned she will be unable to handle everything thrown at her, particularly with the Progressive Party’s (PPC) loss of an electoral majority in 2463. The President remains wildly popular and is seen by many as the Savior of San Colette in the era of the Solarian Civil War. Now, with Sarmiento having seen San Colette re-enter the Alliance, many predict her PPC will emerge with a landslide victory in the upcoming 2466 general elections.

===Political Parties===

Politics in the Republic have long been dominated by three major political parties: the Republican Unity Party, the Colettish Progressive Party, and the Socialist Party of San Colette. None of the three parties maintains absolute dominance and the status of largest party in the Republic often switches hands. As a general rule all Coletter political parties are fairly hawkish due to the deep integration of service in the Civil Guard in the system’s cultural identity. To go against this cultural trend in the Republic is to effectively commit political suicide.
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====Republican Unity Party (PUR)====
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The Republican Unity Party is the currently dominant party in San Colette’s government. While broadly viewed as belonging to the ideological school of Solarian Conservatism the PUR differs on several points from its Lunan counterpart. It is more militant and favors greater military spending and is generally anti-corporate while being pro-Coletter businesses. These two differences, along with the PUR opting to keep social welfare policies established by their rivals in place, have allowed the PUR to successfully retain power after the Collapse when so many other conservatives lost their power.
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====Colettish Progressive Party (PPC)====
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The main rival of the PUR, the Colettish Progressive Party holds a position that is widely considered a variation on traditional Callistean social democracy, the PPC is significantly more hawkish than its jewel world counterparts and is well known for establishing a robust system of social programs in the Republic during the 2410s. The PPC had the misfortune of being in power during the start of the Solarian Civil War and quickly lost much of its influence during the elections of 2463, but has managed to retain a significant minority in the government. When it can cooperate with its more socialist counterpart, the PPC, itis fully capable of passing legislation, despite being a minority.
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====Socialist Party of San Colette (PSSC)====
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The smallest party of the three, the PSSC is a strange combination of mainstream Solarian populist thought and New Hai Phongese socialist theory which abhors corporations while at the same time voicing unwavering support for the military. The eclectic stance of the PSSC has given it the least presidencies of the three parties but has turned it into an effective swing bloc in the government: PSSC representatives will typically vote with the PPC but have been known to cross the isle to vote with the PUR when matters of the Civil Guard are concerned.
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===Police===

The civilian police of the Republic have been heavily influenced by the cultural emphasis placed upon military service in San Colette. The ''Planetary Police of San Colette'' (PPSC) are a highly-trained and competent force by the standards of Solarian policing agencies. It almost always recruits its patrol officers from former members of the Civil Guard, leading to an older-than-average street police force as a result. Coletters have a high level of trust in the PPSC due to its reputation as a competent and incorruptible agency. PPSC officers often work alongside their still-serving counterparts in the Civil Guard, which has caused many outside observers to sarcastically refer to the PPSC as a retirement club for Civil Guard troops. Due to the difficulty of becoming a patrol officer and the high standards which must be met to remain in service, the PPSC has a relatively small number of officers on the street.

The small number of the PPSC’s officers led to difficulties as the number of refugees traveling to the Republic increased and FSF mercenaries chose San Colette for their shore leave. Many departments opted to loosen their infamously high recruitment standards to keep pace with demands, to varying degrees of success. Some departments instead opted to rely on the assistance of Civil Guard military police, which was not always readily available. The PPSC and its officers ultimately kept control of the situation and formed a valuable component of San Colette’s defense in Nueva Isabela and Nuevo Villaviciosa, where they served as second-line troops and sometimes as frontline combatants during the Front’s invasion of the planet. Many officers gave their lives defending the Republic, but their cities were ultimately kept safe and secure.
===Education===

The most well-known school of higher learning in the Republic is likely the '''Naval Academy of Nueva Isabela''', located in the capital city of the same name. The Academy, as it is often simply known, has trained all Civil Guard officers since the Guard’s founding without exception. Prior to the Collapse it occasionally hosted officers from other Solarian militias and was very rarely visited by the Solarian Navy itself. The Academy has an attached AI research facility where new drones are produced for use by the Civil Guard or export beyond the Republic’s borders and is most recently known for producing the Navaja type semi-autonomous drone, which is itself a variant on the earlier Albatros type semi-autonomous drone.

The primary producer of Colettish AI is not the Academy but the '''Montblanc Institute of Research''', or '''MIR'''. Arguably the most prestigious university on San Colette, the MIR has produced many of the designs the Civil Guard now uses, with its most famous product assuredly being the Albatros type semi-autonomous drone. Due to the sensitive nature of much of its research, the MIR only accepts students from San Colette itself and does not permit those from other Solarian worlds, or foreigners, to attend. While this has proven to be a controversial stance, the government has always sided with the MIR, citing reasons of national security as their motivation.
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===Foreign Relations===

Having rejoined the Alliance in 2465 with the end of the Solarian Civil War, '''the Republic no longer has an effectively independent foreign policy'''. This section has been preserved to show how it interacted with the broader Spur between 2462 and 2465.
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The position of the Republic and the Pact more generally is an awkward one. It is sandwiched between two outright hostile warlords, the League and the SRF, to its galactic east and west and is bordered by the chaotic CRZ to its galactic south. Above it to its flaccid north lies mostly uncolonized space free of major powers. The Republic and Pact must thus play their cards very carefully or risk losing the thing they value the most: their independence from the neighboring states.

A state of undeclared war exists between the Pact and both the Solarian Restoration Front and the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems. The SRF despises the Pact as a weak proxy of alien-dominated corporations, while the League views it as simply dominated by corporations — and many former 67th Fleet members view San Colette with exceptional bitterness.

In contrast to these twin threats is the nearby Republic of Biesel. Due to currently being gripped by the spasms of an ongoing phoron crisis Biesel, and the corporate masters which control it, have a desperate need for phoron and phoron processing facilities. San Colette can provide both and has successfully used this to open up the CRZ and Tau Ceti for trade. Colettish facilities provide a small yet significant part of the Republic’s phoron processing capabilities. While this small percentage means severing San Colette’s facilities from Biesel would not be fatal for either party, it would certainly be inconvenient and is thus best avoided. While Biesel has not yet offered military aid to San Colette and the Pact directly it has, at the least, helped to relieve its post-Collapse economic woes. But many in the Pact look to Biesel with caution, concerned of becoming another sector of the increasingly unstable CRZ. The question for the Pact is deceptively simple: at which point does cooperation become dependence, and dependence annexation?

Beyond the SRF lies the former master of the Northern Wildlands, the now-shrunken Solarian Alliance. Trade with the broader Alliance, which at one point fueled the Colettish economy, has become impossible due to having to pass through the hostile SRF. Even worse, the Alliance is seen by many Coletters as being inactive — or even complicit — with the problem of the SRF. But many look back on the era of the Alliance prior to its Collapse with great nostalgia, viewing it as a time of relative stability — or at least an era where Solarians were unified instead of killing one another over politics and fuel.
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==Culture and Demographics==

<center><i>“I swear to defend the Republic, its people, and its values at any cost. I will uphold the values of freedom enshrined in our constitution, even if it costs me my life.”</i> - Except from the Colettish Oath taken by Civil Guard personnel prior to beginning training.</center>

The culture and daily life of a typical Coletter is informed by both the planet’s past as a planet settled by the nations of Iberia and its more recent history as a trade hub for the broader Alliance. Coletters value familial bonds, duty to the Republic, and are often seen as friendly and outgoing people by the broader Alliance. Coletters are known to be very talkative abroad and often stand very close to their conversation partners, which can result in some awkward encounters for those unused to Colettish conversation customs.

To a typical Coletter familial bonds are very important, and several generations of the same family will often live very close to one another — occasionally even in the same house! Holidays are viewed as a chance to catch up with one’s family and, prior to the Collapse, Coletters abroad would often return home for major holidays even as the cost of travel increased due to the phoron crisis. These holiday celebrations are often accompanied by the traditional dance of San Colette: the flamenco.

One of the key cultural tenets of Colettish life is a sense of duty to the Republic which has been ingrained in Colettish culture for several generations. Initially starting as a reaction to the anger many felt at the Solarian Navy, this feeling has helped cement the Civil Guard as a key cultural pillar of the Republic. Enlistment, particularly enrolling as an officer, is seen as a prestigious duty and many middle class Coletter families will try to enroll at least one child into the Civil Guard. In many Colettish households it is a common sight to see a photo of a relative in the uniform of the Civil Guard placed prominently on a wall or above a fireplace. Following the War in the Northern Wildlands many of these photographs now have a black strip of cloth wrapped around a corner — a common method of mourning a deceased relative.

===Holidays===

The Republic celebrates a multitude of holidays throughout the year. Some are derived from historical events while others are rooted in the historical culture and religion of the original Iberian settlers of San Colette. Listed below are some of the more notable holidays in the Republic:

* The Beatification (23 January): A celebration of the beatification of Colette of Corbie, whom the Republic derives its name from. Perhaps the most important holiday in the Republic, the Beatification is often marked by celebrations of the previous year and public carnivals.

* Holy Week (movable — generally falls in late March or early April): A religious, cultural, and social event combined into one, the Holy Week has its roots in both Catholicism and the Spanish roots of San Colette’s settlers. Holy Week celebrations vary based upon the region of the planet they take place in but often involve distinctive costumed processions, many of which date back to Earth.

* Intervention Day (June 8): A celebration of the SAMV ''Gunnhildr''’s arrival in the Nueva Patria system, which signaled the beginning of the end of the War in the Northern Wildlands. Intervention Day is a new holiday first created in 2465 following the Solarian Navy’s intervention.

* Republic Day (15 June): A celebration of San Colette being officially declared the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette.

* Reunification Day (17 July): A holiday celebrated across the Alliance, Reunification Day celebrates the end of the Solarian Civil War and the reintegration of the Northern and Southern Reaches. It is a new holiday which dates to 2465.

* Civil Guard Day (22 June): A celebration of the establishment of the Civil Guard, San Colette’s local military force. Traditionally, Civil Guard officer candidates officially graduate from the Naval Academy of Nueva Isabela on this day.

* Colonization Day (5 October): The day the first settlers landed on the surface of San Colette. Officially made a holiday in 2421, shortly after the Republic was declared. This holiday is often viewed as a chance to reflect upon San Colette’s past and future, and has become quite solemn following the Solarian Collapse.

* Christmas Day (December 25): Christmas in San Colette arguably starts with the drawing of the Christmas lottery on 22 December, which itself has its own traditions around its first prize (locally referred to as “the Big One,”) and “luck pilgrimages,” made to the lottery booty which sold the last year’s first prize ticket. Christmas itself has changed little from its Earther roots and serves as a day to celebrate with one’s family and relatives.

* Saint Sebastian’s Day (December 26): Often considered to be a continuation of Christmas, this holiday has similar religious and cultural roots. It is typically treated as a quiet day to spend time with family and reflect upon the previous year.

===Refugees===

Most current residents of the Republic who are not native Coletters are instead refugees from other sections of the Northern Reaches. These refugees are a diverse group of Solarians, and other citizens, drawn to San Colette by its relative stability in the maelstrom of the Solarian Civil War. The refugees are a diverse group due to their variety of origins: some come from the industrial world of Lycoris and have opted to flee the violence of the SRF, while others are offworlders from stations cannibalized by the League for spare parts. Rarely non-human refugees — skrell, the rare tajara, and handfuls of IPCs — trickle into the system from territory now controlled by the SRF, exhausted from a harrowing journey barely ahead of the Front’s internal police.

When they arrived most were sent to refugee settlements on San Colette — temporary arrangements on the edge of Colettish cities — where they are given a residence and the option of work. Most of these refugees followed two career paths: enlisting in the Civil Guard, which desperately requires troops to defend San Colette or working in the phoron refineries of D’Anzin, which few choose to do. Those who did opt to work on the phoronics facilities often found themselves away from their families for weeks at a time due to the remote location of D’Anzin and the difficulties of travel due to fuel rationing. IPC refugees, due to their status in Sol, did not have the liberty to choose. They were conscripted into the Civil Guard upon arrival in the Republic, regardless of ownership status, and given a chance to earn freedom, in the form of transport to Biesel or another system of choice, through two years of military service.

Not all refugees found San Colette welcoming. Resources were often limited due to the economic malaise inflicted by the Collapse and native Coletters often received goods before their refugee counterparts, who must depend on the government for support. Policing in refugee camps was difficult due to the small size of San Colette’s domestic police force and the large number of refugees. Many were concerned that the Republic would eventually be unable to accept refugees at all due to their sheer number, but this did not come to pass.

Following the end of the Solarian Civil War most refugees in the Nueva Patria System have begun the slow process of returning home to their worlds of origin, many of which have been devastated by the Solarian Civil War and are now undergoing the long process of rebuilding. Some refugees, particularly those who have been in the Republic since near the civil war’s start, have opted to stay and make lives for themselves in their new home, seeing nothing for themselves outside of San Colette.

===Language===

The primary language of San Colette is the Colettish dialect of Tradeband, which is often simply referred to as Colettish Tradeband. This variant of Tradeband has been heavily influenced by its Iberian roots but has its own unique twists. The name of the system, San Colette, is typically rendered in Colettish Tradeband rather than in its original names of Sainte-Colette and Santa Coleta.

Solarian Common is the typical secondary language for most Coletters out of necessity, and is taught in Colettish primary schools. Other human languages, such as Elyran Standard and Freespeak, are rarely spoken by natives of the Republic. Freespeak is the more common of the two due to the Republic’s status as a trade hub of the northern Alliance, but is rarely spoken by native Coletters.

==Military==

===The Defenses of San Colette===

<center><i>“We must form a wall of steel around our Republic. We must ensure no invader is able to seize San Colette. We must be ready to die for our Republic if necessary.”</i> - Admiral Emerico Tolentino (2403 - ), Commander of the Civil Guard (2455 - Present)</center>

The defenses of the system of San Colette are a complex, multi-layered ring of defenses which completely surround the system on all sides. Built by both the Republic and Navy over the course of decades, the Bastion of San Colette cost a massive amount of Solarian Credits to construct and stands as a contemporary marvel of spaceborne engineering. The Bastion has four layers, with the first being the most outer, which have their own names and purposes. The garrison of the Bastion has long been the Civil Guard, the Republic’s local military force. The value of the Bastion was proven during the final months of the Solarian Civil War, where it repelled multiple assaults by the Solarian Restoration Front and was vital in ensuring Solarian reinforcements eventually reached the beleaguered Civil Guard and Pact.

The first layer of the Bastion is the most simple one. Typically referred to as the Field of San Colette, the first layer consists of a wide arrangement of anti-ship mines intended to slow and deter potential attackers. The mines themselves can often be decades old due to the sheer amount used, but remain an effective deterrent for all but the most organized attackers. A recent addition to the first layer are the destroyed husks of several 67th Fleet vessels which were lost inside it during the Battle of San Colette. As removing them was deemed too risky, the husks remained in the Field of San Colette as grim warnings for any warlord who wishes to assail the Republic. The first layer is the only defensive layer beyond the Colettish belt, the asteroid field at the end of San Colette’s system. Much of this layer was lost during the Solarian Civil War, and the Solarian Navy is in the process of mining the Field once again and removing dozens of ruined Front and League vessels, destroyed either by mines or by gunfire.

After the minefields lies the Colettish Belt, which is home to the second layer of the Bastion: the Tools of San Colette. The Tools which this layer derives its name from are a series of automated defenses spread throughout the asteroid belt which switch online if given the appropriate signal by operators further inside the Republic. Many of the defenses in this layer have been built into asteroids and are very difficult to spot from a distance. The second layer is not intended to stop an invader on its own, and its primary purpose is to delay them for the next layers. Its use as a delaying mechanism was proven to be effective during the Front assaults against the Bastion. While most of the Tools were destroyed during the assaults a significant amount of the Front’s losses were in the second layer, either from the automated weapons platforms, hidden drones and mines, gunfire from the other layers, or simply running afoul of asteroids.

The third of the Bastion’s layers is the Rock of San Colette. This layer consists of a large number of stellar facilities, many of which are considered to be stellar fortresses, intended to hold off any attacker until they exhaust themselves or reinforcements arrive. The majority of the Civil Guard serves in these fortifications, which also serve as a berth for the Guard’s fleets. While intimidating, the Rock is the oldest of the Bastion’s defensive lines and many of its fortifications were originally constructed in the mid 24th century. Modernization efforts began in the mid 25th century but slowed in the years leading up to the Collapse due to a lack of Navy funding. Following the Collapse the Republic began a rapid effort to modernize the Rock in order to hold off a theoretical attack by both the League and SRF, and ultimately succeeded in modernizing upwards of 80% of the Rock. The remaining 20% ultimately became the focus of the Front’s final, and most successful, assault which ultimately punched through the Rock. While they were ultimately defeated upwards of 15% of the third layer’s defenses were destroyed, and thousands of Civil Guard troops perished at their positions.

The fourth, and technically smallest, layer of the Bastion are the appropriately-named Spears of Saint Colette. A modern array of fifteen defensive stations equipped with massive Magellan-class interstellar railguns, the Spears are able to target and destroy an enemy vessel in any of the Bastion’s layers. The Spears are staffed by the best troops of the Civil Guard and require an immense amount of power to fire their tungsten rod projectiles, which can weigh up to several tons. As a result of their power requirements the Spears have large solar arrays which provide them with enough power to charge their railguns. The Spears are able to hold enough power for several sequential shots before recharging is required, but the size of their projectiles — which must be moved into place by massive machines — naturally limits their rate of fire. But when the Spears do strike true, they bring devastating consequences. The railgun station El Conquistador impacted a Taipei-class vessel during the Battle of San Colette, disabling it in one hit and causing its reactor to go critical, eventually consuming the entire ship in a massive explosion. These stations, supported by San Colette’s space elevator in Nuevo Villaviciosa, proved decisive in turning the tide against the Front and inflicting massive damage upon their advances. The railgun station Esmeralda was eventually destroyed by the Front, signaling the start of ground combat on San Colette.

The railgun stations of San Colette have been given nicknames by their crew and are often referred to by said nicknames in the press. Below are the nicknames of the Spears of San Colette.

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'''The Railguns'''
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* El Conquistador
* El Cid
* A Matadeira
* Rey Carlos III
* Lanza Sagrada
* Vasco da Gama
* Esmeralda (destroyed in the Solarian Civil War)
* Dom Henrique
* Reina Isabela
* Médico Castrejon
* Governadora Rada
* Senhor Presidente
* Mano de Dios
* Rey de la Guerra
* Dedo do Destino
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===The Civil Guard===
[[File:Civil_Guard.png|thumb|The coat of arms of the Civil Guard of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette, adopted shortly after its creation.]]
<center><i>“Hold, Fight, Win.”</i> - Official motto of the Civil Guard of San Colette, adopted in 2435. </center>

The uniformed military of San Colette is the '''Civil Guard of the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette''', often simply referred to as the '''Civil Guard'''. Prior to the Solarian Collapse the Civil Guard was a local [[Solarian Armed Forces#System Defense Forces|System Defense Force (SDF)]] branch of the Solarian Navy tasked with defending San Colette itself which was not expected to travel beyond its borders for any serious duties. As with many SDFs the ships of the Civil Guard were not equipped by the Navy with warp engines in order to make a rebellion by the Republic harder to carry out. Despite this limit placed upon it the Civil Guard has always been looked upon as a way to minimize Navy influence in the Republic and its government has cut no corners in funding and equipping it. Service in the Civil Guard has always been viewed as an honorable duty by Coletters, due to the popular view of it as a way to keep the Republic’s defense free of Navy influence. The overall commander of the Guard holds the rank of Admiral, in order to theoretically never outrank any Navy fleet commander. The Guard’s officers, and most of its enlisted, are drawn from San Colette’s population and the Republic has never instituted a draft in its history.

The soldiers and officers of the Civil Guard are well-equipped, well-trained, and well-motivated to defend their home. Civil Guard officers are easily distinguishable from their Solarian counterparts by their blue-and-white uniforms and peaked “crusher” caps. The marines of the Guard wear green fatigues and grey armor which is entirely atmospherically sealed— a design intended to assist in actions in the Republic’s phoronics facilities. Despite this training and funding, San Colette’s lack of a draft, and an unwillingness to implement one, has led to something of a manpower shortage during the Collapse. These experienced troops are supported by a robust network of semi-autonomous systems and drones which do much of the menial work for them. These robots are desperately needed now as the Civil Guard has, for as long as it has existed, been a relatively small organization and Navy personnel who were expected to fill in its gaps during a crisis have either defected, died, or turned mercenary.

Fortunately for the Civil Guard a readily-available source of personnel existed in the Republic during its darkest days: its refugee population, many desperate for work and motivated to hang onto what little peace they have managed to find in the Solarian Civil War. These refugees were most often human Solarian citizens from elsewhere in the Middle and Outer Rings and were given heavy incentives to join the Civil Guard, which desperately wished to not be seen as press-ganging refugees into joining its forces. Those that do join were often given menial work to free up Coletters and their automated drones for more important work. Easily distinguished from their Coletter counterparts by their drab brown uniforms the enlisted refugees of the Civil Guard are given as much training as time can spare and sent off to the Guard to serve in it as low-ranking enlisted. Many serve as staff on the myriad defensive installations of the Republic in a variety of roles, where they are often desperately needed.

The Civil Guard and its refugee soldiers performed better than any other non-Navy force during the Solarian Civil War, though at significant cost to themselves and the Civil Guard. Over the course of the final months of the Solarian Civil War it lost roughly half of its total vessel strength and hundreds of thousands of personnel were killed, wounded, or declared missing. But the Civil Guard stood and fought, and ultimately lasted long enough against numerically superior forces to allow the intervention of the Solarian Navy. Now it has begun the long process of rebuilding its strength and, for the first time in its history, the Civil Guard is set to be equipped with warp drives — a remarkable change from before the civil war.
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===Domestic Ship Designs===

The Republic is, by the standards of the Outer and Middle Rings, quite a wealthy and prosperous system with a large local fleet for its own defense. Thanks to its large amounts of funding the Civil Guard is one of the few local militias to field its own combat-capable designs. While not entirely original creations due to being heavily modified versions of typical Solarian Navy vessels, the locally-designed ships of San Colette are quite capable and, prior to the collapse, were often exported to Solarian systems across the Outer and Middle Rings.
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The most iconic Colettish ship design is the ''Castillo''-class battleship. First launched in 2442 and often locally referred to as a “dreadnought,” the Castillo is based upon a common Solarian battleship design dating back to the early 2430s, but trades the common “tuning fork,” design of typical Solarian Navy vessels for a boxier one. The Castillo lacks a warp drive and has a short operating range, but makes up for these drawbacks by possessing heavier weaponry and more armor than its Navy counterpart. Prior to the Collapse many ships of this class were produced on commission to be sold abroad. Following the Collapse the commissioned ships still in drydock were instead given over to the Civil Guard, customers be damned. Tourists visiting San Colette would often purchase small models of Castillo-class battleships as knickknacks. But with the civil war this industry faded rapidly, and untold miniatures of San Colette’s iconic dreadnought now languish in the back rooms of shops across the Republic.

While less iconic than its dreadnought counterpart the ''Caballero''-class heavy cruiser is another Colettish design which has been exported across Outer and Middle Ring. First launched in 2412 the Caballero-class is a mainstay of Civil Guard fleets and its updated 2452 version serves an important role as a screening ship for larger Castillo-class battleships. The Caballero is based on a Solarian Navy cruiser and, like its larger counterpart, trades the “tuning fork,” design for a boxier shape. It lacks a warp drive and has a much shorter operational range, but compensates for this by having heavier armor and more weaponry than its Navy counterpart. This class was commonly sold to other Solarian systems on commission prior to the Collapse and was used by every actor in the Northern Reaches aside from the Solarian Navy itself.!

One design which has not been exported is the small and relatively unassuming ''Cabral''-class light cruiser. Designed in 2427 the Cabral goes against typical Colettish ship design conventions: it is fast, able to fly long ranges without resupplying its fuel, and has few artillery pieces of its own. What it does have are large launch bays and a well-developed sensor suite to compliment its role as a drone carrier rather than a proper cruiser. A typical vessel of this class is fitted with a variety of Albatros type semi-autonomous drones which allow the vessel to punch far above its weight. The rare Civil Guard patrol fleets which can be found outside of San Colette in the wider Pact often consist of Cabral-class vessels escorted by FSF ships. Like its heavier counterparts the Cabral has no warp engines and cannot independently jump, but is capable of outrunning almost any vessels which attempt to close with it thanks to its powerful sublight engines. The Cabral-class was one of the most effective Civil Guard vessels of the War in the Northern Wildlands, with its drones inflicting many losses upon the League and Front.

The ''Mosquito''-class corvette is the smallest of the Civil Guard’s domestic designs. It is based on the Navy’s Montevideo-class patrol ship but diverges from its Navy counterpart in several manners. First is its removal of the “tuning fork,” design in favor of a central, and more armored, crew compartment. Second is its removal of the boarding arm in favor of two drone bays, one on each side of the vessel, and several fixed artillery guns. The Mosquito was originally designed for export alone as a smaller version of the Cabral-class light cruiser but has been pressed into service with the Civil Guard due to the Collapse. It is typically commanded by a junior Coletter officer and Coletter drone technician who are assisted by a crew of refugee soldiers.
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===Drone Warfare===

<center><i>“This is Operator 77 confirming good effect of my Navaja wing on target. Looks like the reactor’s hit. Might go critical soon, going to redirect an Albatros to it. Operator 77 out.”</i> - Lieutenant Emiliana del Moral (2441 - ) minutes before the 67th Fleet’s flagship, Redoubtable, was destroyed by a reactor explosion during the Battle of San Colette (20 November, 2462).</center>

The Civil Guard has long been limited by two things: its small size and its lack of independent warp capabilities, though it is currently being equipped with warp engines following the end of the Solarian Civil War. These limiters have turned it into a force focused on the defensive with only limited offensive capabilities and its small size has caused it to pursue a very unusual force multiplier for interstellar combat: the use of semi-autonomous drones controlled from either ships or stations. The first combat-capable Colettish drones and AI-managed weapons platforms were produced in the 2350s and have only improved over the intervening century. Colettish AI weaponry can be roughly divided into stationary and mobile categories, with stationary weaponry primarily serving as autonomous weapons platforms found throughout the defenses of the Republic and mobile weapons forming the category of drones.
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The mainstay drone of the Civil Guard is the ''Albatros'' type semi-autonomous drone. The Albatros is a relatively recent design which dates back to 2442 and utilizes Colettish AI designs rather than more complicated AIs found on [[Konyang]]. Despite repeated protests by some skrellian figures the Albatros has been a commercial success due and is well-known across the Alliance due to it being exported across Alliance space by Colettish defense firms. The Albatros is a highly modular design which is cheap to produce and effective in space combat due to its powerful engines, small profile, and relatively large missile payload. As a semi-autonomous drone the Albatros requires permission from a human operator before it is authorized to go “weapons hot,” and engage hostile targets. Most Guard defense installations have several wings of Albatros drones armed with a variety of weaponry up to and including anti-capital ship armaments.

The most well-known variant of the Albatros type drone is the ''Navaja'' type semi-autonomous drone. The Navaja trades the missile payload of the Albatros for a significantly more powerful engine and a large shaped charge which makes up the main body of the drone. The purpose of this drone is simple: upon being authorized to engage a target by an operator it will attempt to ram the target before detonating its charge (and itself, by proxy). A Navaja is not intended for more than one mission and is often stored in a folded-up position in order to fit more of the drones into a hangar. The drone’s name comes from the distinctive click-clack noise their wings make while unfolding, which resembles that of the fighting knife bearing the same name. The Navaja is not sold abroad but many are kept in Civil Guard facilities in the event of an attack. One of these drones destroyed the flagship of the 67th Fleet, the battleship Redoubtable, when its shaped charge penetrated into the ship’s engine room and caused its reactor to go critical, and they proved themselves an effective weapon during the Battle of Nueva Patria.

The largest of the Civil Guard’s drones is the ''Kestrel''-class gunboat. It is one of the older Guard drones still in service and dates back to 2398, though modernizations have kept it relatively viable. The Kestrel is the size of a corvette with heavy armor and more artillery than a typical ship of its size, and is typically used to patrol the defensive zones of San Colette due to its age. Like its smaller counterpart the Kestrel is very adaptable and can fulfill a variety of roles in the Guard. Like many Colettish designs the Kestrel was sold to Solarian systems across the Alliance prior to the Collapse and can be found in the hands of many formerly Solarian warlords. As a patrol vessel the Kestrel is more autonomous than most Colettish drones but still requires human authorization to engage its targets. Though scheduled for retirement in 2465, the chaos of the Collapse forced these dated drones to remain in service. Their dated nature led to many being destroyed during the Battle of San Colette, and few functional Kestrel-class drones survived until its end. Those that remain are now being retired and replaced by cheaper, smaller, and more modern drones. The Kestrel’s duty is finally done.
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===Mercenaries===

While the Civil Guard was able to secure the system of San Colette itself, its lack of warp engines and the short operational range of most of its vessels limited its ability to patrol the broader Pact. The Guard’s limited stock of ships which defected or were captured from the 67th Fleet have warp engines and a longer operating range, but are not present in sufficient numbers to effectively secure the borders of the Pact. Non-Colettish forces weee often in even worse states, with some having no local militaries to speak of. Others relied on hand-me-down Solarian Navy equipment which could not hope to win in an even fight against the more modern ships of the Front or League.
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In January 2463 a deal was struck by the Republic and other members of the Pact with the recently-former Free Solarian Fleets to have their mercenaries fill in where the Civil Guard could not. The Pact exchanged goods in the Colettish strategic reserve and berths in Colettish facilities for patrols of its border and skirmishes with both the Front and League. The arrangement proved to be quite beneficial, particularly due to the Republic placing cash bounties on the destruction, capture, or otherwise disabling of enemy vessels. Most FSF vessels found themselves engaged in the Pact and its surrounding territories rather than in the nearby Corporate Reconstruction Zone, with some notable exceptions such as the FSF Caravaggio and its expedition into the Badlands alongside the SCCV Horizon.

Not all appreciated the presence of the mercenaries in the Republic despite the security they offered to the Pact members outside of it. FSF mercenaries were known to become rowdy while on shore leave in the Republic and often ran afoul of its authorities. In a twist of irony many FSF mercenaries chose to rejoin the Solarian Navy after the end of the Solarian Civil War rather than following Pieter van der Rensburg’s efforts to remain a mercenary group loyal to its members rather than any nation.
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===Colettish Volunteer Batallions===

Formed during the final months of the Solarian Civil War from non-Pact fighters who had traveled to defend it, the three Colettish volunteer battalions were heavily involved in the War in the Northern Wildlands and the Battle of San Colette. The battalions were truly international formations, featuring troops and members from as far away as the Free System of Vysoka or the Imperial Mandate of Novi Jadran. They fought valiantly and were prominently featured in coverage of the conflict by the Xanu Prime-based Xanu News Service (XNS). The volunteers are popular across the Northern Reaches and are held up as an example of heroism by many in the region.
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Following the war’s end many volunteers have returned to their homelands, the Solarian Armed Forces, or have settled in San Colette. While Solarian and Dominian volunteers were mostly let go without questioning, those from the Coalition of Colonies, Republic of Elyra, or Republic of Biesel were often subjected to intense questioning by the Solarian Army or Solarian police forces before they were allowed to depart. Many Coalition volunteers were then sent to Konyang, where they were subjected to further questioning and border checks.

The first volunteer battalion was led by Michael “Mike” Forsythe, formerly a Legate of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, and Alexis Watts, formerly a 1st Lieutenant of the 37th Martian. It had a reputation as a “grab bag” of personnel and included individuals from as far away as the Empire of Dominia and Elyra's phoron-hunting mercenary companies. The first was heavily involved in fighting on the planet of New Peoria and in the city of Nueva Isabela on San Colette, where Legate Forsythe was killed in action, and on D'Anzin's surface. Most of the first’s members have returned home and few have joined the Solarian Armed Forces or remained in San Colette.

The second volunteer battalion was led by Lieutenant Colonel Hale Kaohi, formerly of the 12th Silversunner Coastal Infantry Division. Kaohi’s battalion was primarily made of fellow 12th Silversunner veterans and, while never confirmed, rumors have long circulated that Kaohi’s battalion was sanctioned by his divisional commanders. Prior to the Battle of San Colette the second was primarily responsible for training Colettish militia troops who had volunteered to fight against the Front. After the Solarian intervention the second was essentially completely absorbed by the Solarian Army, and many have now returned to the 12th Silversunner.

The third volunteer battalion was led by former Visegradi National Defense Force (NDF) officer Willerich Kozak. An unusual combination of former NDF personnel and Coalition volunteers, the third saw the most combat out of any of the three battalions during the Battle of San Colette and was heavily engaged during the Battle of Nuevo Villaviciosa and ground combat in D’Anzin. Following this it accompanied Solarian Army troops to Lycoris, where it was the last volunteer battalion to be demobilized. Kozak has been missing in action since the end of ground combat in Nuevo Villaviciosa, and rumors have begun to circle that he has appeared on Visegrad and offered his services to Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai.
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==Major Cities==

<center><i>“Sol’s Gateway to the Outer Ring.”</i> - Official motto of the city of Nueva Isabela.</center>

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===Nueva Isabela===
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Nueva Isabela is the capital and largest city on San Colette, and is home to much of the government of the Republic. The headquarters of PhoroCol and the Civil Guard both found inside its borders. Nueva Isabela is known for the large amount of architecture in the classical Iberian style which define its skyline. Its initial wealth came from the vast grasslands which surround it, known as the Colettish Plains which are still home to numerous outlying towns and villages, many of which remain dedicated to farming. Nueva Isabela’s fortunes rapidly shifted with the creation of the Warp Gate Project, as it was decided the operation would be headquartered within the city itself due to its relatively central location between the other four major cities of San Colette. Since the mid-2300s Nueva Isabela has grown into a city which scarcely resembles the agrarian hub and colonial capital of the initial colonial period: it is now a financial and cultural center where, prior to the Solarian Civil War, tourists from across the Middle and Outer Ring visited to sightsee and experience Colettish culture. Following the war’s end Nueva Isabela now serves as the hub of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate and is undergoing reconstruction efforts to repair parts of the city damaged in ground combat and by orbital artillery during the Battle of San Colette.
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===Montblanc===
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Montblanc is San Colette's third largest settlement, sitting at the mouth of the Riu Roig. The city is home to a multitude of industries ranging from automobiles to mining equipment to weaponry and is the current headquarters of CAISC, San Colette’s largest armaments company. Montblanc’s position on the Riu Roig, which has tributaries stretching to the Northern Range and into the interior of Cristobal, has historically allowed it easy access to the resources needed to fund its industrial boom. Itsindustry prior to the Warp Gate Project’s completion was dirty by modern standards and polluted much of the area surrounding the city. During the late 2300s the air quality of Montblanc was so poor the city was nicknamed Muntanya de Cendres (Mountain of Ashes) by its residents. But protests by residents, and money from the warp gates, helped Montblanc’s industry become cleaner and diversified its economy. Decades of work, often in collaboration with Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals, have done much to restore the environment in and around the city. Modern Montblanc is now known as the center of AI research in the Republic and the home of the prestigious Montblanc Institute of Research, and is rarely referred to as the Muntanya de Cendres – although tourists are often sold souvenirs with the earlier nickname printed on them. Montblanc was relatively unaffected by the Solarian Civil War as the city’s major exports – particularly weapons – remained in high demand across the Republic and beyond. Montblanc is home to one of the largest immigrant communities in San Colette: the district of Little New Hai Phong. The district is primarily populated by New Hai Phongese immigrants who came to San Colette during the construction of the Bastion and became involved in the industries of Montblanc which supplied weaponry to the orbital installations of the Bastion. Its residents are typically referred to as Colettish Haiphongers and can be found in a variety of careers and positions throughout the city, but remain a relatively small minority in the Republic. Following the Solarian reunification Montblanc’s Zeng-Hu facilities have once again begun operation, though at a reduced capacity, and some tourists have once again begun to visit the city. Montblanc was spared orbital bombardment due to the protection of railgun stations above it, and many of its tourist facilities are now being used as temporary housing for displaced Coletters.
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===Porto de Ouro===
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Porto de Ouro is the only major settlement on the continent of Morro, but is, ironically, not on Morro at all. It instead lies off of the continent’s shores on a series of islands, some natural and many artificial, but extends onto the continent’s coastline itself thanks to its size. The second-largest city on San Colette after Nueva Isabela itself, Porto de Ouro is the planet’s major offworld port and the vast, relatively flat scrublands on the continent near to its islands are home to massive facilities designed to house everything from interstellar cargo freighters to small private vessels. The city itself is often known as the “City of Bridges,” in local slang due to Porto de Ouro’s construction on a series of small islands. Numerous bridges connect the islands of Porto de Ouro and some are long enough to stretch to the mainland and its expansive facilities. Ferries are a common form of transportation in Porto de Ouro due to necessity as many people live on the islands of the city and work in its more industrial districts on the continent itself. Prior to the Collapse Porto de Ouro was where most off-world tourists and visitors arrived on San Colette and there was a small industry dedicated to taking tourists up the rivers of Morro into its interior. With the Solarian Civil War this industry, and others like it, dried up and forced many of their former employees to find new work – often in the continental dockyards of the city or the Civil Guard. Its residents, spared the heavy fighting of other cities, now await the day tourists will once again come to the City of Bridges.
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===Vila Nova de Norte===
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Also known as Norte or Vila Nova to its residents, the city sits in the far, far north of the continent of Nuevo Norte. Although the smallest of San Colette’s five major cities, Vila Nova has become an important research hub due to its relative isolation and the large, mostly empty, tundra around it known locally as the Guard’s Tundra. The Tundra is home to one of the Republic’s largest proving grounds: the Civil Guard compound commonly referred to as Castillo San Cristóbal, originally established in 2365. The Castillo is the primary employer of Vila Nova and supports much of the city’s economy as its employees, both Civil Guard and civilian, must live, work, and spend much of their time in Vila Nova as it is the only settlement for miles in any direction. Vila Nova is well-known across San Colette for its frequent snowstorms, which often bring work in the city to a halt. When the weather is clear residents of the city are often able to hear the distant thunder of weaponry at the Castillo as sound easily travels across the frozen tundra. Vila Nova is only reachable by boat and by plane and, despite its ability to serve as a year-round port, the city maintains a small fleet of icebreakers for emergency purposes. Those in Vila Nova not employed by the Castillo often work in its declining offshore petrochemical industry which once fed the factories of Montblanc decades ago. Many of the oil reserves found offshore have since dried up and the fuel itself has steadily declined in price, and usability, for years thanks to increased trade bringing new – and more efficient – sources of energy. The few rigs which continue to pump oil from below the ocean floor now mostly send their resources straight to the Civil Guard, and many former rig workers are now employed as low-level staff at the Castillo. This historically led to bitterness between employees of the Castillo, which the original settlers see as driving up prices in the city, and the original settlers prior to the Battle of San Colette. During the battle the Castillo intercepted almost every shell fired at Vila Nova, sparing the city the widespread damage suffered by Nuevo Villaviciosa and Nueva Isabela. This action has mended much of the animosity between the original settlers and immigrant population, and both now intend to move into a better future together.
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===Nuevo Villaviciosa===
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At the far south of Nuevo Norte, Nuevo Villaviciosa is the most populated city on the continent and site of the heaviest fighting of the Battle of San Colette. Villaviciosa has long been the home of San Colette’s shipbuilding industry and is the current headquarters of its major shipbuilding concern: TyVS. The city is in a relatively temperate region of Morro and is surrounded by a landscape of gently rolling hills and plains which are home to a scattering of smaller towns, villages, and farms. Villaviciosa itself is a heavily-industrialized town built upon a slope which gently opens into the Bay of Villaviciosa, the city’s major port. The waters outside the Bay are home to a unique structure on San Colette: the Castrejon Space Elevator. The elevator is a massive offshore structure built into the shallow seas surrounding Villaviciosa which allows for ship parts – often individually built in its drydocks – to be hauled into low Colette orbit before being placed onto the relevant hull in orbit above the city. An overwhelming majority of the Civil Guard’s ships can trace their origins to Villaviciosa’s facilities and, prior to the Solarian Civil War, the city produced many ships for export. The Solarian Civil War severely impacted the city’s economy during its initial stages as shipbuilding contracts dried up or were suddenly canceled. Only intervention by the Republic’s government and the Civil Guard’s increasing demand for ships, along with orders from the wider Shield Pact, saved Nuevo Villaviciosa’s economy from a total meltdown. During the Battle of San Colette Nuevo Villaviciosa was orbirally bombarded by the Front and was the site of heavy house-to-house urban combat in its suburbs as Colettish and Pact troops attempted to repulse Front invaders. Over a weekend of fighting much of the city’s outlying urban sprawl was destroyed and tens of thousands were displaced, with thousands of troops on each side perishing. The Front was ultimately repulsed and the city saved, and the Mandate government has committed to rebuilding all which was destroyed.
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{{Navbox Human Lore}}
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[[Category:Humanity]]
[[Category:Planets and Systems]]

Silversun

2024-07-04T22:06:36Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infobox

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{{Navbox Human Lore}}
<center>[[File:Silversun_pixel.png]]</center>
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Silversun
|System = Nova Gallia
|Image = Silversun.png
|Sector = [[The Orion Spur#Jewel Worlds|Jewel Worlds]]
|Capital = Helios City
|Species = Humans, [[Skrell]]
|Languages = Sol Common, Tradeband
|Demonyms = Silversunner
|Nation = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
A [[Sol Alliance#Middle Colonies|middle colony]] with an amazingly hospitable climate across most of the planet, and large oceans, '''Silversun''' is well-known as the main tourist destination and retirement point for the wealthy elite of the [[Sol Alliance]]. In recent decades, the planet has seen heavy investment by [[Idris Incorporated]]. One of the bank's major branches is located here - a gleaming monolith dedicated to corporate wealth located in Silversun's capital city, Helios City - the spot where the first colonists touched down centuries ago.

With a minimum temperature of 17.4°C in the winter and a maximum temperature of 27°C in the summer, Silversun's main climate zone could be described as "eternal spring". Humidity varies throughout the year, but is usually low, although soft, pleasant rains are frequent in the summer.

Human residents of Silversun are divided into two major groups: descendants of the original colonists, and the rich Expatriates. Political tensions are extremely high, but have not yet boiled over into violence, and Silversun's political situation has dramatically worsened due to the ongoing phoron crisis and Solarian Collapse. While historically an area for political debate, the political quagmire that is Silversun's government has only worked to fuel tensions.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==
Silversun is one of the first Middle Colonies, sometimes even being called a sister colony to [[New Hai Phong]]. As colonization had, by this point, become an effort run by the Alliance, the original colonists sent to Silversun were from all around [[Earth]] - no real nationality or ethnicity dominated, leading to a diverse set of backgrounds and beliefs being sent to Silversun. While being too distant from the heart of the Alliance to become a jewel world such as [[Venus]], its pleasant climate still made it very appealing to its first settlers.
Shortly after landing it was discovered that the planet was incredibly hospitable in almost all of its areas. The planet was quite comfortable in terms of temperature, with it never really becoming too hot or too cold to be comfortable, and lacked major weather phenomena such as typhoons or the intense storms that battered Silversun's sister colony on New Hai Phong. Flora and fauna were abundant, beautiful, and quite docile - some species of avians would nest in the prefab buildings of the first colonists without caring that they were aliens, and aggressive wildlife was notably lacking. Having just come from the still environmentally-devastated Earth, the first colonists of Silversun came to cherish their newfound homes. This viewpoint would, eventually, lead some to come into conflict with the Idris Incorporated investors and staff that arrived on the planet after its initial colonization.

Instead, '''[[Idris Incorporated]]''' committed to making Silversun a planet-wide resort for the Alliance's wealthy, particularly [[Venus#Cytherean Culture|Cythereans]], investing heavily into constructing entire cities from scratch and staffing it with high-quality service staff and primitive, non-intelligent service droids such as automatic bartender and waiter systems to ensure the highest possible quality of service was guaranteed. High apartment prices ensured that only the most powerful and affluent would move into these new Idris-built homes that quickly became symbols of status to own. Occasionally even entire cities were left deserted due to lack of immigrants able to afford housing or willing to settle in the Middle Ring. Large areas of jungle were marked for development by the colonial government, which some of the original colonists suspected of being increasingly in the pocket of Idris Incorporated. The destruction of these large swaths of jungle caused anger amongst some members of the original colonists, and damage to the ecological system of the planet. The planet remained beautiful - as was the intention of Idris' architects while designing these sprawling resort towns - but some of the raw natural beauty of the planet was forever lost in this period.

The settlements of the original colonists, meanwhile, gradually had tourism make up more and more of their economies as Idris Incorporated increased its investments and began hiring heavily from local areas to reduce costs. The previous local industries - primarily agriculture - began to fall to the side as more and more individuals became involved in the service industry, or supporting the service industry, that was developing on Silversun as a result of Idris' heavy investments in the planet. In these first years of Silversun's booming tourist industry the primary visitors were Cythereans from Venus, though wealthy visitors from across the growing Alliance could be found on the planet. Senators from Sol, Hephaestus executives from New Hai Phong, and Eridanian suits amongst others could all be found vacationing or holding business in the beautiful resorts of Silversun. The original colonists were somewhat divided on the matter of Silversun's new primary industry. Some viewed the rapid growth of the tourism industry as a boon to Silversun - and a method to make it more relevant than other planets in the Middle Ring - while others, perhaps the majority, viewed the growth of the tourism industry with varying levels of suspicion. Some felt that the planet's culture would become sanitized in order to achieve the maximum Idris quality appeal to outsiders, while others worried that the large amount of development needed to support the rapidly growing tourism industry would negatively impact the planet's environment. Though the issues at hand have changed, this divide between new and old residents of Silversun remains a major cultural conflict for the planet.

Everything changed with the discovery of [[Skrell]], however. Once the Skrell learned of Silversun, they have expressed high interest in the planet due to the climate, which is especially pleasant for the amphibious species during the rain season. A couple years after the first contact a large wave of Skrell tourists arrived at the planet, which was caused by a Skrell idol advertising the planet on Skrell social media. Afterwards, Silversun ports saw anyone with the money to afford a trip to the planet arriving - flooding the only small spaceport at Helios City - and often staying. The problem only got worse during the rainy seasons, with many Skrell scientists and officials taking vacations here. This exact moment moved the Sol Alliance to introduce their famously strict visa requirements, and only tighten them ever since.

A recent point of conflict between the descendants of the original colonists and Idris has been the presence of IPCs - primarily shells and Bishop frames - on the planet. These Idris shells are a recent arrival, and are of some concern to the native workforce. After all - an IPC can work longer hours at less pay than a human, generally does not complain about working 48 hour shifts, and requires only electricity and a roboticist to function. Many of the more recent high-end resorts have a majority-positronic staff, with the famous Villa del Sol staffing itself entirely using Bishop frames (aside from human handlers) as a measure of their wealth as a resort.

In the aftermath of the Solarian retreat from much of the Middle and Outer Rings Silversun has remained as one of the few Middle Ring planets under direct Solarian control, and has continued to prosper even in the chaotic environment that has followed the inward retreat of the Orion Spur's hegemonic power. While the Solarian Corporate Authority has nationalized many of the Alliance's megacorporation assets within its borders Silversun has remained untouched -- and has even seen an increase in the Alliance's military presence due to the smaller amount of territory the Navy must patrol -- thanks to Idris paying for the planet's cost in full. Money is, after all, the key to many things - including the Orion Spur's favorite vacation world.

==Environment==
[[File:Silversunmap.png|thumb|right|A map of Silversun's islands.]]
Silversun is a tropical, primarily oceanic climate with an average daily temperature of 25 degrees Celsius. Most of the planet is covered in oceans. There are five major islands on the planet; New Aotearoa, the Petal Isles, Nu'ulopa, and the islands of Toowoomba-Tauranga. The landmasses on the planet are home to several volcanoes, but most that could cause significant planetary disruption are long-since inactive. The largest active volcano on Silversun is Tagata Taufaamata'u, on the island of Silisili, and it is constantly monitored by scientists around the planet for signs of eruption. Volcano tourism is quite popular, and [[Idris Incorporated]] hosts tours inside the inactive volcano of Rohutu-no'ano'a; the rich volcanic soil is also home to incredible biodiversity.

Silversun's tectonic activity and weather patterns means that tropical storms are incredibly common, and every citizen is prepared for the eventuality of a blaring siren indicating an oncoming hurricane or cyclone. Owing to this, infrastructure on Silversun is flexible, usually lifted some off the ground by poles, or made of waterproofed material.

=== Florae and Faunae ===

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====Silversun dawnflower (''Astraeus helios'')====
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The Silversun dawnflower is a symbol dear to the Originals of the planet. It is a flowering plant found across the planet that blooms in the morning and remains active during the early hours of the light, when it utilizes bioluminescent petals to attract insects to spread its pollen. The flower features an odd arrangement of petals in a dual layer - one set of petals is larger to collect light, while another set surrounding the stigma of the flower are smaller to allow it to remain bioluminescent for a longer period at night. The wide and double-layered petals of the dawnflower along with its surprisingly stubby stigma are a common symbol of the Originals that have been co-opted by the Expatriates in their marketing for Silversun's resorts. Imitation dawnflower pins can be found throughout human (and even [[Skrell|Skrellian]]) space, and both imitations and real dawnflower pins are seen as a very fashionable accessory, demonstrating one's unity with nature (or love of corporate vacation spots).
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====Yincheng reishi (''Ganoderma yincheng'')====
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Yincheng reishi is not true, Earth-born reishi fungus, but rather a very similar-looking mushroom. While edible and even nutritious, the fungus is most popular for its hallucinogenic and anti-inflammatory properties. Some Originals syncretised the ritual consumption of Yincheng reishi to achieve higher understanding or visions with their Earth-originating faiths, and over time it was also incorporated into therapeutic practices and meditation. However, Idris Incorporated has begun cultivating and selling Yincheng reishi across the Spur as a recreational drug, a practice which some Originals decry as cultural appropriation. Silversun is also one of the only places in Sol Alliance where Yincheng reishi is officially legal, though some planets (such as [[Venus]]) have decriminalised it.
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====Soikla (''Soiklos niveus'')====
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The Silversun soikla has some external similarities to the ''Arecaceae'' (palm) family. It is a large, flowering tree crowned with broad, flat leaves, with layers of porous bark from which buds will sprout during the flowering season. The inland soikla, however, has a far shallower root system than palms such as a coconut tree, and can be easily uprooted and planted elsewhere while keeping the tree intact. Rather than producing drupes, the soikla fruits from the buds on its trunk. Soikla fruit is cream and very pale green, with a pit in its centre - it has a crunchy texture and sweet, mild taste when ripe.
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==Politics and Government==

While Silversun managed to remain cohesive and aligned with the Solarian Alliance during the chaotic period known as the Solarian Collapse its government is hardly the picture of functional governance. While nominally still under the control of popularly-elected Governor Andrew Clarke the military's dominance of the Alliance's emergency government has damaged Governor Clarke's ability to effectively govern Silversun. Governor Clarke's inability to effectively govern has seen him leaning more and more upon the '''Silversun Development Council''' for support in managing the day-to-day affairs of what the Alliance's military government is attempting to promote as a model Middle Ring colony. In theory the Council -- with oversight from the Governor -- works to create a better future on Silversun for both Originals and Expatriates while keeping the ever-present Solarian Navy pleased enough that they will not replace Silversun's governor with a naval officer, as they have with many other Middle Ring planets.

Unfortunately the Silversun Development Council is riddled with '''infighting''' between various factions on the planet. The most powerful faction in the Council is the pro-Idris Incorporated ''Tourism Development Group of Silversun''. Made up of Expatriates and the occasional Original affiliated with [[Idris Incorporated]], it is very clear to most that the Development Group is Idris' way of manipulating Silversun's politics to be friendly towards the megacorporation. The weaker faction in the Council is the anti-Idris ''Environmental and Cultural Preservation Group of Silversun''. Primarily made up of Originals and the extremely rare Expatriate paid or convinced to support them, the Preservation Group is dedicated to fighting what seems to be a losing battle against the unquantifiable wealth of Idris Incorporated. But while they are losing the fight over Silversun the Preservation Group retains enough influence to dead-lock the Council if needed, which will undoubtedly lead to an even worse situation in the government.

And the man atop this dysfunctional organization, Governor Clarke himself, is simply attempting to ride it out and hold onto what power he has all while reporting on his government's success to the Alliance. Despite his well-known status an incompetent (and corrupt) official elected mostly due to the interference of Idris Incorporated in 2460's planetary elections and to stamp off on proposals by the megacorporation, the Governor understands that he must ensure the planet remains stable and attractive to the tourists that keep the local economy running. He also understands that if he does not preserve Silversun's status as the ideal vacation area of the entire Orion Spur, the rug will very quickly be pulled out from under him.

But those that will pull the rug out from under Governor Clarke are most likely not his exceedingly wealthy benefactors in Idris Incorporated. Instead an increasingly irate military-dominated Solarian Alliance has Silversun and its governor under an extremely watchful eye, simply waiting for Clarke to make a mistake severe enough to permit his removal without causing unrest on the planet itself. Many argue that the Solarian Navy's significantly larger presence in the Nova Gallia system, and particularly around the most populated planet in it: Silversun, is intended more to intimidate the local government than it is to protect against pirate or Stellar Corporate Conglomerate incursions.

===Education===
Most, if not all, of education on Silversun is run by the [[Sol Alliance]]. The planet has few centers of higher education due to its widespread tourism industry, with most universities being operated and staffed by descendants of the original colonists and focusing themselves upon the natural sciences due to the planet's bountiful biosphere. The Helios City Institute of Botanical Sciences (Coloquially referred to as the Heliodome due to its massive, dome-shaped greenhouse) is definitively the most famous institute of its kind in the Middle Ring, and is perhaps the most well-known in the entire Solarian Alliance. Researchers from it have found employment through human and even Skrell space, and the Institute boasts a decent population of non-human students due to Silversun's focus on tourism and the Institute's prestige.

As the Idris Incorporated presence on the planet has increased, so has its influence on the kinds of job training that a person may receive on the planet. In the city of Yincheng is the Yincheng Academy of Security Sciences and Criminology, an Idris-owned institution that aims to equip any attendee with the knowledge they might need to succeed in a high-level corporate security, law, or private military environment. Idris Incorporated is known for offering jobs to the top performing students right out of the academy, and for many is seen as a gateway into the world of Idris' security operations.

==Culture and Demographics==
[[File:Silversunflag.png|thumb|250px|The flag of Silversun.]]
There are two major cultural groups on Silversun, with a major divide running between them. These groups are the descendants of the original colonists called the Originals and the later settlers brought in by Idris called the Expatriates. The Originals tend to be more anti-Idris than the later Expatriates, which tend to be the result of corporate-sponsored settlements by Idris following the discovery of the planet's incredibly hospitable environment. This cultural wedge has been built over the course of decades - perhaps centuries - by Idris' efforts to develop the planet into a gigantic luxury resort and the efforts of many of its original colonists to become something more than a nature reserve for rich Solarians.

===The Originals===

As with many colonies of the Alliance, the settlers of Silversun were an eclectic group puled from across the Earth and unified by one thing: a mutual desire to leave humanity's decaying home behind and make a new, better life for themselves elsewhere. Many of the original settlers of Silversun were descended from the residents of areas lost to global-warming induced flooding and motivated to seek a new life elsewhere, signing up for the colonial mission in the 2250s that would see Silversun settled in 2253. The experience of watching Earth gradually fall apart and their homes sink beneath the waves instilled in these original settlers are conservationist tradition, and a desire to live alongside nature rather than conquer it. The original colonial settlements that have not yet been overtaken by Idris Incorporated, such as certain districts of Silverport preserved as tourist traps, demonstrate this commitment to living alongside nature: "green space" can be found throughout their urban spaces, and these spaces tend to naturally blend into the surrounding countryside rather than dominating it. The Originals, as they are now called following Idris' arrival, additionally became renowned for their agricultural and botanical research conducted on Silversun, with the Helios City Institute of Botanical Sciences becoming renowned throughout the Alliance and even well-known in the Nralakk Federation. Most Originals dedicated themselves to living in a self-sustaining manner, even if this ultimate did result in the planet being less wealthy than average. But despite their dedication to preserving the planet as it was forces far beyond the control of Silversun's Originals would see the arrival of [[Idris Incorporated]] in 2357 due to the planet's immense attractiveness as a vacation destination for the rich of the Alliance, and Idris' arrival would permanently and irreversibly shift the cultural climate and outlook of the Originals.

Watching their planet turn into a gigantic tourist trap for rich people from across the Orion Spur -- though most tourists are their fellow Solarians -- while being unable to do anything to prevent the transformation due to the immense wealth of Idris Incorporated compared to any singular non-Jewel World planet in the Alliance has made cynics out of many of the Originals. It has, furthermore, caused the community of Originals to fracture along the fault line that is Idris Incorporated: some believe that the megacorporation must be fought no matter what, while others believe that it is better to instead work with the megacorporation in the hope that Idris will come to appreciate the planet's natural beauty more with native colonists of it in its company. The relationship between anti-Idris Originals and the Expatriates -- the settlers brought by Idris Incorporated and their descendants -- are horrific at best, though not on the level of breaking into open violence. Protests against further expansion by Idris Incorporated are common -- though futile, due to the immense power wielded by the megacorporation -- and an active effort is being made by most Originals to hang onto their distinctive cultural background that existed prior to Idris' arrival on the planet. To most outside observers it is clear that the Originals are fighting a losing battle against Idris Incorporated, with the megacorporation having retained its power over Silversun despite Originals having poured support into the anti-corporate Industrial Reclamation Mandate of 2463. But despite the battle being a losing one, many Originals believe it one worth fighting.

But many more have simply seen the writing on the teal wall, and have left their second home to once again seek a better life. While many go abroad in search of better employment -- such as botanical research positions -- some simply go abroad due to Idris' hold on the planet being unbearably tight, and utterly unbreakable. While the Originals' diaspora is small they can be found throughout the Alliance and beyond, often championing their cause of closer and better relations with the natural ecosystem of their planets.

===The Expatriates===

The so-called Expatriates of Silversun are a wealthy and influential minority on the colony closely and intrinsically tied to Idris Incorporated, which the overwhelming majority of Expatriates still work for today. The first Expatriates had a diverse background, originating from across the Solarian Alliance, but were -- and remain -- unified by their association with Idris Incorporated. The Expatriates are, as a rule, generally wealthier than their native counterparts due to affiliation with Idris and less inclined to care as much for Silversun's natural ecosystem. Expatriates often live in their own communities free of Originals that have security provided by Idris' in-house security forces, and spend much of their time not interacting with the "upstart and uncooperative" natives of the planet. The culture of the Expatriates on Silversun is closely wedded to Idris Incorporated itself, due to the megacorporation sponsoring Expatriate settlements on the planet. Silversun is considered to be a very pleasant posting by Idris Incorporated employees -- even its security personnel responsible for "containing" protests by Originals that stray too close to Idris property (which in some areas can be the majority of a city) -- and many lower-ranking employees constantly vying for a position on the planet. Expatriates are often considered to be some of the best employees Idris has to offer due to their extreme loyalty to the megacorporation, and many Expatriate families have worked for Idris for upwards of three generations.

Despite not being the original settlers of the planet the Expatriates consider themselves to be just as Silversunian as their native counterparts, and are proud of the home they have created for themselves and their megacorporation. They -- not the Originals -- have turned Silversun from an utterly irrelevant backwater focused upon analyzing plants and animals to the premier tourism destination for the Solarian Alliance, if not the Orion Spur. With tourists coming to Silversun from as far afield as the Nralakk Federation and Coalition of Colonies the success of the Expatriates is clearly seen by everybody on the planet more concerned with people than plant life, and they are riding high on a level of success that even the Alliance's (to the Expatriates, misguided) Industrial Reclamation Mandate of 2463 could not even put a damper on. However the relationship between the Expatriates and the Originals on Silversun are increasingly hostile, though not quite on the level of open violence, and have worsened in recent years. Success often breeds jealousy, after all, and the Expatriates of Silversun are nothing if not successful. They, and Idris Incorporated, are clearly in the more favorable position to win the political war over Silversun despite the dogged -- and perhaps futile -- resistance of the Originals and an increasingly anti-corporate Alliance. To the Expatriates, preserving success is something worth rolling up their teal sleeves and fighting for.

Expatriates found abroad are often Idris Incorporated employees (temporarily) assigned to off-world facilities in order to promote the megacorporation's many interests abroad and typically retain a strong connection to Silversun itself, typically through familial ties. The "diaspora" of Silversun's Expatriates is truly inseparable from Idris Incorporated, and very few are found abroad without some connection to the megacorporation. As Silversunners are often regarded as some of the best (and most loyal) employees of Idris Incorporated they often find themselves assigned to important postings for Idris, such as in cross-corporation contracting positions.

===Positronics===

The overwhelming majority of [[IPC]] frames found on Silversun are owned by [[Idris Incorporated]] or one of its affiliates, with Expatriate families often leasing out (or being rewarded with) an IPC from the megacorporation. While Idris maintains a significant presence of security IPCs, such as IRUs and ISUs, on the planet most IPCs on Silversun can be found in the planet's service or tourism sector and most tend to be higher-end models such as Bishop or shell frames, in order to achieve Idris Incorporated's famously high quality in all things. Even the positronics of Silversun have managed to become a point of conflict between the Expatriates and Originals due to the manner in which Idris' shells utilized on Silversun are designed: they are build resembling the native population of the planet and are programmed with the accent common to Originals in order to give tourists the "authentic Silversun experience" in Idris' resorts, which primarily tend to draw their employees from the Expatriate community. While the construction of these positronics is point of protest for many Originals it remains likely that Idris will stay its course due to high profits from its "authentically-staffed" resorts.

===Fashion===

Silversun fashion is, like much on the planet, a point of contention between the Originals and Expatriates in addition to being a massive source of profit for Idris Incorporated. The fashion of the Originals according to the Originals themselves is generally full of muted, earthen tones and designed to be very breathable in order to both encourage sustainability and function well in the warm, humid coastal environments that dominate Silversun. The fashion of the Originals according to the Expatriates is full of flashy, attractive colors that draw the eye of off-world customers and tourists alike. The best example of this is easily the extremely successful line of Silversun fashion from ''Le Soleil Royal'', Idris' major fashion subsidiary, such as floral print Silversun shirts. Despite protests from Originals that their culture is being hijacked and morphed for profit, Idris' Silversun fashion lines continue to bring in massive profits for the megacorporation.

===Major Holidays===

The most famous (and most controversial) holiday on Silversun is the '''Festival of the Silver Seas''', which is celebrated every year on the 9th of April. The Festival of the Silver Seas is (allegedly) a celebration both of the day that the firsts colonists made landfall on the planet and of their dedication to preserving the planet's unique ecosystem for future generations to enjoy that brings together both Expatriate and Original in a celebration of everything that makes Silversun a beautiful and great planet. In reality it is an extremely disingenuous corporate attempt to co-opt native culture in order to promote tourism to Silversun that has only continued due to Idris Incorporated's feverent promotion of it. While many view the holiday as nothing more than a chance to become exceedingly drunk and wake up in a dumpster (or worse) on the 10th of April the native population of the planet often stages their largest anti-Idris protests on or near the Festival, and tensions are typically highest on the planet during the week of the Festival of the Silver Seas. Idris Incorporated security personnel on Silversun are generally placed on high alert during the period surrounding the Festival, which they typically refer to as the "Week from Hell."

==Notable Settlements==
Silversun has a bevy of settlements spread across its various islands, ranging from pre-planned towns housing five-star resorts and hundreds of thousands of expats to the sleepier, less frequented smaller towns mostly dominated by Native Silversunners. While the types of settlements may vary some, those listed below are the most notable of all of Silversun's cities and towns, and would be known to almost every Silversunner, if only by name. Each of the cities below has its own culture that that most of its inhabitants are proud of and try to represent, if only because it is encouraged by Idris Incorporated in most cases due to it making the monetizing of those very cultures easier.

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==== Helios City ====
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Located near Silversun’s equator, Helios City is the capital of Silversun, its largest port, and the central hub for its economy. The city was founded originally in 2253 as Helios Base One, the first base on the planet where colonization was organized from on the lush tropical world. Spearheaded by American capital and interests, the city soon grew to be the most important in the newly colonised world, a position which it has more or less maintained throughout the planet’s history to the present day. Helios City is the home to nearly one-third of all of Silversun’s population and is a massive, sprawling megalopolis that has grown from its humble beginnings to encompass six islands, each of which are connected to one another by colossal Idris-funded and Hephaestus-made railroad and motorway bridges that stand high above the waves of Silversun’s crystal blue oceans. The largest of these islands, Apollo Island, is closed to the general public and is home to the Apollo Solar Array, the largest solar power plant in the Orion Spur. It covers most of the entire 250,000 square kilometres of the island it sits on with solar panels or other energy infrastructure like windmills that generate enough electricity to comfortably power most of Silversun, though smaller, more local solar arrays can be found all over Silversun. Though built by Einstein Engines, it is now owned by Idris Incorporated who contract its maintenance out to Hephaestus Industries and run tours for those interested in seeing the spectacle.

Helios City is the financial center for Silversun as well and is the headquarters for Idris Incorporated’s operations on Silversun and within the Sol Alliance at large. It houses the Idris-owned real estate firms which make much of the planet’s economy turn, has the third-largest stock exchange in the Sol Alliance after Callisto and Luna, and has the second-busiest passenger port in the country after Callisto’s. It is home to some of the best night clubs on the planet and arguably within the Orion Spur, and has a bustling entertainment industry that often sees headlining acts from all over space perform for crowds of hundreds of thousands. Most, if not all of the main resorts of the planet can be reached through Helios City’s rail lines, shuttle ports, or for the more aquatically inclined, ferry and cruise ports. Many who live here have no connection to Silversun, and are mostly expatriates or second-generation immigrants who have affiliations with Idris Incorporated or are simply looking to make a new life on the planet of Sunshine in its ever growing and ever bustling economy and job market. It is the largest megapolitan area in the Solarian Middle Colonies outside of New Hai Phong.
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==== Yincheng ====
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Settled shortly after Helios City by a Chinese expedition, Yincheng or “Silver City,” as it is sometimes called was established on the largest island on Silversun in hopes of making use of what the colonists originally perceived as a wealth of minerals, the foremost of which were Silver, Lithium, and Gallium. As news of this discovery spread, hundreds of thousands from all over the Sol Alliance flocked to the city in hopes of striking it rich. While many failed in their endeavors, the ensuing influx of people turned Yincheng into the richest and most populated city on Silversun for a few decades. While the minerals are either entirely depleted or sitting at levels that are economically unviable, their presence allowed for Yincheng to become the home of a large technology and manufacturing sector that cemented its status as one of the most important cities on the planet. Like many other cities on Silversun, Yincheng has a large Idris Incorporated presence which has bought out much of the area’s technology and research industry for their own purposes. Despite this or perhaps even because of it as Idris moves more employees to Silversun, Yincheng maintains its identity as a city built by an influx of new people from anywhere looking to make it big. Most of Idris’ most innovative technologies and products in recent memory were invented in Yincheng, ranging from the coding and interface development of Holo-Dive, the algorithms which make Chirper function, to the latest models of ISU’s and Idris security software.

Due to its tech industry, Yincheng also houses many security operations ran by Idris, with numerous information and data centers in the area along with some IRU and ISU maintenance and assembly plants. Even though Helios City has the largest port on Silversun, Yincheng hosts the planet’s Idris-sponsored planetary defense force and its modest flotilla. A premier security education institution, the Idris-Owned Yincheng Academy of Security Sciences and Criminology, is located here and attracts many from all over Silversun as well as from throughout the Sol Alliance who hope to score a job with Idris Incorporated's security division. The mining pits of Yincheng’s past mining operations now serve as tourist attractions monetizing the history of the city and areas where holidaymakers can go on underground guided excursions through the subterranean network of the old mining tunnels.
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==== New Yogyakarta ====
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New Yogyakarta is the third largest city on Silversun and the last major city which many consider to be the truly “native,” on Silversun. Settled shortly after Helios City had proven that a colony was sustainable on the planet, New Yogyakarta was the result of a joint Indonesian-Japanese effort that aimed to create a city that could serve as a home base for future colonization efforts in the Middle Rim. Because of this, a strong manufacturing base was built up in the city along with off-shore mining operations that hoped to see New Yogyakarta turn into the workshop of the Middle Colonies and industrial hub of Silversun. These hopes were soon dashed however as it became increasingly clear that New Hai Phong, not Silversun would become the industrial powerhouse of the Middle Colonies. New Yogyakarta saw this writing on the wall and instead embarked on a program of wholesale diversification, specializing into not just manufacturing, but the services industry, hydroelectric energy production, and biomedicine, all with ties to Einstein Engines rather than Idris Incorporated as an act of defiance against the company which the city saw as trying to erase the native culture of Silversun. To this day, New Yogyakarta is one of the only places on the planet where an Idris presence cannot be found, is thought by many to be the final vestige of true “Silversun,” culture and is where the majority anti-Idris activists and protestors on Silversun live. As the company’s hold on the planet has only grown stronger, many Native Silversunners have moved to New Yogyakarta to better be with people they see as like themselves, though Natives can still be found the planet over. This has not stopped Idris from trying to gain sway in the city by either trying to buy out Einstein Engines owned enterprises there, running public smear campaigns against those who want to keep the company out, or bribing those in the city government or police forces to take a more Idris-friendly stance. Despite these efforts though, New Yogyakarta is staunchly in opposition to Idris Incorporated, something that has only entrenched itself further after Einstein Engines found itself as the largest company in the Orion Spur following the start of the current phoron scarcity. The vast majority of New Yogyakarta’s population are Silversun Natives rather than Expats.
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==== Toowoomba-Tauranga ====
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Toowoomba-Tauranga, often called “The T-Twins” or “T-T,” by locals is the fourth largest city on the planet of Silversun. It was established shortly after the colonization of Yincheng had begun on two close islands, Toowoomba Island and Tauranga island, by a joint Australia-New Zealand colonization initiative with support from the rest of the Commonwealth of Nations. In contrast to most other places on Silversun, Toowoomba-Tauranga does not experience a tropical climate due to its far-southern position on the planet, nearly within the antarctic circle. It is one of the few cities on Silversun where winter is noticeable, with snowfall is a normal occurrence throughout half of the year. The reasoning for its location was similar to that of Yincheng’s, in that the original colonists were hoping to extract natural resources from the local area, but instead of precious metals they were after Helium-3 and natural gas beneath the seabed surrounding the island. These predictions however let the city down, as soon after extraction operations began the deposits were discovered to be drastically smaller than originally thought by the colonists, a predicament that threatened to throw the survival of the T-Twins into jeopardy. Noticing that much of the planet was heavily catering to the growing Silversunner tourist industry but having no tropical vistas of their own to draw tourists, government of T-T partnered with Idris Incorporated to establish casinos and even terraform part of the already mountainous Tauranga Island into a ski resort with Hephaestus Industries, so that the city could better attract outsiders and their money.

In the modern day, Toowoomba-Tauranga is unrivalled in its gaming industry on Silversun and boasts some of the largest and most expensive casino resorts in the Orion Spur, the most well known being the Silver Snow Palace on Toowoomba Island. Additionally, the city is host to the Tauranga Winter Resort, the largest and only resort of its kind on Silversun which hosts the annual Idris Permafrost Exhibition, a massive sporting event sponsored by Idris Incorporated that attracts athletes and teams from all over the Orion Spur with hopes of winning huge cash prizes and prestige for their excellence in winter sports. Aside from the resort and casinos however, much of the T-T economy and culture is free from Idris influence as the location and culture of the cities themselves is not seen as easy to monetize as Helios City or Yincheng. For that reason, most of those who live in the “Winter Wonderland of Silversun,” are Silversun Natives rather than Expats.
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==== Mulobi-Mbisi ====
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Mulobi-Mbisi is an old town that has been transformed into an entirely new project that Idris Incorporated is attempting to bring into being on Silversun. Mulobi-Mbisi was officially founded relatively long after the initial colonisation of Silversun as a small fishing town a few hours flight away from Helios City on a large volcanic atoll. Its founders were mostly immigrants from Central and East Africa who were looking to find a better life for themselves on the beautiful and unpolluted world of Silversun, as Earth was still in the process of climate-change reversal. Over the years it grew to have a modest population of nearly one-hundred-thousand people that made a poor living off of fishing and water desalination plants. This all changed about a decade ago when Idris Incorporated brought a proposal to the city government: they wanted to buy the entire city. To the company, the small podunk town’s location on a beautiful and large volcanic atoll made perfect business sense as a location from where they could build the largest resort the planet, and the Orion Spur, had ever seen. The town’s residents, who were only getting by in many cases or were otherwise unemployed, voted in favor of this proposal after Idris promised a cash pay-out for all residents in the town of ten-thousand credits which many residents used to move elsewhere and leave the small town behind. In 2454, Mulobi-Mbisi became ground zero for Idris’ largest construction project to date. Of course though, this resulted in the homes and businesses of many of the natives who stayed being bought and then demolished to make way for Idris’ exploits. Though still under construction, the Sunshine Ring Oceanside Resort is expected to be a city-sized tourist attraction dotting the various islands inside the borders of Mulobi-Mbisi connected by bridges that connect the islands together in a ring-shaped circle. Initial construction off the first leg of the resort is expected to be completed in 2466, though tourist and land development in the area is foreseen to stretch on even into the next century. Mulobi-Mbisi’s population is made up almost entirely of Silversun expats or immigrants who have come to the town to work on the ambitious Sunshine Ring project and it is currently the fastest growing city on Silversun as more people both from Silversun as well as off-world buy up timeshares or condominiums in the city, most often before the buildings are even finished. Recently, the company has proposed renaming the city to “Sunshine City,” in support of their new project, a proposal which is by nearly all measures expected to succeed. Many Silversun Natives who oppose Idris’ continued expansion on Silversun and transformation of the planet’s people and landscapes cite Mulobi-Mbisi as both an example or even a reason all on its own for why the company needs to be stopped.
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New Hai Phong

2024-07-04T22:02:39Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infobox, moves a bit of trivia about cua song around

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<center>[[File:New_hai_phong_pixel.png]]</center>
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = New Hai Phong
|System = Mau Sang and Tia Sang
|Image = New hai phong.png
|Sector = [[The Orion Spur#Jewel Worlds|Jewel Worlds]]
|Capital = Cua Song
|Species = Human
|Languages = Sol Common, New Hai Phong
Common, Freespeak
|Demonyms = New Hai Phongese, Haiphongers (informal)
|Nation = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
New Hai Phong, sometimes rendered New Haiphong, is an economic powerhouse of the Sol Alliance funded by Hephaestus Industries. Tobacco is the main export of New Hai Phong, serving as the planet’s main claim to fame. The primary language is Sol Common, though the spoken Hai Phongese dialect is notably different. New Hai Phong Common, or NHP Common, is much more tonal-based than Sol Common and has a distinctive accent.

'''Due to the ethnic make-up of its original settlers and ability for the massive New Hai Phongese population to absorb immigrants into its culture via assimilation, characters born on New Hai Phong must have names and appearances consistent with the peoples of Vietnam, Hong Kong, and South China. Only characters native to New Hai Phong may take the New Hai Phongese accent. This is enforceable by server moderators and admins.'''
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==History==

What would become New Hai Phong had quite humble origins. Originally detected in the late 2100s, New Hai Phong was colonized in the early 2200s by a coalition of Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos with intentions of it being not much more than a base of operations for mining facilities on the nearby ice-covered planet of Chu Nho. But as the mining operations continued industry — primarily that of [[Hephaestus Industries]], then dwelling in the shadow of [[Einstein Engines]] — followed, and the inhabitable regions of the planet began to rapidly increase in population and importance over the 2200s.

As New Hai Phong’s industry expanded, so too did Hephaestus’ hold over the planet. As the mines of Chu Nho began to dry up in the early 2300s the planet became more and more reliant upon Hephaestus and the industry it brought: without the sprawling, smoke-belching factories of Hephaestus and the crowded habitation blocs that housed its tens of thousands of employees, New Hai Phong would simply be another Middle Ring mining colony destined for a slow decline into irrelevance. To avoid this fate more and more liberties were given to Hephaestus: regulations on building were lifted, palms were greased to look the other way, and the culture of corruption that now defines much of life on New Hai Phong formed as a result. By the 2400s, Hephaestus’ hold over the planet was all but assured. It is estimated that roughly one in three Hephaestus Industries products undergo final assembly on New Hai Phong, and around four in five products have at least one constituent part assembled on the planet. The presence of Hephaestus is impossible to miss.

But not all are willing to live alongside Hephaestus and the culture of corruption that it has created. Throughout the 2400s there have been various anti-corporate movements on New Hai Phong, but the pervasive corporate influence and corruption of the planet has seen them repeatedly stamped out or bought out. The one movement that has survived is the New Hai Phongese Socialism of Senator Le Hanh Trang and her party, the Solarian Socialist Unity Party. But with their inability to dislodge Hephaestus from the planet using the Solarian Corporate Authority, it remains to be seen who the New Hai Phong of the future will belong to.

On '''October 19, 2460''', New Hai Phong was struck by the largest terrorist attack in the Alliance in recent memory. Several cities and even an orbital shipyard were targeted with a series of bombs found out to be military-grade, with Nhom Hy Vhong reporting the heaviest damage and casualties: immediately after, the planet underwent a period of lockdown by both Solarian and Hephaestus security forces. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Tajara Revolutionary Army in retaliation to the two Tajara bans and the perceived inequality of Tajara in the Alliance. The bombings prompted much outrage towards both the government for its inability to prevent the attack and towards Tajara themselves, culminating in the Third Tajara Ban on '''November 6, 2462''', of which Senator Le Hanh Trang was a major sponsor, alongside Senator Hendrik Strom.

==Environment==
New Hai Phong orbits a binary star system, named Mau Sang and Tia Sang. Hai Phongese years are about ten Terran months and, due to the planet’s orbit, the cooler seasons are about two Terran months shorter than the hotter seasons. Heavy winds and monsoons hit much of Nha O during the monsoon season, which starts towards the end of spring and ends during mid-fall.

Water covers about 63% of the surface of New Hai Phong with one large, snaking landmass called Nha O covering the rest of the planet. What is not dotted with lakes, rivers, and swamps on Nha O is mostly covered in a savannah environment, with deserts closer to the equator. New Hai Phong has a near-breathable surface atmosphere and a similar gravity to Earth. The only equipment needed to breathe comfortably on the surface is a respirator mask. The average temperature at the equator is 36°C, 30°C at the 35th parallel during the summer, 22°C at the 35th parallel during the winter, and 10°C at the poles.

=== Flora and Fauna ===
* '''Cua quy (''Orcinocarcinus''):''' A species of large crustaceans, usually around two to three feet tall, with carapace colours ranging from rich brown to dark green. Semi-aquatic, they live on the beaches of Nha O and burrow into the sand to attack unsuspecting prey to lay their eggs in the corpses. Luckily, cua quy completely ignore humans and some even show signs of a “human allergy”, in which contact with a human can cause some manner of infection.
* '''Co duyen (''Caniforme fidelis''):''' A long-eared mammal with reddish fur that travels in packs in the boreal regions of Nha O. They are omnivorous scavenger-hunters, seen with equal parts endearment and notoriety in the cities of New Hai Phong due to their tendency to root around in garbage bins and slip into restaurants seeking food. They are incredibly social animals, and some New Hai Phongese even keep them as pets. However, the environmental bureau strongly advises keeping co duyen in homes due to their restless nature, and they are known to tear up apartments when unsupervised.
* '''Zai nhieu nai (''Bubaliforme newhaiphongae''):''' A heavyset ungulate similar in appearance to a water buffalo. Zai nhieu nai roam Nha O in packs, migrating from pole to pole during the monsoon season when their usual grazing grounds become flooded. When they reach the beaches, they are often targets for the predation of cua quy. Some farmers on New Hai Phong herd zai nhieu nai, cultivating them for their soft, waterproof fur, fatty meat, and rich milk.
* '''Nguoi jan (''Troglodytes nguoi''):''' A species of simians, roughly four to five feet in height when fully erect, with a light covering of fur that ranges in colour from brown, red, and very rarely white. They have short tails and are semi-bipedal, forming social groups remarkably similar to early hominids. They are also highly intelligent, making regular use of rocks and branches as tools to hunt or gather. Much anthropological and biological study has been performed on nguoi jan; some scientists to speculate they could one day evolve into hominids similar to ''Homo sapiens''. Nguoi jan and their habitats are protected by law on New Hai Phong, though recently there is some concern among scientific societies that [[Hephaestus Industries]] may attempt to subvert said regulations for further development.
* '''Hoa lua co (''Pictus triticum''):''' Tall, stalk-like grasses that occasionally bloom with orange flowers. Hoa lua co is edible, and can be crushed into hoa flour or the flowers collected to decorate homes.
* '''Ngot la tree (''Lissoalbus''):''' A genus of leafy softwood tree with shallow roots found growing all over Nha O. They spread and grow very easily, and prove surprisingly resilient and flexible during typhoons and tropical storms. Bending rather than breaking, a ngot la will be fully uprooted and flung across the land before it actually cracks from strong winds. Ngot la leaves are often used for seasoning in New Hai Phong cuisine.

==Government and Politics==
[[File:haiphong_flag.png|Government flag of New Hai Phong.|thumb]]
Local politics on New Hai Phong — generally that below the senatorial level — is not defined by political ideology or economic class due to the endemic corruption of the planet. Instead, it is defined by local communities known as blockfams that have banded together in order to influence local politics. Blockfams are entirely willing to barter and engage in local corruption themselves in order to get what they and their community members want or need, and are not idealistic communities. Blockfams have been known to compete against each other or collude with one another as their needs change, but hardly anything is constant in the relationships between blockfams, the local authorities, or other blockfams. Oftentimes negotiations between blockfams are not done with currency, but by bartering power, favours, and resources between themselves so that there is no credit trail should the planetary authorities, who themselves are corrupt by many measures, decide that any given blockfam’s operations are inconvenient. Corruption is a fact of life on the planet, and blockfams are simply a way for the average resident of New Hai Phong to get what they need from a corrupt system.

Local governance across the planet beneath the city-scale varies greatly. In one part of a city one could find a corporate-dominated community where Hephaestus owns everything including the police and emergency services, while in another a neighborhood sleepy apartment buildings which pay bribes to the local authorities to look the other way on the illegal gambling dens in the basements, while somewhere else still, the occasional city district or blockfam which operates untainted by corruption, or at least mostly untainted. Despite this presence however, many in the government and authorities do fight a nearly impossible battle against corruption through their actions as individuals or as part of the institutions they represent, but challenges are great. The omnipresent interest of Hephaestus industries dominates life on New Hai Phong, the money from the illicit gambling rooms run by the Zau Gwai Jyu is alluring, and already present expectations of corruption do not make fighting the problems easy. Anti-corruption proceedings themselves often are used merely as instruments for one corrupt politician to dispose of a political rival in a “legitimate” manner, rather than hiring a hit. Despite these challenges though, many on the planet dream of a New Hai Phong with a more just way of life. Some galvanize politically with Senator Trang’s movement, while others who have lost faith in any and all politics simply work to fight corruption in their own lives in the small ways where they can.

New Hai Phong’s government is generally regarded to be substandard by the broader Alliance due to rampant corruption that is present at every level of civil government. The planet has a singular senator, Le Hanh Trang, in the Alliance Senate. Locally, the government of New Hai Phong on the planet itself is divided between its three cities and the powerful governors that rule over them. Due to their ten year terms and the immense corruption of the megacities themselves, these governors essentially serve for life and almost always come from local political dynasties that have the money to buy their way into the governorship. As lifelong rulers of the planet’s megacities, the three governors of New Hai Phong wield immense power over the planet. Thanks to this its planetary governor must often defer to the city governors’ demands, and thus the demands of Hephaestus Industries by extension.

Compared to the city governors, the planet’s legitimate Solarian governor, Lai Naam, is nearly powerless and almost completely defanged. A Frost-era appointee, Lai was given his position in 2462 and told that he would have all the support he needed in order to fight widespread corruption on New Hai Phong. But shortly after his appointment the phoron crisis began, and the Alliance rapidly had much bigger problems to deal with. Lai found himself unsupported and at the mercy of his “subordinate” governors, and his situation only further deteriorated following the death of Frost and the Solarian Collapse of 2463. Now, with the SCA having given up on New Hai Phong and the three governors as powerful as ever, Lai seems to be a defeated man, content to simply wait out the remainder of his appointment and retire to a comfortable apartment in the Core Worlds after it is over.

===Megalopolis Governors===
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====Quách Diễm Nguyen====
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The current Governor of Cua Song, Quách Diễm Nguyen (b. 2410) is a woman from the Quách family known for her deep connections to both [[Hephaestus Industries]] and [[Idris Incorporated]]. Nguyen’s two terms as governor have seen Cua Song’s more affluent neighborhoods along the coast prosper through tourism that is often connected to Idris Incorporated. More inland neighborhoods further from the Sanh Song Sea have seen little of this prosperity, with Nguyen having ignored much of southern Cua Song in favor of the touristy north. Southern Cua Song is a hotbed of New Hai Phongese Socialism, though its residents remain unable to dislodge the governor.
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====Lý Quốc Thành====
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The Governor of Nhom Hy Vong, Lý Quốc Thành (b. 2390) is deeply entwined with Hephaestus Industries, which is at its strongest in the massive factories of Nhom Hy Vong. Thành, in his three terms as governor, has done much to further the interests of his corporate sponsors and much less for the typical New Hai Phonger in his megacity. The advent of the SCA in 2463 was a temporary cause for immense panic by Thành and his family, and the Lýs are rumored to have nearly fled the governor’s mansion in the night for [[Biesel]]. This rumor, and his constant favoring of Hephaestus, have won Thành few friends, and the younger residents of Nhom Hy Vong have turned many of its districts into strongholds of New Hai Phongese Socialism.
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====Yueng Long====
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The Governor of Ton Gwai Pei, Yueng Long (b. 2411) is unlike his two counterparts: he makes no efforts to hide his corruption, and actively promotes it as a positive aspect of his governorship. Anybody can do almost anything in Ton Gwai, as long as they have enough money to pay the governor for it. As a result, Ton Gwai is divided between dozens of small “fiefdoms”, supervised by people that have paid Yueng for the right to control the area. Entire districts can be governed by criminal syndicates, local notables, or megacorporations (generally Hephaestus, if industrial, or Idris, if intended for tourism). This system has made Yueng one of the wealthiest men on New Hai Phong, and he has resisted all attempts to remove him due to this wealth and the support of his fellow city governors. Despite his personal success New Hai Phongese Socialism has continued to build among the ordinary residents of Tom Gwai, which suffer all of the issues and gain none of the profit of the system of graft.
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===New Hai Phongese Socialism===

One word defines the government of New Hai Phong at every level: corruption. Bribes, often originating in Hephaestus Industries, have become a part of daily life for the planet’s citizens, many of which have long regarded local corruption as simply a fact of life in the Alliance’s industrial capital. Anti-corruption efforts are often stymied and die out before they pass even the lowest levels of the planet’s governing body, and many believe that Hephaestus Industries is similarly behind this. Yet despite the general apathy of the planet towards its corruption, there is an exception: Le Hanh Trang’s New Hai Phongese Socialists.

Long viewed as a crusader against corruption, Le Hanh Trang and her party, the Solarian Socialist Unity Party (SSUP), have their roots — and power base — firmly in the widespread dissatisfaction felt by many younger Haiphongers with the corruption of their government in recent years. Trang and the SSUP first rode this wave to win New Hai Phong’s only Alliance Senate seat, and have long attempted to break the stranglehold of Hephaestus over the planet through legislative means. Yet despite her best efforts, Trang was unable to break the planet and Hephaestus apart even during the height of the anti-megacorporate Solarian Corporate Authority. The once-public Trang has slunk into the political shadows following her defeat, and rumors have begun to swirl that she and her party are merely proxies of Einstein Engines that intend to sell New Hai Phong to it after wresting it from Hephaestus. The survival of Trang as a viable candidate for the position of Prime Minister is anything but certain, but her movement — with its emphasis on fighting for the common Solarian worker against megacorporations — will assuredly outlast her.

==Economics==

By leveraging their building rights on New Hai Phong, [[Hephaestus Industries]] has managed to seep into every crack of the planet. Large swathes of land on New Hai Phong are owned by Hephaestus, connected to the three megalopolises through bullet train networks. Hephaestus Industries has built numerous industrial factories, manufacturing plants, and research labs over the landscape, with the largest complexes being nicknamed cities. Hephaestus’ headquarters on New Hai Phong is the Sieng Nang Zi Complex, just 40 kilometers from the outskirts of Cua Song.

Thanks to Hephaestus, New Hai Phong’s economy is comparatively a roaring success. Though the planet loses significant GDP from corruption, unemployment figures are through the floor and New Hai Phong maintains zero planetary debt. Hephaestus provides around 70% of all employment with 15% of Hephaestus jobs dealing with management and the remaining 85% dealing with all kinds of manufacturing, often the manufacturing of atmospheric equipment.

New Hai Phong also invests heavily in agriculture, being said to produce nearly all of the galaxy’s tobacco. However, tobacco has slowly lost popularity due to the outlawing and growing stigma of tobacco usage in many systems. Ironically enough, because of the thin atmosphere and airtight homes, few on New Hai Phong have even smoked tobacco and chewing tobacco is frowned upon because of its harsh effects on health and appearance.

New Hai Phong has gradually branched out to other crops such as tea, coffee beans, cocoa beans, rice, soybean, and sugarcane. In particular, Hai Phongese tea is very popular as both a local and an exported product with many locals drinking tea with almost every meal.

==Culture and Demographics==

For most of New Hai Phong's inhabitants, living conditions are poor. The metropolises have double-populated hab-cube buildings to save space, with privacy being rare. Because of this, "blockmates" will treat each other in a familial manner, calling themselves "blockfams". Blockfams are incredibly tight-knit, and loyalty to one’s blockfam is fierce and passionate; legendary disputes have been held between multiple large blockfams. Blocks inhabited by poorer citizens are often in poor repair with jury-rigging solutions and shoddy fortifications generally left to local communities.

Outside of the three metropolises or surrounding towns, a rare few settlements exist in the deserts and jungles. Desert-dwellers live in small familial groups, usually working as moisture farmers or hunters that live off the land.

Corruption is also a constant problem on New Hai Phong. All three of the planet's metropolises struggle with bribery at every level, from local police departments to top officials. It is an open secret that [[Hephaestus Industries]] is behind most of these bribes as a means of retaining financial control over the planet. The practice of bribery itself is essential to everyday life on New Hai Phong; shopkeeps unable to pay "fees" to the city police find their business constantly raided on suspicions of every offence imaginable. Similarly, hapless tourists have found themselves booted off of the planet for non-specific crimes against local communities after failing to provide supplementary "administration fees" with their travel papers.

Substance abuse and addiction, especially alcoholism, are also major problems due to the variety of high-stress situations both Hephaestus employment and the planet place on many citizens. This problem is only worsened by the fact that the legal drinking age on New Hai Phong is 13 and the legal age to buy alcohol is 17, leading to numerous teenagers falling to binge drinking. Though many drink, it is considered shameful to be inebriated in public. Heavy fines and mandatory community service in gruelling environments are given to those caught intoxicated, along with peer-shaming. In recent years, however, there has been a steep decline in teenage alcoholism, giving hope that the next generation may face fewer problems with drug abuse and addiction.

===Fashion===

Much of New Hai Phongese fashion is very practical, modifying both traditional and modern clothing to suit the environment of New Hai Phong. Conical hats, especially non la, are commonplace to shield citizens from the sweltering suns and heavy rains. For those in desert regions, a transparent, knee-length veil is attached to the rim of the hat to block the harsh effects of sandstorms. Conical hats are often left plain or decorated to better suit the style of one’s clothing. The most basic New Hai Phongese look is a conical hat, a thin tank top, airy shorts, and sneakers with breathable socks. Basic athletic gear is also common.

Traditional fashion is still somewhat popular on New Hai Phong. Ao dai are commonplace, though not without changes for the New Hai Phongese climate. The dress is sometimes sleeveless or cropped to the knee or mid-thigh and the trousers are sometimes made tighter and often cut to match the shorter dress styles. New Hai Phongese ao yem have mostly remained unchanged from the traditional style with the backless garments remaining popular year round. The slightly less common cheongsam are usually made more breathable and are similarly cropped. Changshan are usually made more form fitting, and some New Hai Phongese changshan are styled to be worn open, whether with an undershirt or not.

As the respirator mask is an essential part of life on New Hai Phong, it has become a staple part of local fashion. Respirators are often made in vibrant colors and decorated with stickers, neon-tubing, beads, LEDs, or whatever else the owner prefers. Some more skilled in engineering modify theirs by adding visors, changing the shape, or attaching additional pieces.

===Cuisine===

Traditional New Hai Phongese cuisine uses animal meat and the hearty plants native to New Hai Phong. The resulting palate consists of soft, sour meats balanced against tough, sweet herb stalks. These herbs are often sucked on after the main course for flavor and nutrition. Most meals are entirely plant-based due to the inflated price of meat, leading to dietary supplement pills and gummies becoming commonplace. For the lower and lower-middle classes, rice, tofu, and other soy-based substitutes are often consumed due to the much cheaper price compared to native crops and meats. All folk on New Hai Phong enjoy a variety of wellmade desserts, including xoi la dua, a dish of sticky rice topped with Nha O Ngot La leaves, and che troi nuoc, sweet rice dumplings filled with beans. Blockfams often have a “noichu nuong”, a team of chefs and cooks individually called ”chudau”, who dedicate their time solely to making food for their blockmates.

Drinks are also a key part of Hai Phongese cuisine, stemming from poorer citizens needing more flavor in their soy product and supplement-based diet. Teas in particular are common due to New Hai Phong’s often forgotten tea leaf farms. White, green, matcha, and honeybush tea are all popular among those stressed out by New Hai Phongese life due to their soft, sweet, soothing flavors. For those who do a lot of physical or manual labor, black tea and pu-erh tea are popular because of their hearty, strengthening flavors. Both native and imported herbs and flowers are usually added for additional flavor, whether to make the taste sweeter or stronger.

One popular food on New Hai Phong is “dua zi mon”, literally “chopstick food” when translated, which is prepared by wrapping small balls of cooked meat, cooked fish, or raw fish in hoa dough before baking. Once finished, dua zi mon is ready to eat. It is a popular game among friends to see who can get the most duazi mon from the serving platter onto their plate unsurprisingly using one of the most common utensils through human space--chopsticks.

===Education===

Thanks to heavy funding from Hephaestus Industries, many colleges and universities offer incredible experience for those working in manufacturing and atmospherics. One such college is the Atmospheric Learning Institute of Kho Nang, or ALIKN, which is the main institute in Cua Song’s University District. ALIKN’s students are often jokingly called “aliens” as a fudging of the acronym’s spelling. Many atmospheric technicians, engine technicians, and toxin researchers come out of ALIKN, which also holds a small but steady group of airborne virologists.

Unsurprisingly, many graduates from the university are snatched up by Hephaestus who offers scholarship-to-employment programs to the gifted. Other corporations such as Einstein Engines also snipe graduates for their relevant departments. One notable graduate is Elisa Tung, inventor of the Shok-Free Protected Atmospherics System integrated into most high-end combat exosuits.

==Population and Major Cities==

===Cua Song===
Cua Song is the capital of New Hai Phong, built around the coast of Sanh Song Sea, a freshwater sea rich with life and resources and a source of pride of the denizens of the megalopolis. Like the other three megalopolises, Cua Song is made up of modular “habitation cubes” that are essentially extremely compact and airtight pieces of a home that are combined to form proper buildings. Hab-cube buildings are organized by blocks. Cua Song is known for its very scenic seaside view and beautifully decorated hab-buildings, becoming the main tourist location on New Hai Phong.

Grand hotels can be found along the coast and uptown in Cua Song, often connected to the Ngoi Sao Chuyen Spaceport by tramways. Minibuses shuttle tourists downtown to neon-lit nightclubs, vibrant lounges, and lively night markets while taxis bring others uptown to the elegant restaurants, ornate water puppet theaters, pampering spas, and classy music clubs. Some tourists wander the busy streets, trying local street foods like soy-fish dua zi mon and tea-soaked hoa bread or snapping pictures with friendly locals. Bullet trains shoot out of Cho Nga Tu Station bringing more adventurous tourists to Ton Gwai Pei and workers off to Hephaestus Industries’ Sieng Nang Zi Complex.

Few tourists, however, visit the poorer areas of Cua Song far away from the Sanh Song Sea where the streets are almost empty, the rundown hab-buildings are covered in political graffiti, and the sidewalks are littered in sand-covered garbage. Southern Cua Song, often called Ghe Song, was built over barren desert. Extreme sandstorms in Ghe Song are a constant problem during “monsoon” season, often leading to blockfams organizing strikes on other blocks for much needed supplies.

Some notable blockfams in Cua Song include the peppy, friendly folk of Mat Troi Block, the traditional, yet open-minded residents of Bieu Tuong Block, and the talented and humble artisans of Tinh Than Block. Some notable blockfams in Ghe Song include the shady, dark-loving recluses of Tinh Than Block and the anti-corporate, passionate graffiti artists of Noi Day Block.

===Nhom Hy Vong===
Nhom Hy Vong is by far the area with the heaviest Hephaestus presence and where much of the planet’s industry comes from. The megalopolis sprawls along the Sea of Ca Ngay, the largest freshwater sea on New Hai Phong, and is divided in two by the Suot Maan River. To the east lies Gung Hy Vong, home to many factories and office buildings, and to the west is Nong Hy Vong which is packed with apartments and greenhouses.

In Gung Hy Vong, Hephaestus Industries owns a massive number of manufacturing plants, office buildings, and industrial factories. A good number of Hephaestus’ employees on New Hai Phong work in Gung Hy Vong, with most of the rest working in the Sieng Nang Zi Complex that connects to the city by bullet train. Nong Hy Vong is a stark contrast with brightly colored hab-cube buildings topped with gardens and giant glass greenhouses spread throughout the area. The region is known for its wonderful interior decorating and tasty vegetable dishes.

Some notable blockfams in Gung Hy Vong include the cold and distant folk of Khong Bo Cam Block and the stepford smilers of Gia Mao Block. Some notable blockfams in Nong Hy Vong include the extremely religious residents of Ton Giao Block and the family-orientated farmers of Nuoi Faan Block.

===Ton Gwai Pei===
Though the smallest of the megalopolises, Ton Gwai Pei is much more densely packed. Towering skyscrapers made of hab-cubes and designed with the help of feng shui consultants loom over the crowded, narrow streets of the city. Built on the coast of the Sanh Song Sea opposite to Cua Song, Ton Gwai Pei is known for its gambling houses, seedy nightclubs, and open-secret of a criminal underbelly. Tourists looking for more “excitement” often take the bullet train from safe, peaceful Cua Song to tangle in Ton Gwai Pei’s grime and bustle.

Unlike much of Ton Gwai Pei, or the rest of New Hai Phong for that matter, there is a sizable area called Zau Gwai Jyu where public intoxication is tolerated. This is mostly due to the heavy handed control the local crime syndicate have over Zau Gwai Jyu. The Pou Zyu Sau, as they are called, keep a grip over the management of Zau Gwai Jyu with lots of money, a decent amount of threats, and a handful of murders. The Pou Zyu Sau run multiple “hedon dens” where customers can partake in any drug, narcotic, or alcohol that won’t clog the vents.

Some notable blockfams in Ton Gwai Pei include the sultry, hedonistic gamblers of Con Seoi Block, the fatalistic artists of Tu Su Son Block, and the cutthroat businesspeople of Cong Hoi Block. One notable blockfam in Zau Gwai Jyu are the strong willed, drug free folk of Seng Tinh Zau Block.

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[[Category:Humanity]]

Pluto

2024-07-04T21:57:22Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infobox. not sure if i'll keep the image of pluto, but hey

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{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Pluto
|System = [[Sol]]
|Image = Pluto view.jpg
|Sector = [[The Orion Spur#Jewel Worlds|Jewel Worlds]]
|Capital = Tereshkovgrad
|Species = Human
|Languages = Sol Common, Tradeband
|Demonyms = Plutonian
|Nation = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
In the far-flung reaches of the [[Sol]] system lies the planet of '''Pluto''', one of the last bodies in the system to be formally colonised by humanity. While the planet (though the matter of it being a true planet is somewhat up for debate) itself lacks any significant resource deposits beyond nitrogen ice (which also makes up the majority of its surface,) its position as the nearest significant stellar body to the Oort Cloud, and the Cloud’s significant Helium-3 deposits, means Pluto has had a great impact upon the Sol Alliance itself. And thanks to its original colonisers - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - the planet has developed an economic system that may very well be unique in the Orion Spur.

'''Pluto's unique status as a colony established by the USSR and its unique system of government that is distrustful of outsiders from "corporate influenced," places, characters born on Pluto will have names and appearances characteristic of the peoples native to the Eastern European or Baltic republics in the USSR, Russia, the Caucasus Mountains, or Central Asia. Only native Plutonians may select the Plutonian accent. This is enforceable by server moderators and admins. Members of the Communist Party of the Supreme Soviet of the Plutonian System and Surrounding Space may not hold command positions on SCC vessels or facilities.'''
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==

Before the 2130s Pluto was regarded as something of a non-entity by the nations of Earth and their colonial subjects. It was far and away the most remote “planet” in the Sol System aside from a loose collection of dwarf planets dwelling even beyond the Plutonian orbit and lacked any reasons to make it an attractive colony beyond prestige. Though the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics laid ''de jure'' claim to the planet during the Second Space Age in the 2070s ongoing economic issues on Earth and the sheer distance between the two planets stymied any attempts at colonisation until the discovery of Helium-3 fueled warp engines by the USSR in 2130. With the proliferation of warp engines, inevitability after 2030, there was an increasingly large demand for the mining and refining of Helium-3, with the majority of the Sol System’s Helium-3 was located in the distant Oort Cloud. This combined with the desire of the Party’s bureaucracy to show that the USSR was still relevant in the era of increasingly powerful corporations led to the colonisation of Pluto in 2131 by the USSR. Immediately following the launch of the rockets that would carry the first settlers to Pluto, the USSR’s People’s Commissariat for Cosmological Sciences successfully lobbied for the reclassification of Pluto as the ninth planet of the Sol System in order to bring the Soviet Union’s new colony greater amounts of prestige in the eyes of the United Nations.

A desire to mine as much Helium-3 as possible in the shortest time and most efficient manner led to the Soviet Space Program establishing facilities not just on Pluto itself, but also upon all five of its moons. While Pluto, thanks to an extreme drive by the Soviet Union and high demand for Helium-3,has been a prosperous colony from the year it was founded up until today, its roots in the planned economy of the 22nd century USSR have left it has a somewhat odd planet compared to the rest of the corporate-dominated Sol System. The '''People's Commissariat for Economics and Finance of the Plutonian Special Administrative Zone''' ('''NKEF-OAZP''') dictates Helium-3 mining in the Oort Cloud as per a contract between the Sol Alliance and the Plutonian System, then the NKEF-OAZP sells off its Helium-3 reserves to the Solarian Alliance, and then the Alliance, through the Solarian Corporate Authority, sells off this Helium-3 to private actors. In the post-Collapse Sol System Pluto marches on as the Alliance’s main source of Helium-3 and, despite its bizarre economic system, one of the most important planets in the Alliance. Glory has indeed come to those ones that looked forward.

==Environment==

As the furthest planet from the Sun Pluto is extremely frigid at the best of times, with light taking upwards of six hours to reach Pluto from the Sun. Thus the majority of the planet’s surface is covered in a lay of nitrogen-based ice occasionally cracked by cryovolcanos that shoot massive plumes of water and ammonia upwards of hundreds of kilometers into the air, reaching heights that are able to interfere with passing spacecraft and shuttles. Pluto’s gravity is also very low compared to Earth, which has led to the creation of what has been termed one of the wonders of the Sol System: a massive gravity generator built in the core of the planet which provides Earth-equivalent gravity. The five moons of Pluto have similar generators built into them, and likewise possess similar environments - frigid, icey, and free of most valuable resources. But, nevertheless, well-located for the refining and processing of Helium-3.

==Government and Politics==

[[File:Pluto.png|The flag of the Communist Party of the Supreme Soviet of the Plutonian System and Surrounding Space.|thumb]]
The Plutonian government is a very atypical one by the standards of the modern [[Orion Spur]] - it is a bicameral system divided along the line between economic and political matters. As per its colonizer, the planet is run by a system of Soviets beginning at the neighborhood level and concluding with the Presidium of the Supreme Plutonian Soviet located in the system’s capitol of Tereshkovgrad on Pluto itself. The Presidium manages the politics of Plutonian System, and - critically - is the organization responsible for issuing SPOK memberships in addition to providing temporary residency permits for non-Plutonians and passports for Plutonians to travel abroad. It often works alongside its economic counterpart, the People’s Commissariat, in interstellar concerns. The NKEF-OAZP, otherwise known as the People’s Commissariat, is responsible for all economic policy in the Plutonian System. The most important duty of the NKEF-OAZP by far is the setting of yearly Helium-3 mining limits and targets, giving the Plutonian System large amounts of control over the price of Helium-3 as it goes to market and bringing significant revenue back to both the Presidium and Commissariat in the process while also ensuring that the extremely plentiful Helium-3 deposits in the Oort Cloud are not strip mined until the market crashes.

There are two key figures in the political environment of the Plutonian System: the '''Chairman of the Supreme Plutonian Soviet''' and the '''People’s Commissar for Economics, Finance, and Industry'''. The current Chairman, Konstantin Malashenko, is beloved throughout the Plutonian System as a man of the people that has used the increasingly large profits from Helium-3 since the invention of the Suzuki-Zhang Hammer Drive to massively improve the living conditions on Pluto itself, though the Plutonian System itself is far from a tourist haven. Meanwhile the current People’s Commissar, Nadezhda Petlina, has overseen a massive increase in the amount of Helium-3 mining to be conducted during 2463, and the NKEF-OAZP has begun - for the first time ever - issuing mining permits to non-Plutonian ships not affiliated with a megacorporation. While this opening of mining rights is unpopular with many on Pluto, the sheer size of the Oort Cloud and massive demand for fuel in the post-collapse Solarian Alliance make it necessary for supply to meet demand. With massively spiking demands for its primary export the future of the Plutonian System looks, if nothing else, extremely profitable.

==Economics==

The economic system of Pluto is, as previously mentioned, a unique one in the [[Sol Alliance]] and perhaps in the entire Orion Spur. The People’s Commissariat for Economics and Finance sets yield targets for Pluto and its surrounding moons, then sells off its reserve to the Sol Alliance’s government (which earmarks a significant amount for the Solarian Navy,) before it is finally sold to private actors such as [[Einstein Engines]] (the primary purchaser of Helium-3 mined in the Oort cloud and refined on Pluto). While this may initially come off as an extremely inefficient and irrational method of mining what is perhaps the most valuable substance in the Orion Spur after phoron, various factors such as the colony’s early founding, the relative power of the Solarian government, and the low demand for Helium-3 have kept the mining rights for the entire Oort Cloud in the hands of the NKEF-OAZP. With the support of the Solarian Corporate Authority, the Commissariat’s rule over the Oort Cloud seems beyond reproach.

Pluto’s centrally-ruled and designed economy much resembles the industrial towns of the Soviet Union, and has led to an atypical system of organization designed around the exploitation of the moons of Pluto to create the most efficient and safe system for the refinement of Helium-3. Locally known as the Geliy-Zavod System, the five moons of Pluto are divided into two supply chains. In the Geliy-Zavod System fuel from mining stations and vessels is first sent to Charon, the primary transport hub that services Pluto’s Helium-3 refining facilities (the irony of Charon’s name, it seems, was not lost on the Soviets) before being sent to conversion facilities on Styx or Nix in order to be transformed from “raw” Helium-3 into a concentrated, refined form more readily favored for use as fuel. From these conversion facilities the concentrated Helium-3 is shipped, for further improvements, to refining plants on Kerberos and Hydra for Styx and Nix respectively. Following this the refined and concentrated Helium-3 is shipped to Charon, before being loaded onto freighters bound to locations throughout the Alliance.

While the system of refining and processing Helium-3 is centrally-directed and designed, its method of mining Helium-3 is not. Thanks to a truly massive spike in demand as a result of the ongoing phoron shortage, the preexisting Commissariat-directed system of mining organized around state-owned mining barges and outposts has found itself unable to keep up with demand. As a result, the People’s Commissar for Economics, Finance, and Industry, Nadezhda Petlina, has done something unprecedented: in late 2462 she opened the market for private, non-megacorporate, actors to purchase limited mining licenses in the Oort Cloud. The resulting craze has seen a wild variety of public and private actors move into the Oort Cloud, though the wealth remains in the Plutonian System thanks to it, and only it, possessing the appropriate facilities to make engine-grade Helium-3 aside from mostly-decommissioned facilities on [[Luna]] that are too small and too far from the Oort Cloud to be economically viable. It remains to see how this “Helium Rush" will impact the state-dominated economy of the Plutonian System.

Even in the era of massive megacorporations the Plutonian System remains a command economy under the often-heavy hand of the People's Commissariat for Economics and Finance of the Plutonian Special Administrative Zone, which effectively controls all aspects of the economy. Massive bureaucratic interference by the Presidium and Commissariat is similarly common in the Plutonian System, and travelling abroad is often an exercise in exceedingly bureaucratic frustration. The first option is to go through the traditional bureaucracy to receive a work passport, while the second option is to enter oneself into the Commissariat’s labour permit lottery - both options allot roughly half of the Commissariat’s yearly permits. Most privileges - such as permanent residence in the Plutonian System - remain locked behind official Presidium-granted Party membership.

==Culture and Demographics==

Nearly every aspect of life on Pluto has some government presence, beginning from the state education system and the Youth's Interstellar Pioneer Program. Most outsiders believe it to be a simple way for the socialist administration to implement a mass youth program for ideological indoctrination, propaganda, and a tool for public image. This is not a false judgment, but the organization serves a variety of purposes. The Youth’s Interstellar Pioneer Program, or the Pioneers, is a state organization that, among efforts of indoctrination and communist education, opens up an easy way for Plutonian youths to experience apprenticeships, internships, or unique opportunities only available to those in the organization. Young people in the organization are often enrolled in Soviet-style scouting activities and community service projects which act as an optional education and camaraderie-building that provides networking head starts and practical skills in social cooperation and various professions. These opportunities can not only make former Pioneers diligent workers for the state, but also to any other employer that the few Plutonians who get the rare chance to work abroad may be hired by. Children can join the Pioneers at age 8 and can remain in the system until they turn 20.

All citizens of Pluto are required to be registered members of the '''Communist Party of the Supreme Soviet of the Plutonian System and Surrounding Space''' ('''PSSSR-SPOK''', often colloquially called the “'''SPOK'''” by residents of the planet) or face fines and eventual deportation from the planet. Around 95% of Pluto's population is found on the surface of the dwarf planet, thanks to the original central planning committee designating Pluto itself as the primary residential zone, and its moons as the Helium-3 processing and refining areas.

But despite the government of the Plutonian System providing a great amount of welfare to its citizens and the absence of megacorporation domination, life in the system is far from the most free in the Alliance. Uniquely in the Sol Alliance, anti-Party sentiment is a felony in the Plutonian System that can carry up to five years in prison and - more importantly - a summary stripping of one’s Party membership. Party membership is currently restricted to Solarian citizens only and there are no known non-human Party members. Dual citizenship automatically disqualifies one from a Party membership due to concerns over split loyalties.

===Microdistricts===

Plutonian society is, thanks to its unusual origins, an extremely closely-knit one centered around "microdistricts", the Plutonian term for a residential neighborhood. These microdistricts form the backbone of Pluto itself and number in the thousands, effectively covering almost the entire surface. The exception to this is massive gravity generator complex at the northern pole and the anti-asteroid shielding complex at the southern pole. One’s life revolves around their microdistrict and the community associated with it thanks to a massive central planning bureaucracy that ensures the workers in a given refinery facility - or from a given mining outpost or vessel - live in the same microdistrict, creating a shared sense of community on and off of the job. Public services (such as medical facilities, schools, transportation stations) and small businesses (the only type of privately-owned businesses permitted in the Plutonian System) can be found in every microdistrict, and those that work in them likewise live where they work; in the microdistrict. Aside from apartments and small businesses most establishments are owned and operated by the Plutonian government.

Most residents on Pluto reside in large hab-complexes arranged in the microdistrict system that are typically partially underground for safety. Housing on Pluto is by design very utilitarian and non-extravagant with all families provided a sufficient apartment for their use by the central planning committee. While this makes Pluto highly unattractive for immigration it has led to a very tight-knit and communal life that few of its residents move away from permanently, leading to a very stable (if still somewhat small by the standards of the Sol System) population. The majority of the current residents of Pluto are the descendants of the original Soviet colonists and immigrants from Earth, with a small minority coming from other human planets.

===Architecture===

Plutonian cities are often described as unique among environmentally-inhospitable planets in that the typical approaches of either domed or subterranean cities are eschewed in favour of sprawls of space-proofed buildings all connected to one another, with braced airtight insulated metal canopies at the ground level. These large networks of aboveground tunnels cover everything from streets to parks, to shorter buildings, and are typically built in grid patterns much like a typical street system would be. This often gives Plutonian cities the appearance of looking like a vast silvery spread on the surface of the planet with any building taller than three stories poking out above the base metallic layer of the planet’s cities. A few cities break this trend, but the “Plutonian Carpet” style of city building is almost universal on the planet. Living conditions in the cities are not horrible, but many of the more populated locale on the planet can feel cramped even to those used to urban living. Despite this, they are not as tightly packed as other large cities in the Spur, like the megalopolises on [[New Hai Phong]], the poorly-planned boomtowns on [[Konyang]], or the unending stretches of steel found on [[Callisto]].

==Major Settlements==
Each city on Pluto has a number of industries assigned to it by the government of the planet in order to appropriately coordinate the planned economy of the small world. This has led many towns on Pluto to identify strongly with their trade and take pride in local facilities such as factories, assembly plants, or farms. Along with these normal, typically industrial, cities, there also exist a small number of closed cities on the planet, localities that typically are involved with scientific or military functions, and are deemed too important by the Plutonian or Solarian governments to be open to the general public. Special permission is needed from the Plutonian authorities to enter, leave, or obtain residency in these areas. The most major Plutonian cities are listed below.

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===Soyuz Landing===
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The first and largest settlement on Pluto, named after the rocket that took the original colonists of the planet to their landing site, also called Soyuz Landing. The city is unique among Plutonian cities in that it is a single massive dome, the largest in the Solar System since the destruction of the great arcologies of [[Mars]] in the Violet Dawn disaster. Soyuz Landing's economy revolves around managing the various operations of the Plutonian economy and government, such as manufacturing and especially helium mining. Similarly, all government ministries are located in the Landing. The Landing also serves as a manufacturing centre for consumer goods and industrial machinery on Pluto and is the primary hub for rail transportation on the planet. Within the city are also the most prestigious universities in the Plutonian system such as the Boris Chertok State University of Engineering and Cosmonautics and the Oleg Gazenko State University of Medical and Biological Sciences. Most notably and arguably most importantly however, the Landing holds the primary facility for the operation of the Plutonian Gravity Generator, and the majority of maintenance operations and adjustments to the colossal engineering project occur there. People from all over Pluto and even from other planets in the Alliance can be found here, making it the most diverse of Pluto’s cities. The city’s defining landmarks are incredibly large space-proofed apartment complexes that can sometimes house thousands of people just by themselves, leading the city to have a very strong urban culture that revolves around the apartment and microdistrict more so than anywhere else on Pluto.
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===Korolgrad===
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Korolgrad is the industrial heart of Pluto. The city is named after Sergei Korolev, the father of the original Soviet space program, both in memoriam of his contributions to the progression of Soviet society, and in allusion to Korolgrad being the largest port on Pluto proper. Most of the port’s traffic is used to ferry shipments of cargo or occasionally people to the various refineries and mining facilities on Pluto’s moons, but a sizable minority of vessels leaving the port go to other locations in the Solar System such as [[Callisto]] and [[Luna]]. Korolgrad has many factories that mostly produce mining and construction equipment, along with building materials and space-proofed vehicles and small spacecraft. The industrious heritage of the city is something that its residents are very proud of and revere in various celebrations year-round, often involving a recounting of the city’s founding by Russian miners and factory workers. A small number of dockyards are also present in the city, producing mining vessels and cargo freighters. Korolgrad is also home to the Glushkov Deep Space Monitoring Complex, a listening post and deep-space radar complex operated by the Solarian Navy that functions as the primary space traffic and early-warning detection facility for the Solar System.
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===Chernozhemsk===
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Chernozhemsk is not so much a city as it is a single, massive enclosed synthetic field, with it lacking the characteristic microdistricts of other Plutonian cities and instead implementing a system of collective community farms. As this may imply, Chernozhemsk is where most food on Pluto is grown and this “city,” alone has effectively made Pluto entirely food-independent along with giving the area a very country-like feel. Chernozhemsk is not domed however, and instead sits inside a massive rectangular structure that has led local Plutonians to give it the nickname of “The Box.” The agricultural tradition of the city stretches far back to its founding from its original settlers being farmers from the Ukrainian and Byelorussian SSR's. The landscape of the area is steppe-like with green, synthetic grass and fields fueled by the massive sunlamps built into the roof of the city’s ceiling. This abundance of organic plant life relative to everywhere else on Pluto has made Chernozhemsk the only place on Pluto where “fresh,” air exists. The city is also notable for being the hometown of the current Chairman of the Supreme Plutonian Soviet, Konstantin Malashenko.
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===Novitashkent===
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Sitting on the twilight zone of the tidally locked Pluto is the city of Novitashkent. Novitashkent is the poorest of the major cities on Pluto, mostly because the industries it was assigned at its creation bring in comparatively less revenue than those of other cities. However, this is not to say that Novitashkent is unimportant, with the city’s economy of textiles, chemical production, and operation of the largest power plant on Pluto, the Rashidov Memorial Energy Plant, being integral to the planet's broader economy. The largest industrial chemical plant in known space outside of New Hai Phong, the Rakhimov Chemical and Fertiliser Factory, is located here as well, with many on Pluto referring to it along with the energy plant as the “Two R’s of Novitashkent.” Novitashkent also has in its boundaries large enclosed cotton fields to source for its textiles, and as such, the cotton flower has come to be a symbol of the city and its residents. Those residents themselves are descendants of cotton farmers and construction workers from Central Asia, with the vast majority of them hailing from the Uzbek SSR. Despite it being the poorest of the major Plutonian cities, Novitashkent still manages to provide its residents the services expected of a Plutonian city, though comforts and luxuries are even sparser here than they would be on an already spartan Pluto, with delays in services and programs being even more common than average. Waiting in line is often joked to be the official pastime of Novitashkent for this reason.
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===Sputnikiy-Baltisk===
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A blip of civilisation on the otherwise barren centre of the Sputnik Glacier, Sputnikiy-Baltisk is the smallest of the major cities on Pluto yet holds the position of being the largest closed city on the planet. Special permission is required from the Plutonian authorities to enter the city or to stay overnight, with residency being something granted to only those that the authorities of the planet deem necessary to the operations of the city. Sputnikiy-Baltisk was not always a closed city however, and originally was settled by colonists from the Soviet Baltic republics as an ambitious engineering project attempting to build a city on top of a glacier. This project was exceptionally costly but in the end successful, and the city began to apply its scientific prowess to developing a telecommunications industry. Upon the discovery of Phoron however, Sputnikiy-Baltisk was deemed a closed city, and numerous laboratories and institutes were established inside its borders to test phoron as well as compare it to the primary export of Pluto, Helium-3. Since then Sputnikiy-Baltisk has turned into the scientific capital of the planet, with a large part of the city’s population being connected to the dozens of laboratories in the city that research everything from robotics, to energy, to biology. The details of these studies are, of course, only known to those with the right clearances in the Plutonian and Solarian governments. Despite being closed, Sputnikiy-Baltisk still maintains a strong telecommunications industry, with some outside observers saying that the real reason the city was closed was so that the Plutonian authorities could use the communications hubs and data centres in the city to constantly monitor and spy on their own citizens.
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[[Category:Pages]]
[[Category:Planets and Systems]]
[[Category:Humanity]]

Europa

2024-07-04T21:54:07Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infobox

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{{Navbox Human Lore}}
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Europa
|System = [[Sol]], the [[Jupiter|Jovian]]
|Image = Europa_Flag.png
|Sector = [[The Orion Spur#Jewel Worlds|Jewel Worlds]]
|Capital = Korormansk Station
|Species = Humans, [[Skrell]]
|Languages = Sol Common, Tradeband
|Demonyms = Europan
|Nation = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
Located in orbit around Jupiter in the Sol System, the icy body of '''Europa''' is the first location where humanity discovered extraterrestrial life. The harsh and inhospitable environment of the moon has led to its population remaining relatively small even in the present day. Due to the immense radiation that constantly strikes the moon's surface, Europa's three hundred million residents exist in one of the most unique environments in the entire Sol Alliance: beneath the outer ice sheet, submerged in the waters of the Europan Sea. This environment is at best poorly understood, and more is being discovered about the moon every day. However, the population believes that some secrets should perhaps be left unknown in its inky depths.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==
Life on Europa was first discovered in the late 21st century, but serious colonisation efforts did not take place until the mid 22nd century, due to economic issues on Earth and a perception that Europa, unlike [[Callisto]], would be too difficult to maintain colonies on. The first settlement on Europa was Korormansk Station, a research settlement established in 2145. Unlike many of the settlements that would follow it, Korormansk was built around a large borehole drilled into the surface ice, as the settlement was intended to serve as a major spaceport. Over the following centuries, Europans have slowly and steadily established more stations under the ice, carving out more of a foothold for humanity.

After [[Timeline#First_contact|first contact with the]] [[Skrell]], Europa began to be frequented by Skrellian "adrenaline junkies"; they came to Europa as a form of tourism, wishing to experience the dangerous reputation of Europa’s ocean for themselves and took to signing on with any vessel that would have them. In spite of their eagerness, these Skrell had little luck in signing up with the larger organisations on Europa, mostly in part to a lack of interest in accommodating another species when resources and space were at a premium. The vessels that would accept Skrell crewmembers were mostly owned by independent contractors or smaller organisations that did not have the luxury of being selective of those who sign up with them. These small groups of adrenaline junkies stayed rare for two decades.

In the 2360s, rumours began to spread of Skrell who were able to perform feats that saved their crew from danger in one form or another. One famous story involves the crew of the Prenderghast, which had a major malfunction to its navigation systems while in a cave crab-infested cavern. A Skrell crewmember, Xuloqu Ahua'luako, was a powerful Listener that was able to detect the psionic signals from the surrounding crabs, and so lead the Prenderghast out of the cavern. Another story describes a Skrell crewman notifying their captain of an encroaching bone whale heading straight for their submarine, well before their navigator could have reported it; thanks to this report, the bone whale was uninjured by the submarine's sonar, and the submarine was unharmed by the bone whale. While humanity was aware of the psionic abilities Skrell had by this point, neither species considered its use in navigation to be practical until these rumours began; attempting to employ unassisted, consistent psionic navigation was never considered feasible by the Skrell due to the mental strain of long-term psionics use, and humanity at this point was still largely unaware of the psionic potential of the Skrell.

These tales changed the common opinion of psionic application in submersible vessels, and by 2365 demand for Skrell crew surged, which led to very lucrative contracts being offered to any Skrell willing to work on the moon. Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals in particular invested heavily into the boom, and utilised their relationship with the [[Nralakk Federation]] to recruit scores of Skrell to work exclusively with Zeng-Hu within their Navigator Corps. Today, Europa boasts one of the largest Skrell communities in the Sol Alliance with a notable presence of the species in every facet of Europan life, with an especially large presence in any given Europan submarine crew. The community here continues to grow as Skrellian refugees from elsewhere in the Alliance seek to avoid the chaos in the [[Human Wildlands]].

In the modern day, Europa is a growing economy in the [[Sol Alliance]]. It and the other Jovian colonies enjoy a symbiotic relationship, with Europa exporting seafood and mineral resources to [[Callisto]], and Callisto exporting produce to Europa.

==Environment==

Europa presents one of the first truly alien environments encountered by a spacefaring humanity. The moon’s icy surface is one of the smoothest in the [[Orion Spur]], with very few craters or mountains. This quality is likely due to its high tectonic activity - a condition the stations attached to the ice must endure to the best of their abilities. The surface of Europa is bathed in radiation due to its lack of a true atmosphere, and mere hours of exposure to the radiation levels of the surface can prove to be fatal without treatment. As a result, all unshielded human settlements must be constructed below the ice of the surface, which is thick enough to act as a barrier against radiation. The surface ice can be as thick as twenty miles in some places, with thinner areas often exhibiting the moon’s iconic cryogeysers as the water below interacts with the ice above. Some of these cryogeysers are capable of reaching over a hundred miles into the space above the moon, and have been known to interfere with passing spacecraft.

Below the ice of the Europan surface lies the primary reason for humanity’s colonization of the planet: the Europan Sea. This massive ocean spans the moon in its entirety, and is nearly one-hundred miles deep in some areas. The sea is extremely cold due to its position under the icy surface of the moon. Average temperatures on the surface have been recorded at around -160 Celsius (or -260 Fahrenheit), with the coldest temperatures ever recorded approaching -220 Celsius (or -370 Fahrenheit). A higher salt content in the Europan Sea than its Earthborn counterparts has led to a lower freezing point, and a lower temperature overall. Exposure to the waters of Europa will rapidly result in hypothermia, and maintaining a livable temperature is a constant concern for every resident of the moon. In an effort to stave off the chill, heavy clothing is a common sight on Europans.

Aside from the cold, another constant feature of the Europan Sea is the extreme pressure it is capable of producing in its depths. Those submarines that proceed deep into the ocean are known to have heavily reinforced hulls, often made of plasteel. In order to withstand the pressure exerted upon those brave, or stupid, enough to conduct EVA work Europan diving suits more readily resemble spacesuits than wetsuits.

But despite these inhospitable, completely dark conditions, Europa is not as devoid of life as one may assume.
===Flora and Fauna of Europa===
The lightless waters of Europa are shockingly biodiverse. While many of the creatures found in the Europan Sea are harmless - and many are even edible, such as Europan shrimp, some can be quite dangerous for divers, or even entire submarines. No sentient life has been found on Europa despite its high biodiversity. The biodiversity of the Europan Sea is poorly understood due to the immense size and depth of the ocean, with many regions being inaccessible until the creation of the first plasteel submarine hulls in the 2400s. These submarines remain somewhat rare compared to traditional steel-hulled submarines due to their recent invention, but a manufacturing boom is currently being driven by them. As of 2462, the theoretical lowest point of the Europan Sea (so far only detected via sonar) has yet to be reached. This lack of cataloging has led to widespread reports of “Europan cryptids,” a local term for creatures that have been sighted, but are otherwise unconfirmed to exist. Few of these reports have ever been verified, with many being regarded as nothing more than fanciful submariners’ tales.

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====Europan ice kelp (''Eurolaminariales'')====
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One of the most common sights in the Europan Sea, this family of bioluminescent plants is typically found attached to the inner side of the moon’s icy outer layer, and has hooks at the end of its “branches” that allow it to dig slightly into the ice and prevent it from being swept away. Ice kelp is also known to attach itself to the outer hulls of stations under the surface ice, and is often regarded as an annoyance by the residents of the planet. This plant is often found grown in aquafarms, and is often consumed by the residents of the planet in addition to being exported for consumption. Many naturally-occurring cave systems in the Europan Sea are filled with ice kelp.
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====Europan bone whale (''Balaenoptera ossus'')====
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The '''Europan Bone Whale''' is one of the largest known creatures found in the Europan Sea. The bone whale derives its name from the bone plating that surrounds its body, allowing it to survive in the crushing depths of the sea and defend itself from predators. Despite the intimidating name, bone whales are herbivores that tend to primarily dine upon Europan ice kelp. However, they are known to become dangerous when provoked or otherwise threatened, as their thick bone plating is able to severely injure a diver or even damage the hulls of weaker submarines. Bone whales are generally only found in open waters, and their bodies often fall into the deep abyss of the Sea - well beyond the crush depth of most submarines. Bone whales are large enough to produce a significant sonar signature and have often been confused for other creatures, particularly by inexperienced sonar operators. Some theorize that many Europan “cryptids” are, in reality, misreported bone whales.
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====Light-shrimp (''Eurocaridae lucius'')====
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Often simply referred to as “shrimp” by locals, the light-shrimp is a large crustacean roughly one to two meters long that somewhat resembles the shrimp of Earth. Light-shrimp are much larger than their Earthling counterparts, and as the name implies they produce a form of natural bioluminescence. These shrimp are fairly low on the Europan Sea’s food chain, and are often picked off by batsharks and other carnivores. They are also a primary export of Europa, and are utilized in a variety of dishes on the moon. The most skilled chefs are capable of maintaining the light-shrimp’s bioluminescence, which persists after death for a brief period, even as it is being served.
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====Batshark (''Eurobatiformes caecus'')====
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The '''Batshark''' is one of the most common predators found in the Europan Sea, and is often found in open waters. It is a fairly large animal, particularly due to its wide wing-like fins that it utilizes to glide through the water, and it is capable of reaching very high speeds due to these fins. Because it does not produce its own light, the batshark is entirely blind - lacking eyes completely - and instead relies upon echolocation to locate other members of its hunting pack and prey. Attacks on humans are fairly rare, but are a constant worry for divers performing EVA. The intense acoustic waves these creatures produce is known to often interfere with sonar equipment, but batsharks are otherwise harmless to submarines. A final note of interest is that batsharks often produce noises described as “unsettling and unnerving” by submarine crews when communicating with one another, and that these noises can usually be heard within the hulls of submarines - often leading to significant stress and anxiety amongst the crew. It is theorized that batsharks may be one of the main reasons for psychological issues such as “Deep Crazy” amongst submarine crews.
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====Greater Europan cave crab (''Eurocarcinus gigantus'')====
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The '''Greater Europan Cave Crab''' is a common sight in the caverns of Europa. This omnivorous crustacean is capable of reaching a width of almost a meter, and tends to reside in “villages” of up to thirty cave crabs. Due to a lack of light in the caverns of Europa, these crabs have large, sensitive eyes capable of taking in even the faintest amount of light. They are naturally curious animals, and are known to often jump or leap onto the hulls of submarines passing through the Europan caverns in order to either travel upon them or simply to satisfy their natural curiosity. The scuffing and scuttling noises created by these crabs are often known to spook submarine crews, as the footsteps of a cave crab sounds eerily similar to somebody knocking on the outside of the hull. They are otherwise harmless to humans, though still capable of inflicting dire wounds with their claws if threatened or cornered by a diver.
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====Europan Cryptids====

None of these creatures have been confirmed to exist by any scientific expeditions, but many veteran submariners will swear that they’ve seen something like one (or similar to one) in the depths of Europa.

The '''Europan Hell Squid''' is a large squid-like apex predator rumoured to exist in the open ocean of Europa. This creature is allegedly roughly the size of an adult bone whale, and is rumoured to attack submarines that descend too far into the waters of Europa. No sightings of the hell squid have been confirmed since it was first reported in 2394. Reports of sightings and attacks are scattered and infrequent enough to suggest either a creature that typically hunts in the lower levels of the Europan Sea or a migratory predator that tends to avoid humanity. Regardless of the truth (Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals has sworn to discover the species by 2500) the hell squid continues to be a frequent feature of submariners' tales on Europa. There are rumours of an even larger Europan hell squid called the greater Europan hell squid - larger even than the greatest of submarines - but these are similarly unconfirmed.

The '''Asterios''', for there is allegedly only one, is rumoured to be the largest living thing on Europa. It is a crab rumoured to be the size of an entire research station, supposedly able to create earthquakes and significant disturbances in the water by crashing its massive shell into the ground. Allegedly the product of a crab being left in an abandoned Zeng-Hu black site research facility in which it grew to a massive size, Asterios is rumoured to utilize its former home as its shell. Nobody has ever actually seen Asterios - perhaps due to its rumoured ability to crawl along the ocean’s floor - but this has not stopped rumours from circulating. Zeng-Hu has denied that this creature, or its facility of origin, even exists.

While similarly unconfirmed, there are reports that a massive eel called the '''Cetus''' exists in the abyssal zone of the Europan Sea. Some suggest that this creature is a powerful psychic, and the root cause of the “Deep Crazy” psychological phenomenon. Aside from fringe groups, some of which look upon the alleged Cetus as a kind of god from the depths, few residents of Europa believe this particular cryptid to be real.

==Economics==

[[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] is the largest employer on Europa, and pays handsomely for survey data of all kinds, from meteorological, geological, and biological. Most research stations on the moon are owned and operated by Zeng-Hu, and the megacorporation possesses the largest submarine fleet on Europa. Advanced submarines come and go from Zeng-Hu facilities, heading off to a myriad of locations in the murky depths of the moon’s oceans - some never to return. These state-of-the-art facilities vary in size from small observation outposts to facilities that are cities unto themselves, and some are rumoured to only be accessible by high-ranking Zeng-Hu personnel. What goes on in these Europan “blacksites” is not known to the general public, and incidents of “Deep Crazy” are an unfortunate fact of life in these research stations.

Tourism facilities are a hallmark of [[Idris Incorporated|Idris Incorporated’s]] presence on the moon, and are typically situated in major civilian stations. The most famous of these are, without a doubt, Idris’ Jovian Jewel resort and the Galileo's Pearl facility. Due to their locations near the surface of the Europan Sea, “Deep Crazy” is not a common factor in these tourist facilities, and Idris Incorporated does its best to avoid the affliction. Many Idris Incorporated employees dislike working on Europa, particularly those in lower-level positions such as the cargo departments of stations - those responsible for loading and unloading the many cargo submarines that traverse the depths of the moon.

There is constant demand for new equipment and repairs on submarines that brave the crushing, freezing depths; Trelenje Station is the primary shipyard on the moon, employing hundreds of thousands of Europans to manufacture and repair submarines. The advent of plasteel in the mid-2400s led to a boom in the Europan manufacturing sector, due to the incredible depths plasteel-hulled submarines can descend to. Other industrial centres are typically situated near the ocean’s surface, and feature massive bays. These vessels can range from small shuttles with a crew of under a dozen, to massive research vessels with crews in the hundreds. Many of the materials utilized in the dockyards of the Europan Sea are imported from [[Callisto]], where materials mined upon the volcanic surface of Io are refined.

==Culture and Demographics==
Europans are typically stereotyped as odd, private people. The culture on the moon is insular, and while outsiders are rarely treated poorly, it can take time for off-worlders to be treated with the same warmth a Europan might treat other natives. The superstitions and customs of submariners and the urban legends of the moon give a strange impression to outsiders; native Europans working with [[Idris Incorporated]] usually go through a cultural retraining program to conceal most of the less palatable trappings of their culture.

One’s standard of living in Europa depends heavily upon what facility they reside in. Universally for each settlement, however, are large gravity generators that facilities are built around, predating shipborne grav-gens. These models are larger and more power-inefficient, making them unsuited for off-world use. Because of this lower gravity, Europans are typically slightly taller than average, and concerns of low bone-density led to a push by the Europan planetary government to market milk products as a desirable food for citizens. Vitamin and mineral additives are also common in Europan drinks and food, and physicians will typically prescribe calcium supplements (or in severe cases, regenerative muscular tissue supplements) to youths and the elderly. Another constant factor for all settlements is the cold, often damp environment of the moon. Devices must constantly be maintained to ensure they do not break, lest the cold water seep into an area that humanity has carved out to live in. Space is typically at a premium under the ice of Europa, and cramped quarters are a commonplace.

The most common settlements under Europa’s ice fall under a loosely-organized category best defined as “civilian stations.” These stations range in population from only a few thousand to several million residents, and vary widely in quality. These are some of the oldest settlements on Europa, and are often connected to nearby research, tourism, or industrial stations. The highest-quality civilian stations are often shared between Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals, which uses their attractive housing to attract new employees and encourage transfers to the Europan branch of the corporation, and Idris Incorporated, which utilizes them as tourist attractions for the moon. Lower-quality civilian stations often suffer from a variety of issues, such as heating problems and leaks in the hull - problems on any Europan station, but ones that become far worse when one’s home is barely breaking even.

The primary method of travel for the vast majority of Europans are submarines of various sizes that make their way through the massive ocean under the planet’s icy surface. Due to submarines being far cheaper to build and maintain, and settlements being under the ice for safety, space-based travel between settlements remains rare even in the 2400s.

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=== Skrell on Europa ===
Europa was largely ignored by Skrell who travelled within Human space in the years following [[Timeline#First_Contact|first contact]]. The moon’s inhospitable nature resulted in little if any Skrell presence for decades. Until the 2360s Skrell were a rarity on Europa, with most Skrell only living there temporarily as part of their work assignment or as part of a diplomatic attache.

Life here for Skrell reflects the typical Europan experience; cramped living spaces, arduous working conditions, and the constant danger that comes with living in an underwater habitat. In addition to all this, Skrell are unable to stargaze as part of their religious practices; the inability to observe and interpret the stars compounded with everything else has made Europan living especially difficult for Skrell. This has been largely offset by appealing employment contracts by the wealthier organisations on Europa, who are able to afford the salaries and benefits required to retain Skrell workers despite the conditions they would have to live in. The rise to prominence of the [[Skrell_Faith#Qwei’Paqui_-_Astrological_Tarot_Cards|Qwei’Paqui]], the tarot card system usually supplemental to stargazing in the [[Skrell_Faith|Qeblak and Weishii faiths]], has also helped acclimate those living on Europa. While the tarot allows Skrell to continue their religious observations despite being so deep undersea, it has also inadvertently resulted in the Skrell of Europa obsessing over their readings; as the tarot readings are considered a personal and intimate affair the Skrell have developed an unhealthy habit where they heavily rely on the tarot in their day-to-day lives, an obsession which soon developed into the Skrell adopting pre-existing Europan superstitions. Today the Qwei’Paqui can be commonly seen being paired with bone charms and other accessories by Skrell in the hopes of improving their fortunes.
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Skrell from other parts of the Spur often describe Europan Skrell as being ‘on-edge’, ‘anxious’, and even ‘disconnected’ because of how life on Europa has shaped them; they are known for their irritability and anxious disposition while travelling Europa’s waters, and it is not uncommon for Skrell submariners to isolate themselves from the rest of the crew for most of the journey because of it. With this said, no Skrell have been diagnosed with '''High-Depth Antisocial Personality Disorder''', otherwise known as the '''"Deep Crazy"'''. Unlike the humans living on Europa the Skrell are seemingly immune to the disorder - although the Skrell are still at risk of developing their own unique disorders, especially for those who take on the role of Psionic Navigator.

==== Psionic Navigators and the Sea-Blinded ====

In '''2365''' the role of ‘Psionic Navigator’ became standard on Europan vessels. The innovation of "psionic radar", where Skrell utilise their psionic abilities to detect the psionic signatures of the creatures found within Europa’s depths, drove up the demand for Skrell submariners and led to many lucrative contracts being given to Skrell willing to work on Europa. This is an extremely valuable skill, as collisions with creatures such as bone whales have been known to cause significant hull damage to submarines. Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuicals is currently investigating why the skrell have proven to be so resilient to the madness often associated with the moon.

The discovery was capitalised by [[Zeng-Hu_Pharmaceuticals|Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] as they brought in Skrell straight from the Federation to work on Europa, going so far as to establish their own Psionic Navigator corps. Zeng-Hu today hires out its Navigators to any group that is able to afford their exorbitant prices, and thanks to their early investment the company has a near-monopoly of Psionic Navigators on Europa.

Although the role became common aboard most Europan vessels, the discovery of neurological disorders associated with the role did not occur until long after its formation. In '''2410''' Europan researchers formally named the disorder '''Europan Sea-Blindness''', while academic disagreements caused Nralakk Federation scientists to categorise the disorder under [[Skrell_Ailments#Insanity_of_the_Tide|Insanity of the Tide]] - a neurological disease that is compared to Alzheimer's or dementia in Humans and is associated with issues related to memory, behaviour, and thinking. While still not fully understood, Europan Sea-Blindness is thought to be caused by a combination of extreme stress as a result of living standards on Europa and extended, high-intensity use of psionics, which manifests physically as organ atrophy and neuron degradation in the area around the zona bovinae. Those who are affected by the disorder report many of the same symptoms as those suffering from Insanity of the Tide, as well as a decrease in psionic capability.

It could take decades of prolonged psionics use for these symptoms to develop, however, and since the disorder and its causes are not fully understood it does not dissuade many Skrell from becoming Psionic Navigators themselves. This is not to say that precautions are not taken; Navigators are usually employed in teams of three that either work in tandem and share the workload, or have regular shift changes to avoid psionic over-use. Those afflicted with the disorder are known as the "Sea-Blinded", as they typically have an extremely decreased ability to use their psionics. These navigators are considered ‘retired’ and tend to move - or be moved - away from submariner life, although those who are not severely afflicted are known to continue crewing all manner of vessels in other roles. The [[Stellar_Corporate_Conglomerate|Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]] in particular is known to hire former navigators as Bridge Crew aboard their ships, putting their years of experience navigating the dangerous waters of Europa to use. Skrell are also known to rarely if ever suffer from the maladies that ultimately lead to “Deep Crazy,” which has further contributed to their good reputation.
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=== Language ===

Tradeband is the most commonly spoken language on Europa. Most social and government functions are conducted in this language, but Sol Common is also spoken as a second language by the inhabitants of larger settlements. Sol Common is taught in Europan schools along with Tradeband.

The Europan variant of Tradeband is somewhat teased among other Tradeband-speaking communities in Sol (such as [[Luna|Lunarians]] and [[San Colette|San Colettish]]). It is typically more guttural, drawling, and hushed, known for its incorporation of Sol Common slang (known colloquially as "Solband"). Europans speak very quietly, owing to a common superstition that raising one's voice might interrupt the function of the sonar navigation or break the concentration of a Skrellian navigator. Those that succumb to "Deep Crazy" are known to abandon this soft-spoken tone for screaming.

===Cuisine===

Seafood, while indeed a common feature of cuisine on Europa, is not nearly as prominent as many off-worlders think. Light-shrimp and ice kelp are commonly fished or grown and made into foods, but more common is high-calorie and high-carb food such as noodles, bread products, and rice, the better to keep a sailor warm and well-fed in the cold, damp settlements. Light-shrimp lo mein is considered a national dish of Europa.

Owing to a marketing campaign in the early 2300s, Europans consume a great deal of milk and cheese. The calcium and protein helps keep bone and muscle density at a healthy level.

===Europan Submariners===

Though unusual, some Europans choose not to dwell on a station at all, instead opting to live on a submarine for the majority or entirety of their lives. These so-called “Hydronauts” are a rare breed typically found in groups of only a few dozen, with the exception of some larger vessels such as the Tethys. As travel under the waves of Europa is typically hazardous, these nomads will often dock in stations for significant periods of time and live out of their submarines, before undocking and proceeding to their next destination.

The life of a Europan submariner is not an easy one even at the best of times, and hazards - both natural and manmade - are a constant concern in the waters of Europa. In the pitch-black darkness underneath the ice, one must always be alert as danger can come from anywhere, at any time. Europa is, according to some in the Jovian system, one of the most hazardous places to work in the Sol Alliance aside from the hellish surface of Io. The danger of working on the moon has led to Europan submariners becoming a wary, very paranoid, and superstitious group. Not all submariners hold these beliefs, but a significant portion of them do.

For example, one major superstition of Europan submariners is a belief that renaming already-named ships, without conducting the proper ceremony, is a surefire way to give the vessel bad luck. In order to properly rename a vessel - typically after it has been purchased by a new operator or owner - one must proceed through the proper ceremony, in which the submarine is returned to its port of origin and all metal that has borne its name is shorn off and replaced. Unless all of the metal is shorn and replaced properly, the ship will remain unlucky. Naming vessels after submarines that have already sunk is also considered to be unlucky, as is giving a vessel a name unfitting of its duty (such as naming a cargo hauler “Invincible”).

Submariners are also known to create bone charms from the remains of sea creatures, particularly those of the Europan bone whale. These charms are typically carved with messages in order to (supposedly) bring good luck to their holders, though some charms remain entirely blank. An improperly carved charm, or one with the wrong message, is said to bring immense bad luck to whomever is unfortunate enough to wear it, and many submarines are known to unceremoniously dispose of such charms - typically via an airlock, much to the dismay of whomever owned the now-unrecoverable charm. Other sea creatures are sometimes used for bone charms, but bone whales are regarded as the most ideal source of charms. Batshark bones are among the least popular materials, due to the cartilage in their bones leading to harder to carve surfaces. Some even insist these bones are “cursed,” but these are likely just tall tales. Regardless of the make or style, these charms are sometimes taken offworld by former submariners, to systems as far away as [[Xanu Prime]] and [[Tau Ceti]].

===Deep Crazy===

Life under the ice of Europa is a difficult one for the long-term residents of the planet, with a myriad of social and psychological issues arising in the dark biodomes and nuclear-powered submarines found underneath the ice. A commonly mentioned phenomenon among the permanent residents of Europa is the so-called “Deep Crazy,” (a local nickname for what is referred to as High-Depth Antisocial Personality Syndrome professionally) a result of prolonged exposure to the isolation often associated with the Europan Sea. Medical professionals insist that High-Depth Antisocial Personality Syndrome is nothing more than the result of stress and isolation, and insist that rumours of the affliction being unique to the moon are nonsense. Residents often comment that “Deep Crazy” becomes worse the longer one stays on Europa, that symptoms gradually build over time, and that they inevitably grip anyone’s mind after enough time on the moon.

Symptoms attributed to HDAP Syndrome most commonly manifest as auditory and visual hallucinations (though many sufferers will attribute these as originating “in the depths” or “from the depths”) though more extreme cases will involve unsettling dreams often involving themes of drowning or otherwise traveling into the depths of the oceans, an extreme fear of drowning, a constant sensation of being watched by something outside of the biodomes (described by some suffers as feeling like being “fish in a bowl”), and claims of seeing seaborne fauna inconsistent with any known species on Europa. No species reported by a sufferer of advanced HDAP Syndrome has ever been formally catalogued by Europa’s scientific community, though many sufferers will report seeing similar creatures. Extreme sufferers of “Deep Crazy” are known to suffer mental breakdowns and manic episodes similar to those commonly associated with high stress and isolation. People afflicted by these episodes, after coming out of their breakdown, report having been “called to the depths” or “called to the seas” by an unknown force, and have been known to claw at airlocks unless otherwise stopped. Medical professionals associated with Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals have stated that this is likely just another result of stress.

Europa’s residents and submariners often believe that there is something far, far below the charted zones of the moon that causes the Syndrome. Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals, which seeks to attract more employees, offers extensive psychiatric assistance and attractive bonuses to its employees to both attract them and stave off the stress associated with the planet. Idris Incorporated provides similar psychiatric assistance to its employees. It also employs many IPCs in its Europan facilities, which has proven an effective strategy to avoiding the isolation and stress associated with “Deep Crazy” and the Syndrome. Idris has also promoted the idea that the Syndrome is a condition resulting from long-term residence on Europa, and is unlikely to ever impact tourists traveling to one of the megacorporation’s luxurious vacation spots. Despite similar living conditions on Europa and Ganymede, with both planets housing their populations in underwater biodomes, residents of Ganymede do not suffer from a condition similar to HDAP Syndrome. Researchers are still attempting to determine whether the phenomenon is truly unique to Europa.

==Major Settlements==

'''Korormansk Station''' is the capital of Europa, and its largest settlement at thirty million permanent residents. It is the oldest settlement on the moon, and remains its only major spaceport. The Korormansk Planetary Spaceport is placed at the base of a massive shaft bored through the Europan ice by drills centuries ago, and heavy steel - and more recently, plasteel - reinforcements on the side of the shaft ensure that the passageway remains secure. Many areas of the station are dug into the ice lining this shaft, which has allowed it to support a larger population than any other settlement. Korormansk maintains a large seaport, and services submarine traffic from throughout the Europan Sea. The Jovian Jewel, the famous Idris Incorporated resort, is located nearby. The station maintains a close relationship with its nearby neighbour, Trelenje Station.

'''Trelenje Station''' is located fairly close to Korormansk, only a few hours’ travel away in all but the slowest submarines, and has become the primary naval yard for the moon. The dockyards of the Trelenje Naval Yard produce the vast majority of Europa’s submarines, from shuttles designed to move barely a half-dozen individuals to massive plasteel-hulled Zeng-Hu research submarines designed to endure the crushing pressure of Europa’s depths. It is also the berth of many Europan submarine crews and a significant economy has developed around this, with Idris Incorporated operating many entertainment venues here. The station maintains a close relationship and strong supply line with its nearby neighbour, Koromansk Station.

'''Phumanus Station''' is the premiere location from which research operations take place in the Europan Sea. Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals hosts its Europan headquarters on this station, and launches many of its expeditions from it. Phumanus Station’s position near one of the abyssal zones of the Europan Sea, which is upwards of a hundred miles deep in some regions, has likely contributed to the station’s appeal as a research center. Despite heavy Zeng-Hu investment, the station possesses one of the highest turnover rates in the megacorporation and transfers from the station to other, less well-paying assignments are common. Instances of “Deep Crazy” are also common, and many submariners insist that something is lurking in the abyssal zone nearby. Of course, these reports have not been officially confirmed.

The '''Tethys''' is something of an oddity on Europa. Rather than a traditional station, it is instead a large submarine - perhaps the largest on Europa - that maintains a permanent population and is self-sustaining. The Tethys is the result of a failed Einstein Engines attempt to break into the Europan market through the creation of the largest submarine ever built on the moon to that date. When it launched in 2437, the Tethys quickly proved to be a worthless investment to Einstein Engines and was quickly written off, with its crew being left to do what they could without the support of their sponsors. In the years following their abandonment by Einstein, the crew of the Tethys turned it into a mobile city that now specializes in producing smaller submarines for various Europan settlements inside of its massive former research bay. With the heavy research equipment stripped out or otherwise repurposed, there is more than enough space to produce small to medium-sized submarines inside the Tethys itself. While the vessels produced by the Tethys are not as high-quality as those produced at Trelenje Station, many submariners that do not wish to deal with the bureaucracy of the Trelenje Naval Yard prefer the convenience of the Tethys. The captain of the Tethys is elected by the submarine's crew.

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Callisto

2024-07-04T21:51:50Z

La Villa Strangiato: adds infobox

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{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Callisto
|System = [[Sol]] and the [[Jupiter|Jovian]]
|Image = Callisto.png
|Sector = [[The Orion Spur#Jewel Worlds|Jewel Worlds]]
|Species = Humans
|Languages = Sol Common, Tradeband
|Demonyms = Callistean
|Nation = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}
Located in the Jovian System, the Sovereign Solarian '''Commonwealth of Callisto''' is one of the commercial centres of the [[Sol Alliance]] and the largest port in the Alliance itself. Callisto's ideal location and relatively hospitable environment made it an ideal point of colonisation when humanity first went beyond the Sol System's Asteroid Belt, and Callisto has been a critical port since its inception and is one of the most populous bodies in the Orion Spur, with almost all of its surface covered by highly-developed urban areas. Callisto and its highly-valuable port are the subject of intense protection by the Alliance's navy, and the moon itself is completely protected by the ''Callistean Supra-Atmospheric Ring Shield Generation Facility'', a massive shield system locally referred to as either “the Ring” or “the Dome,” with residents often debating which local name more accurately describes the shield. The residents of Callisto are referred to as Callisteans, or Callistean.
{{TOC Hidden}}
==History==
<center><i>“Our goal when investing into a colonial venture should, at all times, be to ensure it is both safe and profitable. We’ve seen the disasters of ‘Himeo,’ and other expeditions far afield from Earth. As a result, gentlemen, I advise that we as a Commonwealth aim for a closer goal: the Jovian moon of Callisto,”</i> – Commonwealth President Patrick Chambers (2248-2332) addressing the Commonwealth of Nations on 17 March, 2276.</center>
The first of the Jovian Moons to be colonized by humanity, Callisto has had human settlements since 18 June, 2107 -- when settlers from United Orbital Enterprise made landfall on the moon. The [[Sol Alliance]] eventually acquired the moon in 2140 following UOE's liquidation and Callisto became a significant area of investment for [[Einstein Engines]] following the megacorporation's founding in 2155. Callisto's relatively hospitable surface conditions made it, in the eyes of both Einstein and the Alliance, the ideal point for the development of a major center of commerce and trade in the Sol System. In the late 2100s an effort to rapidly terraform Callisto to a level of habitability suitable for heavy urbanization began while the first practical warp gates were set up in the moon's orbit. The original colonists involved in this rapid urbanisation project were plucked from across the world and tended to be from the countries that remained from the mid-20th century Commonwealth of Nations -- such as India and the United Kingdom -- due to its relative neutrality in the historical rivalry between major powers on Earth itself. The terraforming project was more successful on Callisto than on [[Mars]] due to the moon's smaller size and succeeded in granting the moon a breathable atmosphere by 2240, with rapid colonisation following in the years after. This, combined with Callisto's network of (for the time) cutting-edge warp gates, led to a massive amount of investment and building on the moon, which rapidly became one of the most urbanized member states of the young Alliance.

While Callisto's shine was slightly tarnished by the Second Great Depression, its status as the Alliance's single largest port remained intact and investment continued to pour into the moon. However, its system of aging warp gates began to struggle to keep pace with the demands of interstellar traffic by the early 2300s, and it became clear to the Alliance that the moon's gates would need to be retrofitted sooner rather than later. And who, of all the Alliance's many megacorporations, was better for the job than the original designers: Einstein Engines? Thus Callisto became the first test of the Warp Gate Project, a massive infrastructure project that would ultimately leave Einstein Engines more powerful than it had ever been and the Alliance in deep debt to the megacorporation. Despite the Alliance's woes Callisto profited, and found itself granted even more massive infrastructure projects with the completion of the Callistean Supra-Atmospheric Ring Shield Generation Facility in 2395.

Despite the immense troubles faced by the Alliance in the 2400s Callisto has remained a heavily-populated and immensely trafficked planet, with the majority of the Sol System's trade flowing through it even before the destruction of the shipping ports of [[Mars]] during the Violet Dawn disaster. While many planets and colonies in the Orion Spur now find themselves on shaky ground following the Alliance's partial collapse, Callisto and its massive ports seem to be experiencing nothing but smooth sailing. At least, for now.

==Environment==
<center><i>“What do I think of Callisto? I mean, it’s just a giant city. I don’t really see what the deal is? Like, I guess there’s cool stuff and all, but it’s just a lot of streets! Couldn’t there be a big park or something?” –</i> Unknown Cytherean tourist, June 2458.</center>
Callisto before its terraforming was a cold, cratered, and utterly desolate moon only set apart from dozens of other objects in the orbit of Jupiter by its low radiation levels and thin atmosphere. It was this lack of radiation and thin atmosphere that made it, and not its sister moon [[Europa]] the ideal location for humanity to settle -- even if a massive terraforming project was required. The project took 43 years and lasted from 2197 to 2240, when the moon was finally declared fit for human life. The surface, over the course of these four decades, had been radically altered.

Callisto's environment following the terraforming is relatively pleasant and warm, and gradually becomes cooler as one moves further from the equator. This climate has seen the planet develop a relatively successful tourism industry, though its tourism industry is nowhere near the scale of [[Silversun]]. The Callistean surface, despite massive terraforming efforts, remains relatively hilly due to the moon's surface's previous status as the most-cratered surface in the Sol System. While many of these craters were “smoothed out” and reduced during the terraforming process the hills that they left behind are almost universal across the Callistean surface, and the sprawling urban topography that Callisto has come to be most readily known for is built regardless of how hilly the surface can become. Callisto is home to three major seas that were previously massive multi-ringed impact craters on its surface. The seas, from largest to smallest, are the Valhallan Sea, Asgardian Sea, and Sea of Adlinda.

As Callisto had no native life beyond a cellular level on it all animals and plants on the moon are “transplants” from Earth, though centuries of life on Callisto has caused a variety of adaptations unique to the moon itself. The terrestrial animal life of Callisto is typically small, agile, and adapted to urban environments, with some of the most common animals being the Callistean pigeon and the ever-present domesticated house cat. Callistean flora is similarly adapted for urban life and primarily consists of small flowering plants and some mosses, many of which tend to grow up the sides of buildings instead of expanding horizontally. Most notable amongst Callisto's flora is the Callistean fan palm: a relatively short and quite sturdy palm tree found along the coasts of the Callistean seas and throughout the moon's cityscape with an easily-recognisable fan-shaped leaf.

Aside from its three seas the vast majority of Callisto's surface is dominated by densely-populated urban sprawl and large facilities utilising interstellar trade and commerce. Green space is very rare on the Callistean surface, and the massive urban sprawl of the moon has allowed it to support a massive population of approximately twelve billion permanent residents. The continuous nature of Callisto's urban sprawl, with rare exceptions in its green spaces, has led to the creation of a unique ecological environment where only small, agile animals such as cats, pigeons, and rodents are able to survive and thrive -- with the feral version of the common housecat serving as the apex nonhuman predator of the moon's urban ecosystem. Larger animals are typically only found in ecological green spaces such as open-air zoos found in the District of Fisher's Rest, Callisto's renowned academic centre that is also home to some of the largest green spaces on the moon.

Excepting green spaces and Callisto's seas the two least-urbanised regions in terms of raw population density of the moon are the northern and southern spires of the Callistean Supra-Atmospheric Ring Shield Generation Facility, the massive shield that keeps Callisto protected from orbital attacks. The twin support spires of “the Ring” are both roughly two-hundred kilometers across at their base and stretch one-hundred-and-fifty kilometers into the air, at which point both are connected by a massive ring which is used to generate Callisto's protective shield. These facilities are large enough to have an impact upon Callisto's climate, and an area around the bases of both facilities suffers from what is locally referred to as the “ring shadow” -- a localised rain shadow created by the nearby spire. Once one reaches one-hundred-and-fifty kilometers into the air they will find the projected shield, which features free floating “ring gates” interspersed throughout the shield that serve as the primary point of entry to Callisto for ships possessing the proper Sol Alliance-flagged credentials. Due to the massive amounts of manpower required to keep the Ring operational authority over the structure is somewhat messily divided between the Solarian Navy and Callisto's local administration, particularly the Port Authority of the Callistean Commonwealth.

==Government and Politics==
<center><i>“Callisto is consistently marked as one of the most well-performing Solarian member states in terms of government effectiveness. So why is it that the Navy continues to interfere with us?”</i> – Excerpt from an anonymous anti-junta flier distributed throughout Callisto during the Spring and Summer of 2464.</center>
Callisto's local government is regarded as reasonably competent by most Callisteans, particularly when it is compared to to the cronyism of [[Venus]], the apocalyptic conditions faced on [[Mars]] following the Violet Dawn Catastrophe, or the massive corruption of [[New Hai Phong]]. As with other Solarian member states the Commonwealth of Callisto has representation in the Alliance's senate. Thanks to Callisto's immense size and influence it, unlike many Solarian member states, has two senators: Barnaby Wade and Anastasie Renaud. At a local level Callisto is a representative democracy, with the varying districts of Callisto's “super city” electing representatives to the moon's local senate. The number of representatives a given district receives is based upon its total population and Callisto's political scene is reflective of the diversity of the moon itself, particularly following the dissolution of the traditional parties of the Alliance following the Solarian Collapse of late 2462.

One of the largest ongoing issues in the Commonwealth's political scene is the ongoing presence of the Solarian Navy both on the surface and in the orbit of Callisto. The Navy has maintained a continuous presence on Callisto since the completion of the Callistean Supra-Atmospheric Ring Shield Generation Facility in 2395 and primarily operates out of Tsushima Naval Base, an artificial satellite located in the near orbit of Callisto. Conflict between Callisteans and the Navy has been for almost as long as there has been a naval force stationed on the moon. Navy vessels are known for clashing with Callisto's local port authority over enforcement issues and have been known to harass ships from non-Solarian nations such as the [[Coalition of Colonies]] and [[Republic of Biesel]] when arrive at the moon to trade, with naval officers rarely being charged for these harassments despite outcries from Callisto itself. Despite this the naval presence has been a benefit for Callisto at times, with it -- and the Callistean Supra-Atmospheric Ring Shield Generation Facility -- having kept the moon from ever being attacked throughout its history. Off-duty sailors and marines are a signficiant source of income for the Callistean tourism industry, with some bars near Togo Shuttleport, the major moonside port of Tsushima Naval Base, marketing to the Navy first and Callisteans second.

Local law enforcement on Callisto is controlled by two main agencies: the Port Authority of the Callistean Commonwealth and the Callistean Metropolitan Police Department, both of which are regarded to be better than similar organisations in the Alliance such as the often-maligned police force of [[Venus]]. Callisto's Port Authority is a massive agency responsible for security in Callisto's many ports, anti-smuggling operations, and -- alongside the Solarian Navy -- the maintenance and operation of the massive Callistean Supra-Atmospheric Ring Shield Generation Facility. The Port Authority has an infamously sour relationship with the local Solarian Navy presence and conflicts between it and the Navy over who is responsible for what are all too common. The Callistean MPD is -- due to the sheer population of Callisto -- one of the largest police agencies in the Alliance and is an atypically structured authority. CMPD district branches operate with a large amount of independence due to the sheer size of Callisto's districts while the CMPD's central authority in New Edinburgh, the moon's capital district, controls specialised personnel and provides overall policy for the department. The CMPD has unexpectedly found itself policing more [[IPC]] frames than any other police department in the Alliance, as the secession of [[Konyang]] has shifted the Alliance's centre of synthetic production to Callisto.

==Economics==
<center><i>“Without trade, we don’t have an economy. We’ve got nothing. Nothing! So why is it so hard for the Navy to understand that civilian ships need engines too, huh?! I thought the Navy protected Solarians!”</i> — Senator Barnaby Wade (2431 - ) addressing Callisto’s need for more warp engines, 5 June 2463.</center>
Callisto's economy is primarily based upon the interstellar trade that flows through its massive warp gate network and into the various port facilities that dot the moon's surface. Due to the need to service massive freight starships that travel to Callisto on a regular basis Callistean ports are massive and sprawling facilities capable of fitting even the biggest interstellar freighters, vessels which can sometimes be as long as a kilometer. The largest of these ports is the Galilean Port, a massive complex spanning forty kilometers that processes hundreds of millions of tons of cargo every year. While the Callistean shipping industry remains free of major corporate interference thanks to the heavy hand of the Solarian Alliance both [[Hephaestus Industries]] and [[Einstein Engines]] are heavily invested into the industry and many port facilities feature equipment produced by both corporations. Industrial [[IPC]] frames produced by Hephaestus Industries are a common sight in many Callistean dockyards, while more clerical frames -- such as Einstein Engines shells -- can be found in the offices of many ports.

Tourism is a secondary source of Callisto's immense wealth and prosperity, and yet another region where [[Idris Incorporated]] has managed to work its way into the local market. Tourism on Callisto, unlike its fellow Galilean Moon [[Europa]], is generally focused on activities not on the moon itself. The majority of Callistean tourism is focused on Jupiter itself, with the main attraction being scenic flyovers of Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Most companies that offer these scenic flights, which can last anywhere from a few hours to weeks at a time depending on the client's needs and the quality of the vessel in use, are based out of Callisto with only a few flying out of other locations, such as Ganymede. A smaller minority of Callistean tourism is focused around the moon's three major seas. While not as awe-inspiring as a cruise with a clear view of the Great Red Spot vacations to the beaches of Callisto are a common getaway for working and middle-class Solarian families, particularly those from the Sol System itself, that cannot afford or are otherwise unable to vacation on the famous resort world of [[Silversun]].

A third aspect of Callisto's economy is its newfound status as the centre of the Solarian Alliance's synthetic industry, particularly the production of [[IPC]] frames. Callisto has always been home to a large synthetic production industry centred around IPCs, with many of Idris Incorporated's synthetic units being produced here, but has long been the second most important centre for synthetic production in the Alliance after [[Konyang]], thanks to the planet's status as the birthplace of the modern positronic brain. However Konyang's secession from the Alliance during the Solarian Collapse in late 2462 led to Callisto's robotics industry unexpectedly becoming the centre of synthetic production in the Alliance. With much of the investment that previously entered the factories and markets of Konyang now entering Callisto's industries the moon's robotics industry has seen unprecedented amounts of growth, with megacorporations investing heavily into it.

==Culture and Demographics==
<center><i>“Okay like you have simply got to try the Gomul Catena’s beaches okay? Like you know Silversun is just so expensive to go to because of the like whole phoron crisis stuff so like why not just stay in Sol itself? It’s cheap and it’s inexpensive and it helps the System out too! So what are you waiting for!”</i> – Tour guide Page Ferguson (2445 - ) during the recording sessions of the Callistean government’s <i>Come to Callisto!</i> holoTV advertising campaign. Filmed on 17 March 2464.</center>
As one of the most populated member states of the [[Sol Alliance]] aside from [[Earth]], and the largest single port in the Sol System, Callisto's surface is overwhelmingly dominated by urbanized settlements in a manner similar to the megalopolises of [[New Hai Phong]]. The settlements are organized into districts rather than individual cities, as the urban sprawl of the moon covers it completely aside from its seas. Callistean culture varies on a district-by-district basis but possesses some universal traits -- and stereotypes -- that are associated with the moon as a whole rather than individual regions upon it. Life on Callisto is, compared to New Hai Phong, radically different thanks to the more hospitable conditions of the moon's surface and the great amount of wealth brought in by the massive amounts of interstellar trade that Callisto is most known for abroad.

The surface of Callisto has led to a style of day-to-day life quite unlike anywhere else in the Sol Alliance or the greater Orion Spur itself. Life for the average Callistean is -- compared to other Solarian member states -- very good. In contrast to the massive hab-cube complexes used on New Hai Phong or the microdistricts of [[Pluto]], most Callisteans live in imposingly tall apartment complexes where the vast majority of families own their own apartments in which only their immediate, rather than extended, family resides. These individual apartments are private spaces and are typically located around a central area in the middle of the level that provides a common social area for the floor's residents. Some apartments go against this trend and many working-class Callisteans reside in apartments located above ground-level businesses rather than in the high-rise apartment complexes Callisto is best known for. The heavily-urbanised nature of Callisto has naturally lent itself to the development of public transportation, the most widespread of which is the Callistean Metropolitan Magnetic Rail Line. This network, which is typically referred to as simply “the Magtro,” spans the entire moon and consists of thousands of miles of track laid in both underground and elevated lines.

What is commonly defined by contemporary sociologists as the unified “Callistean culture” or, somewhat inaccurately, “Jovian culture” of Callisto's is in reality much less monolithic than it may originally seem. The conurbations that eventually became Callisto's districts all have their unique spins and twists upon Callistean culture and have all likewise contributed to the popular perception of the planet throughout the Orion Spur. However, some districts -- such as New Valletta, the district home to Callisto's largest ports; and Gomul Catena, home to the vast majority of Callisto's beaches -- have had more influence than others. Perhaps the best example of this is how the Callistean accent is perceived abroad as a rapid, breathless, and often loud manner of speaking. This accent, while well-known abroad as the Callistean accent, is a regional accent originating in and around New Valletta, and other districts possess different manners of speech entirely.

===Surfing===

<center><i>“Personnel stationed in the Commonwealth of Callisto should remember that they represent the Navy at all times. Do not engage in behavior that is hazardous or dangerous such as ‘rocket sledding,’ and avoid confrontations with local authorities,”</i> - Excerpt from the Solarian’s Navy guidebook for personnel stationed in the Commonwealth of Callisto.</center>

The Gomul Catena District has, as mentioned above, had a larger impact on Callistean culture than most other districts. This is thanks to the district's geography, as it completely surrounds the Valhallan Sea -- Callisto's largest body of water -- and all the beaches that can be found along the coastline. While this geography was initially used for the practical-yet-boring purpose of fishing and water purification the tourism industry rapidly emerged following urbanization efforts on Callisto, and the district has become the go-to location for many vacationers from Callisto and the greater Alliance. The main attraction of the Gomul Catena is its beaches, which locals claim are far better (and more affordable) than those on [[Silversun]], and life in the district often revolves around the waves. Surfing and swimming are particularly well-loved pastimes both in this district and -- thanks to its cultural impact -- Callisto more generally and many younger Callisteans seek to become involved with “surf culture” in the district, with the season lasting almost all year thanks to the orbital pull of Jupiter on the moon's oceans. Swimming and surfing culture is so ubiquitous on Callisto that indoor wave pools designed for surfing and swimming can be found throughout the planet, with many advertising that their machines are capable of producing waves “just like” famous Valhallan beaches.

While surfing is more famous than it, swimming is no less of a big deal for many Callisteans due to the Gomul Catena District and Callisto has -- according to some surveys -- more people able to swim on it than any other planet, including Earth. In contrast to surfing, which primarily takes place on the Valhallan Sea, swimming is generally seen as an indoor activity in Callisto, with many apartment complexes featuring multiple indoor pools on various levels. The New Edinburgh District features a large swimming pool -- the single largest on the moon -- where the yearly Neptunian Sprint, a competition used to determine the best swimmer on Callisto, is held between the ten districts of the Commonwealth. Another common pastime on Callisto, particularly at the northern and southern poles of the moon, is ice skating. In contrast to the glamour of surfing and the often-competitive nature of swimming ice skating is typically seen as a leisurely and often romantic activity that is best quietly enjoyed. But there are some exceptions such as the controversial and often-hazardous variation on ice skating from the Northern Shield District known as “rocket skating.” Rarely involving actual rockets despite its name, rocket skating is a local term for an “extreme sport” variant of ice skating which involves using the typically iced-coated craters found in the district to catapult oneself into the air and perform tricks. Despite calls from the local Solarian Navy presence to ban the practice, rocket skating has rapidly become immensely popular locally.

===Entertainment and Media===

While [[Venus]] is often regarded as the undisputed emperor of Solarian cinema, Callisto's local film industry has managed to carve out its own market, though it is not nearly as large or as prominent as its counterpart in Cytherea. Callistean cinema -- sometimes referred to as “Callistema” by fans -- tends to be more grounded and often grittier than its Cytherean counterpart, favouring crime dramas and action-focused movies that revolve around average people forced into difficult situations that often end in dramatic shootouts -- often with spectacular violence committed in the name of heroism, despite the lower budgets of most Callistean films compared to their Cytherean counterparts. Callisto's film industry is primarily based in the port district of New Valletta and the heavily-urbanised Ha Wan District, and the vast majority of the industry's films are shot on-location in Callisto -- typically in Ha Wan itself due to the district's heavily-urbanised nature and unique neon-dominated entertainment districts near its border with New Valletta. Arguably the most famous of the Callistean film industry's productions is the 2435 ''A New Day'', an action-crime film in which two brothers -- one involved in smuggling in New Valletta and the other working with the CMPD -- must reconcile their differences to get revenge for their father's murder by a crime kingpin in Ha Wan. The film is well-known for the iconic character of “Martin,” the sunglasses-wearing criminal associate of the brothers that is only known by his nickname and ultimately sacrifices himself in the film's climactic gunfight out of a sense of loyalty to the brothers.

===Immigrant Communities===

While the vast majority of Callisto's culture comes from its native population, the moon's massive districts are home to several significant expatriate communities from locations across the Solarian Alliance. The two largest expatriate communities on Callisto originate on [[Silversun]] and [[Mars]]. The Silversun expatriate community on Callisto is made up of Originals that have emigrated from the planet due to dissatisfaction with Idris Incorporated's dominance of Silversun, and is primarily found in the Gomul Catena District. The community is starkly divided between those that wish to maintain their unique identity from Silversun and those that wish to integrate into the urban society of Callisto, with many young Silversun Originals in the community that have grown up on Callisto identifying more with the urban jungle of Callisto than the tropical environment of Silversun they have never truly known. The Martian expatriate community is primarily found in the heavily-urbanised Han Wa district and is principally made up of refugees from the Violet Dawn disaster of 2462. In contrast to [[Venus]] the majority of the refugees that made their way to Callisto were members of the middle and upper class that were rich enough to afford transportation through the asteroid belt to Callisto, rather than just to Venus. Most have been successfully resettled on Callisto due to the more effective and efficient government of the Commonwealth, though there remains some minor tension between the residents of Han Wa and these recent arrivals due to cultural differences.

===Holidays===

The two major holidays of Callisto are '''Callistean Landfall Day''' and '''Pigeon Day'''. Callistean Landfall Day takes place on the 18th of June every year and is intended to celebrate the date that the first human settlers landed in what would eventually become New Edinburgh. While an elaborate ceremony still takes place in the Callistean capital district Callistean Landfall Day has become, to most Callisteans, a time to take a family vacation to the beaches of Gomul Catena thanks to the week-long period surrounding the holiday when most businesses are closed. Whether the holiday is best referred to as “Callisto Day” or “Landfall Day” is a matter of some debate among Callisteans.

Pigeon Day, on the 26th of June, celebrates the unification of Callisto's districts into the modern Commonwealth of Callisto in 2341, when the ten individual metropolitan areas that made up pre-Commonwealth Callisto cast aside their common identities to form a greater whole. The holiday's name is derived from the Callistean pigeon, the moon's most common bird, and Callisteans are immensely proud of Pigeon Day despite its somewhat unusual name. Insulting or otherwise belittling Pigeon Day's name in front of a Callistean is considered to be a major faux pas, and travel guides to Callisto strongly recommend against doing so. Pigeon Day's celebrations similarly last a week and each district holds its own series of celebrations. This includes the Solarian Navy-dominated Ringpole District, where the holiday's celebrations have become a flash point for tensions between the Navy and Callisteans living in the district.

==Districts==
<center><i>“Look look like I don’t think you get how big of a deal a district like New Valletta is Prime Minister. Like you’re probably used to like a city of a few million people right but like we have that in like just a few square kilometers or so okay? A district has the population of like a whole Coalition planet honestly. You can’t ignore us or like you’re going to end up in hella trouble,”</i> - New Valletta Councilwoman Emilia Martorello (2426 - ) to then-Prime Minister Michael Frost in a meeting on 18 October 2459.</center>
The ten districts of Callisto are the smaller sub-municipalities of the massive super-city that makes up the modern Commonwealth of Callisto. These districts are truly massive urban centres with slightly over a billion residents per district on average, and are made up of a multitude of smaller municipal entities that have, over time, come to form the greater district. The Commonwealth's government defers a great amount of autonomy to Callisto's individual districts due to their sheer sizes, and each district has gradually developed a unique regional identity with its own variation upon what the greater Orion Spur generally views as Callistean culture. A Callistean's district of origin will almost always have a large influence on them and there can be a surprising amount of variation between Callisteans from different districts.
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====New Edinburgh====
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'''New Edinburgh''' is the capital district of the Commonwealth of Callisto. This district is home to the majority of the Commonwealth of Callisto's government buildings, and has long been the center of governance for the moon. This district contains the landing zone where humans originally set foot on Callisto, which has been converted into a small memorial inside the capitol building. Callisteans from this district tend to be wealthier and more educated than others, and many of New Edinburgh's best and brightest end up working for either the Solarian government or as management for megacorporations such as [[Einstein Engines]]. As the administrative centre of the Commonwealth New Edinburgh is home to the main headquarters of the Callistean Metropolitan Police Department, one of the largest police agencies in the Alliance, and is regarded by some as the administrative hub for the entire Jovian System, although a resident of Ganymede would absolutely disagree on this point.
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====New Valletta====
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'''New Valletta''' is the heart of Callisto's shipping industry, and is perhaps the most important port in the entire Solarian Alliance. The district is home to a number of ports including the massive Galilean Port, the largest single port in the entire Alliance. Ships landing in the ports of New Valletta can come from locations as close as Io or Ganymede or as far away as [[Persepolis]] or [[Assunzione]] and the district itself is sometimes known as the centre of the Spur by sailors, which has led to the official motto of New Valletta: “The Conflux of of the Cosmos.” This official motto is frequently mocked by the residents of New Valletta as overly grandiose, but is deeply endeared at the same time -- perhaps due to how easily it can be mocked. Due to the immense amount of interstellar trade that comes to the district, New Valletta is extremely diverse and Callisteans from it are often more familiar with non-Solarian humans and [[Skrell]] than their fellow Alliance citizens. Callisteans from New Valletta are perhaps most readily known abroad for their rapid, breathless manner of speech with very few pauses that has, thanks to the district's status as the port of Callisto and the small film industry that the district has become known for, become the most commonly known example of the Callistean accent.

While New Valletta is the heart of Callisto's ports, '''Attlee Heights''' is where the deals that keep goods flowing into those ports are made. The financial heart of Callisto is one of the most important financial markets in the Spur due to Callisto's status as one of the Spur's largest centres of trade, and is where the flow of interstellar trade is often determined -- both in its stock markets and behind the closed doors of the Heights. The Callistean Interstellar Stock Exchange within the Heights is regarded by some as the beating heart of interstellar trade, and stands as the largest singular stock market in the Orion Spur by market capitalisation despite recent anti-corporate efforts undertaken by the Alliance. The district additionally houses many of the Alliance's economic think-tanks, and many of the Spur's best and brightest economists eventually end up working here. The Heights' relationship with its counterpart in the Republic of Biesel's Mendell City, Bullard Avenue, is not an equal or pleasant one. Even following the Solarian Collapse of late 2462 and expansion of the Republic of Biesel the Heights remains, to most economists not backed by the NanoTrasen Corporation, the true financial centre of the Orion Spur.
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====Gomul Catena District====
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The '''Gomul Catena District''' is a geographically large district that stretches around and entirely encompasses the Valhallan Sea. The long coastlines of this district have made it into the premiere destination for Callisteans on vacation and Solarians unable or otherwise unwilling to vacation on the sunny Idris Incorporated-dominated [[Silversun]]. The Gomul Catena District is also home to the Callistean fishing industry, which has become the largest of its kind in the Sol System due to the ongoing effects of ecological damage on Earth. Callisteans from this district are typically involved in either the fishing or tourism industries, with many of the latter working for [[Idris Incorporated]] in various fashions. Despite its stellar beaches and status as a frequently visited tourist locale, the district's nightlife has long been viewed as inferior to that of the Ha Wan District. The Gomul Catena is the heart of Callisto's renowned surfing scene, which first emerged in the district during the planet's initial rapid urbanisation.
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====Utgardian Plains Industrial District====
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Located between New Valletta's massive ports and Gomul Catena's docks is the '''Utgardian Plains Industrial District'''. It houses the majority of Callisto's heavy industry and factories in addition to large amounts of working-class housing. Despite its heavily industrialised nature the standard of living in the Plains remains high, particularly when compared to the industrial zones of [[New Hai Phong]]. The industrial production of the Plains has historically been dominated by heavy industry but has seen a rapid growth in its synthetic production sector following Konyang's secession. Many of Idris Incorporated and Einstein Engines' synthetics are produced in this district, and Callisteans from it tend to be very familiar with IPCs due to interacting with them on an almost daily basis. The rapid growth of the synthetic production sector in the Plains has caused unexpected problems for the local government and the district's CMPD branch, which is now responsible for policing more synthetics than perhaps any other agency in the entire Solarian Alliance.
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====Ha Wan District====
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Next to New Valletta is the '''Ha Wan District''', otherwise known as the “Lower Circuit” District. Built into the remains of a large crater ring following Callisto's terraforming, the district gained its name due to its status as the lowest district in terms of elevation. As a result of this Han Wan does not have a large amount of commercial shipping within its limits, which has allowed it to become a flourishing (and high-density) housing and commercial district. Ha Wan's position next to Callisto's New Valletta, Callisto's major port district, has made it the centre of Callisto's nightlife, with areas adjacent to New Valletta constantly bathed in neon. This position has also made it one of the centres of Callisto's film industry, with filmmakers based in New Valletta often crossing into Ha Wan to shoot scenes for their latest blockbusters. Further away from New Valletta, the district rapidly calms down as it turns into residential housing and commercial zoning. Despite its locally renowned nightlife Han Wan does not receive anywhere near the amount of tourism that the Gomul Catena District does and the majority of its off-moon visitors are sailors from the ports of New Valletta looking to spend their hard-earned Solarian Credits in the nightclubs and gambling halls of the district's commercial areas.
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====District of Fisher's Rest====
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If New Valletta is the beating commercial heart of Callisto, then the '''District of Fisher's Rest''' is the brain of the moon. Fisher's Rest is home to a number of renowned Solarian universities and academic institutions ranging from the Einstein-sponsored Jovian Institute of Technology to the Solarian Navy's Naval War College, and Solarian students from across the Alliance compete for a position in the district's universities. The district is also known for Crater Park, the largest singular green space on Callisto. Graduates from the universities and colleges of Fisher's Rest can be found throughout the Orion Spur, including in the [[Republic of Biesel]], though many remain on Callisto itself thanks to the massive economic strength of the moon. Due to the secession of [[Konyang]] and the rapid growth of the synthetic production sector in the nearby Utgardian Plains Industrial District many academic institutions in Fisher's Rest have found their robotics programs quickly overwhelmed with applicants and have scrambled to keep up the pace.
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====Cassini District====
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The '''Cassini District''' is located between the Ha Wan and Gomul Catena Districts, which has led to it becoming the primary port location for non-commercial interstellar travel such as tourists and other spacecraft carrying passengers instead of cargo. Its convenient location has also led to it being the centre of Callisto's Magtro, with hundreds of lines converging at Cassini Central Station. [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] has a surprisingly large presence in the Cassini District due to the megacorporation's presence on [[Europa]], and Zeng-Hu employees stationed there are routinely rotated off to Zeng-Hu facilities in the district to relax and recuperate. Workers employed on the volcanic surface of Io are typically similarly rotated off of the moon and into the Cassini District to rest and recuperate.
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====Northern Shield District====
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At and around the northern pole of Callisto is the '''Northern Shield District''', more typically known as “the '''Ringpole'''” by most Callisteans. Nowhere else on Callisto is the influence of the Tsushima Naval Base felt more clearly than inside the Ringpole, which holds many of the Solarian Navy's planetside installations, such as Togo Shuttleport, along with a significant civilian population. The district is well-known as the coldest in the Commonwealth thanks to its position at the extreme north. Ongoing issues between Callisteans and the Navy are worse here than in any other district on the moon's surface, despite the profits brought in by off-duty sailors. Ringpole is infamous in the CMPD for the amount of public disturbance calls related to the Navy. Callisteans from Ringpole tend to have a negative outlook of the Solarian Navy, and the district has become a major source of political agitation against the current emergency military junta. The district is home to a variety of unfilled craters left over from Callisto's terraforming that have recently become the arenas of “rocket skating,” a local sport which involves using the iced-over craters to launch oneself into the air. While typically performed using normal ice skates some skates with literal rockets fitted to them have been used to varying degrees of success.
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====Trafalgar District====
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The polar opposite, in a quite literal sense, of the Northern Shield District is its counterpart at the southern pole of Callisto: the '''Trafalgar District'''. While the Ringpole is dominated by the Navy the Trafalgar District is home to the much more popular Port Authority of the Callistean Commonwealth, which is integrated effectively into the commercial ports of the moon. While the Navy dominates its district and allows not much beyond itself to flourish in the Northern Shield District, the Port Authority's home is known to be a major port unto itself -- though not nearly as large as New Valletta. Due to its location the Trafalgar District is the second coldest of Callisto's districts and is the heartland of Callisto's national sport: ice skating.
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Human Entertainment Media

2024-07-03T00:35:48Z

La Villa Strangiato: Adds a truncated version of METEOR CRACKERS, from a lore canon application by Sniblet. Very soulful but I could not justify the whole thing in this page. https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/20440-hephaestus-issues-a-weekly-comic-to-miners-for-training/

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The Orion Spur is an exceedingly diverse place for humanity, filled with everything from dysfunctional “republics” to authoritarian monarchies to former colonies struggling to get onto their feet, and so much more in between! Yet despite how stunningly diverse humanity is, it is united in its love of one thing: entertainment! With human entertainment ranging from massive theaters showing the latest blockbuster on their holo-screens to humble gaming consoles and VR sets, humanity consumes and produces mass media at a scale unmatched by any other species in the Orion Spur. While attempting to list every form of popular media in the Orion Spur would take an obscenely long time, below we will touch on some of the most popular forms of media in the Orion Spur that humanity has created.

==Entertainment Consumption in the 2460s==
The ways in which humanity — and those living in human-dominated areas, such as the Republic of Biesel, view and consume entertainment media is quite diverse in of itself. While radio remains common, most households in civilized space will receive their entertainment through their television and many more expensive variants, such as a holographic projector that produces a three-dimensional viewing experience with some advertised as being realistic enough that the audience is transported into the scenery of the production itself. Movie theaters that use these three-dimensional holographic projectors on a larger scale are referred to as holo-plexes and are rarely found outside of well-developed human worlds due to the massive investment needed to create them and prohibitively high maintenance costs.

Phones remain common in the 2460s and can be found throughout human space and beyond, and most humans on highly-developed worlds such as [[Luna]] or [[Biesel]] will use a phone nearly every for both entertainment and work purposes. Corporate employees will go out of their way to purchase a phone from the Eridani Corporate Federation due to their widespread reputation for excellent utility in a corporate setting; features such as holographic projectors can be locked to the retinal implant of an employee, allowing only them and their supervisors to see displayed holographic images. NanoTrasen has, for some time, attempted to get ahead of the curve on employees purchasing their own devices by offering (mandatory) PDAs to all employees. They have found some success in this, despite issues with PDA security and the ease with which the devices can be cracked to run non-official programs.

Video games are widely consumed throughout the Orion Spur's human powers and span an incredibly diverse range of genres and topics, ranging from nationalistic shooters to dramas capable of challenging, perhaps even surpassing, the stories of the greatest films the Spur has to offer. Video games are primarily played through either a console or computer, though arcades and public virtual reality arenas are commonplace throughout human space. Commercially viable public virtual reality arenas are a somewhat recent arrival to the entertainment market and only started to become widespread following the runaway success of [[Human_Social_Media#Holo-Dive | Holo-Dive]], a virtual reality social media platform created through a collaboration between Idris Incorporated and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals.

Streaming — particularly the streaming of video games — it remains a common form of entertainment in the 2460s. Successful streamers are celebrities unto themselves. The Republic of Biesel has become something of a hub for the media form due to its diversity and the legal loopholes in the Republic's law allowing streamers to function mostly independently as long as they are employed by a megacoporation. Many streamers will operate through Chirper or HoloDive as both platforms have systems in place to support streamers on their platform—for a price, of course. Successful streamers can easily make it their job, but most will simply stream as a side job while collecting corporate sponsorships as they go. In addition to more traditional streaming advances made by [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]], Jeonshi Biotech Incorporated have allowed for the creation of streaming devices small enough to fit into augmented eyes, which have allowed for frame-by-frame streaming of sports directly from the eyes of an athlete. The future of sportscasting, today!

==[[Republic of Biesel]]==
The media of the Republic of [[Biesel]] is (often rightfully) criticized for being low-quality by critics from across the Orion Spur. [[NanoTrasen|NanoTrasen's]] utter dominance over the system results in little to no non-NanoTrasen owned business including film studios and independent media-producers, leading to an enormous brain drain to more established capitals of the entertainment industry such as [[Venus]] and, less commonly, [[Persepolis]]. What media that is produced in the Republic is typically heavily biased towards NanoTrasen and rarely displays competing perspectives. However, this may change in the immediate future due to Einstein Engines allowing for the establishment of Phoenix Productions, an independent film-making studio in Phoenixport.

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===Holovision Shows===
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Starting in 2435 and now running continuously for decades, '''Rock It!''' is a comedy skit show featuring celebrity guests. It alternates between skits, stand up, guest interviews and bands. Its long run is owed to a revolving door of comedians and its willingness to satirize matters of the day. The show’s run is split up by fans into what they dub “Eras” with the leading producer usually defining them. The first era is Joan Renard’s era. This was characterized by a low-cost production as the show just began, reliance solely on skits and guest comedians, and is considered by most fans to be the best era with its aged content being the main detriment. 2447 to 2458 was the Zan Kellard era that transformed Rock It! into the modern media powerhouse it is today. Kellard had brought on celebrity guests, greatly expanded the roster of show workers and writers, and invested heavily into better sets. Unfortunately, Kellard would later die during Frost’s Invasion. It is a 64tan-based conspiracy theory that he was killed by Solarian Marines despite the official cause of death being a brain aneurysm. Since then Rock It! has enjoyed great success and spread under Deven Paraiyar, a former Idris showrunner who later brought Rock It! under [[Idris Incorporated|Idris Incorporated’s]] ownership. The viewership numbers in the billions and spread across Sol, Elyra, and Tau Ceti. Much of its content currently focuses on satirizing the chaos of the Corporate Reconstruction Zone and Solarian Wildlands with a pro-SCC bent.

'''De Rosa Nights''' is one of Biesel’s most popular dramas. The series centres around a group of Human and [[Skrell]] cadets in the Mendell City Police Academy who grow close to one another, graduate into the same precinct in Vega De Rosa and begin to grow apart as they struggle with their own issues and the crime on the streets. Eventually, the officers go on to become detectives, SWAT officers, or even sergeants and lieutenants. The series began in 2452 shortly after Biesellian independence and has been lauded for centring seasons around real-life issues and concerns in Tau Ceti. This has earned it some criticism from those who believe De Rosa Nights unfairly depicts [[Tajara|Tajaran]] smugglers as being obsessed with explosives, [[Unathi]] hitmen as being utterly bloodthirsty and amoral, and how it heavily leans into anti-Vaurcae attitudes. The recent season centring around the attempted bombing of the Starlight Zone famously led to a long-working actor, Juux’xi Ooz departing the show as they felt that the show’s direction was leading it to become careless in how it deals with its subject matter.

'''METAL CRUSHERS!''' is professional “exomechanical” wrestling promotion, mainly performing shows involving Exosuits and Hardsuit fights. While created in 2435 by a dozen like-minded individuals, the franchise truly met success after its acquisition by [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]] in 2438, and contracted Ingi Usang Entertainment Company to start airing its shows in 2446, being where the franchise finds most of its viewers despite their website hosting records of all of their fights and shows. Ever since, METAL CRUSHERS! has been gaining more notoriety, with its founder acting as a host for most of the bigger shows, Frederick Marksman, a loud, cheerful man who happens to be constantly over-excited about exosuits fighting in an arena, at least in front of cameras. As one of the first exomechanical wrestling promotions, METAL CRUSHERS! has been a pioneer in the field for better or for worse, with some tragic events nearly ending the whole franchise on several occasions. Many new promotions have been formed throughout the Spur, trying to achieve the same success as METAL CRUSHERS! One example is BENT STEEL, a Solarian imitation.

Debates as to how much of METAL CRUSHERS! is still controlled by Marksman are ongoing, with the founder making allusions to Zavodskoi leadership. However, it is generally assumed that he still has enough influence on the creative end. METAL CRUSHERS! holds a championship every year all over Biesel, where the best teams and pilots of the Spur clash for a title in their respective leagues, Hardsuit or Exosuit, team fights or duels.
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===Literature===
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'''The Man Who Sold The World''' was published as a holobook in 2449 by Ingi Usang Entertainment Company, Xavier Trasen’s autobiography (composed as a mixture of both his own anecdotes and holovid recordings) was written during his time as the Orion Spur’s wealthiest individual — leading NanoTrasen from its origin on [[Mars]], to a megacorporation that soared higher than any other before it. It is one of the most sold books within the Republic of Biesel and continues to bring in revenue for the NanoTrasen subsidiary.

A “restricted” publication within the Republic of Biesel, the '''Corporate Revolution''' contains within it anti-corporate ideals, with an emphasis on the compounding issues created by the reliance on Megacorporations within both Tau Ceti and the greater Orion Spur. Despite its status as a prohibited text, the Tau Ceti Revolution is easy to gain access to outside of the Republic of Biesel, with most of its copies being sold on [[Himeo]] — and promptly smuggled into the Republic. Self-published in 2456 by a Himean-descended Biesellite, Juuso Palander, who died following a freak accident relating to a malfunctioning NanoTrasen Personal Digital Assistant device.

Written in 2456 by a [[New Hai Phong|New Hai Phongese]] immigrant, '''Song Boy''' follows the life of its author Kraisingha Saeli as his family leaves behind Cua Song and Kraisingha’s beloved Tinh Than Block. Much of the book deals with the culture shock and how it impacts Kraisingha’s family. Over time the Saeli family begin to adjust to Tau Ceti life by adopting some of the cultures and finding new niches and interests in Cape City. In particular, some focus is given to Kraisingha’s older sister who at first is infuriated with how corporate Tau Ceti is. Kraisingha shares this opinion at first but the two eventually come to peace with the corporations as they begin to enjoy the benefits that they bring. The novel's name comes from a nickname Kraisingha gets from classmates in school. The book was popular on release and has become part of the curriculum for Tau Cetian schools.

Mining with [[Hephaestus Industries]] entitles employees to free weekly issues of '''METEOR CRACKERS''', a Biesellite-published comic serial telling the story of a small Hephaestus mining team in slice-of-life format, while also educating readers on various hazards and edge situations that may or may not have been covered in initial training. There are three protagonists; the [[Konyang|Konyanger]] Ayumi, the [[Mars|Martian]] Ester, and the [[Gadpathur|Gadpathurian]] Dnyaneshwar, or Yanesh. Each character has different perspectives on how to solve an obstacle in their work; Ester is a veteran who works on instinct, and has not actually studied Hephaestus' various manuals and instructions (this is framed as a moral failing). Yanesh can recite every manual ever written on mining, and lives strictly by the books. He doesn't get along with Ester, though it's framed as mere personal differences - his origin is rarely given focus. Meanwhile, Ayumi, the thoughtful newcomer, must decide whether to err on the side of Ester's intuition, Yanesh's established knowledge, or a compromise to defeat the obstacle. Yanesh is never exactly wrong on any subject, but is sometimes at a loss, and his methods can be improved when combined with Ester's. Ester is sometimes outright wrong, but always has a plan that sounds good. Hephaestus miners are given digital access to most issues as they're published for free. "Special issues" focus on developing the story above teaching best practice and are paywalled to all, but Hephaestus employees enjoy discounts. Printed magazines require a subscription.
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===Video Games===
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The '''NT-Game!''' (emphasis included, and highly recommended if you are the person responsible for selling it at your local NTmart) is NanoTrasen's flagship gaming system, and is loosely based upon the electronics used in the standard NT-PDA every employee is issued before starting work at a NanoTrasen-owned facility. The NT-Game! is a remarkably cheap device beloved by adults and children alike throughout the Republic of Biesel and has a battery capable of running for two days without charging in ideal conditions. With a variety of games including Foreign Legionnaire: Heroes of Tau Ceti, the NT-Game! is certain to remain relevant for years to come. NT-Game! software is mostly compatible with the software of a standard NT-PDA, which has led to some employees modifying their PDAs to play NT-Swap! Games. NanoTrasen advises its employees not to do this, but has found little success in stopping the spread of “cracked” PDAs among its employees. Users of the NT-Game! are referred to by marketing as '''NT-Gamers!''' (also with emphasis) despite criticism at how “horribly corporate,” the name is.

The flagship game of the NT-Game! (emphasis is important, remember that) is -- as mentioned above -- '''Foreign Legionnaire: Heroes of Tau Ceti'''. Foreign Legionnaire is a first-person shooter set during the declaration of independence of Tau Ceti that postulates a “what if?” scenario where the Sol Alliance invaded the Republic of Biesel rather than letting it go free. The player takes control of a volunteer of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, which has hastily formed in response to the Solarian invasion. While the campaign has been hailed by Republican media for its story of a brave, ultimately hopeless stand against the Alliance, the real draw of Foreign Legionnaire is undoubtedly the multiplayer: players fight massive battles in locations across Tau Ceti as either a member of the Alliance or the Republic using a variety of guns and vehicles. Order your copy today and receive the Tajara Legionnaire DLC for free!

'''Witchfire''' is regarded as a surprisingly well-written, well-produced CRPG developed by an independent studio, Cracked Gear Group. While CGG is ostensibly independent, the founder and the developers have admitted much of their funding for Witchfire came from NanoTrasen's entertainment division. The game takes place in the fantasy world of Kelleria, where the eponymous Witchfires, the source of all magic, are starting to extinguish, causing natural disasters and the slow fading of magic. The player can choose between two main factions; the Weavers or the Wayfinders. While the Weavers wish to find a way to reignite the Witchfires, the Wayfinders are industrialists who believe the peoples of Kelleria must move on using technology and cannot rely on the Witchfires forever. The game is notable for featuring not just humans, but fantasy counterparts of Skrell, Unathi, Tajara, [[Vaurca]], and [[Diona|Dionae]]. It was widely praised for these original depictions of fantasized alien races, though the game was mildly controversial among the K'lax and C'thur hives for only featuring Vaurca in the carapace shades of the Zo'ra Hive.
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==[[Sol Alliance]]==
The Alliance is home to the greatest share of humanity's entertainment industry due to its massive size and often ancient production companies, some of which can trace their founding back to even before humans were able to go beyond their own atmosphere! Despite an increasingly authoritarian climate and the loss of much territory by the Alliance in recent years, Cytherea has managed to retain its spot as the so-called “Emperor of Entertainment” and attempts to censor it by the Alliance's government have slid off of it like rain due to [[Venus]]' prominent position in the Alliance. Many of Biesel's prominent entertainers— actors to writers— eventually find their way to Cytherea due to Venus' lack of a megacorporate stranglehold. But while Cytherea may be the Emperor, it is hardly the only source of entertainment! Planets throughout the Alliance produce their own forms of media ranging from crime dramas on [[New Hai Phong]] to [[Human_Social_Media#Holo-Dive |Holo-Dive]] vacations on [[Silversun]] sponsored by [[Idris Incorporated]].

One of the most successful video games in the Alliance is '''Solarian Marines''', a multiplayer-only first-person shooter with real-time strategy elements that throws players into a conflict between the 3rd Battalion of the 54th Solarian Marine Regiment and the heinous Tup Research Division of the Nralakk Federation that has gone rogue due to the presence of the insane Xivxum Xiuzux. With the Federation unable to stop the rogue doctor, the heroic marines must step in and save the day. Despite drawing controversy due to its negative depictions of the skrell, Solarian Marines is played throughout the Orion Spur due to continued support of its asymmetrical gameplay. The Marines must land upon the planet from their vessel, the Conrad, before pushing into and eliminating the Tup research facility deep underground. The Tups must steal DNA using small, invisible probe units that disable and temporarily knock marines out in order to unlock more powerful Skrell bioforms and push the marines back onto the Conrad (this depiction of the Nralakk Federation's Tups has drawn immense criticism from the Federation itself, but has not stopped the game from becoming a best-seller). With a wild variety of Skrell bioforms -- ranging from the Tup themselves to hulking war bioforms able to throw marines like ragdolls -- and marine roles -- from humble grunts to the Captain of the Conrad -- Solarian Marines has enough to keep players occupied for hundreds of hours as long as they can get past its extremely controversial depiction of Skrell. Plus, extensive character creation you can design your own marine that looks like you!

The most successful movie franchise in the Alliance, perhaps in the entire Spur, is without a doubt '''Monkey King'''. With its seventh main line installment having recently released in February 2463 to rave reviews and massive profits, the Cytherean-produced series has secured its continued dominance over the holovid (or “holo-movie” for the official term) industry despite criticism that the series primarily centered around the titular Monkey King's visually stunning fights rather than actual plots. The Monkey King himself is depicted as a wandering hero travelling throughout the Orion Spur and beyond in search of the next biggest fight to prove himself in. A reason for the ongoing profitability of Monkey King is the early adoption of holographic movie projection by the franchise in the mid-2430s, which helped bring the franchise to the next level of spectacle: viewers are transported into the fight itself, able to view it from almost any angle if viewed in an appropriately equipped holo-plex theater.

==[[Empire of Dominia]]==
The Imperial entertainment industry is a curious one thanks to the authoritarian and highly-centralized nature of the Empire of Dominia itself, with the royal family often known for interfering in the entertainment industry (for better or worse). Despite this, it maintains a respectable entertainment industry that, while being nowhere near the size of the Alliance or Republic of Biesel, has achieved a reputation for quality productions. A majority of the Empire's entertainment products can be found in the greater Orion Spur regardless of the Empire's debatable reputation in the Coalition of Colonies and Republic of Elyra, but the largest market for Dominian entertainment media remains the Empire itself as very little Dominian media is designed for a wider (and non-Dominian) audience.

Easily the most popular entertainment product in the Empire is the critically-acclaimed '''Our Holy Moroz''', a ten-season drama set during the closing years of the War of Moroz leading up to the unification of the planet Moroz under the Empire of Dominia. The series is centered around two characters: Captain Cynthia Desrosiers of the Imperial Alliance and her nemesis, Lieutenant Jalo Heikkinen of the Confederated States. Even though it was produced in the Imperial capital of Nova Luxembourg, Our Holy Moroz is widely regarded as an extremely nuanced and fair dramatization of the War of Moroz, with an ensemble cast portraying characters and some historical figures from both the Confederated States of Fisanduh and Imperial Alliance. Curiously, future Emperor Godwin Keeser's face is never directly shown and is instead depicted with his back to the camera— producers explain this is to avoid creating an impostor of the late Emperor. With its tenth season slated to end the series in November of 2463, Imperial subjects and even some beyond Dominia's borders hold their breath in anticipation of the last showdown between Desrosiers and Heikkinen.

While Boleslaw Keeser the First may be the undisputed Emperor of Dominia, the undisputed master of the Dominian video gaming market— by extension, esports is included here— is the wildly popular '''Reign of Steel''', produced by a programming studio affiliated with House Volvalaad. Reign is a highly competitive and finely tuned shooter set in a fictitious version of the Interstellar War in which players can fight for either the Frontier Coalition or Solarian Central Government. With hundreds of ways to equip your soldier and an engrossing gameplay loop, Reign has been a smash hit both inside and outside of the Empire thanks to a large sponsorship from House Volvalaad and seems set to become one of the most popular esports in the Orion Spur. Many theorize that the reason for this success—massive funding by the Volvalaads aside, of course— its semi-fictional setting, which allows it to be sold anywhere in the Spur without arousing nationalistic anger.

==[[Eridani Federation]]==
Eridanian entertainment shares much with the greater Solarian Alliance as a whole due to its position within the Jewel Worlds of the Alliance, yet a good variety of local entertainment media has managed to develop within the Corporate Federation, free of the influence of the greater Alliance. However, the uniquely corporate nature of the Federation and immense divisions between the haves and have-nots has shaped Eridanian media into its unique current form: there is an extremely clear divide between the entertainment media a model employee should subscribe to and the entertainment media only suited for dregs and those with ink under their leisure suits.

A model employee of Eridani's highly valued corporations will derive their primary source of entertainment from podcasts, either at home, at work, or on the go. These podcasts are widely promoted by the corporations of the Federation and listening to them while working is typically not forbidden by the majority of employers for very practical reasons: giving employees access to entertainment that they can use while still having their hands and eyes free to work cuts down on the need for employees to have breaks for entertainment and relaxation and can often contribute to productivity. Many corporations have in-house podcasts available only to loyal employees as an incentive for productivity and sharing these is often a quick way to be fired from one's position. Another common feature of Eridanian corporate entertainment are “minicasts,” podcasts designed to last as long as the time it takes transportation to go from an employee's residence to their office. These are typically produced by the employee's corporation for their own use in order to incentivize continued work with the company. Some of these minicasts are known for being so well-produced that they have followings outside of Eridani, though they hardly make up a large part of the Orion Spur's media marketplace.
Dregs on the other hand produce very little entertainment media of their own with some— mostly Eridanian— critics claiming dregs are simply too brutish and uncivilized to ever create something beautiful. Some dreg-produced entertainment series, such as the Mendell City-based '''Underlife''' podcast that catalogues life in Eridani's underworld, go against this stereotype. Many, however, are unable to overcome their circumstances and with their lives defined by overwhelming levels of poverty and crime, the average dreg's entertainment is typically derived from illegal narcotics rather than media. Some theorize that Eridanian pharmaceutical companies are one of the main sources of drugs in Eridani's underworld and inflate supply in order to keep the large population of dregs content.

==[[Republic of Elyra]]==
Due to the heavily isolationist and top-down nature, the Republic of Elyra, has a somewhat small, quality entertainment industry that is primarily centered around the planet of Persepolis. Though it is overshadowed in Elyra by more traditional art forms on other Elyran planets such as [[Medina]], Elyran entertainment typically finds more success in the greater Orion Spur. The entertainment industry that does exist in the Serene Republic is centered around films and animation and has a reputation for pursuing quality over quantity due to its small size. Elyran arthouse cinema is considered by some to be on the same level of quality as Venus, though it often struggles to match the scale and spectacle of the Solarian capital of entertainment. Elyran Sadiququus, or QQs, are not considered to strictly be part of the entertainment industry, instead being considered their own industry.

The most famous holovid to come out of the animation studios of [[Persepolis]] is the long-running '''Freedom Fliers''' series, produced by Marut Studios, which portrays the trials and tribulations of exosuit and mech pilots during the Interstellar War through the use of fictional characters. The series is beloved in the Republic of Elyra and Coalition of Colonies for its well-developed cast of characters and patriotic roots in fighting against the Sol Alliance, ostensibly being not well-received in the Sol Alliance. It has become prominent in Tau Ceti post-independence, and its advertisements can often be found throughout the Republic of Biesel.

A less famous yet still beloved holovid originating in the animation studios of Persepolis is the '''Blood on the Sands''' series, which presents a dramatization of the Medina [[Medina#The_Phoron_Bulletin|phoron bulletin]] and the phoron hunters that work to fulfill it. Full of drama, intrigue, and suspense, Blood on the Sands has seen wild success in the Republic itself, and its broad cast of characters dedicated to hunting phoron have helped it become widely watched outside of the Republic. Its producers, Leviathan Studios, are well regarded throughout the animation industry for the lengths they have taken to ensure Blood on the Sands remains as faithful to its source material as possible all while being animated.

'''YOUR FAVOURITE''', while not especially renowned in its homeland, has something of a cult following in the [[Coalition of Colonies]]. It is a netcomic (an independently-serialised online comic strip) written and illustrated by Noor Amari, considered the codifier of Medina's ''ghul-anata'' or "ghoulpunk" movement. Ghoulpunk attempts to go against the grain of Medina's beauty and perfection-focused art culture, creating works that are strange, garish, or offputting; YOUR FAVOURITE is no exception. It centers around a young Elyran woman, Yasmina, who dies in a shuttle crash only to wake up in a world very similar to hers, except everyone is some form of anthropomorphic animal. Having been a homebody and a notoriously anxious person in her previous life, Yasmina resolves to do everything she didn't have the courage to do before, to darkly humourous results. Featuring rather frank and lurid depictions of topics seen as "taboo" in Elyra, it became popular enough to receive publication on [[Xanu Prime]]. According to Amari, she sent the script to an Elyran publisher but never received word back.

==[[Coalition of Colonies]]==
The entertainment industry of the Coalition is incredibly decentralized due to the nature of the Coalition itself with each planet producing its own unique forms of media ranging from anti-Solarian propaganda on Gadpathur (from posters to popular animated cartoons) to true crime series set in the seedy underbelly of Xanu Prime. However, much of the Coalition's well-known entertainment media can be traced back to its more developed colonies such as Himeo and Xanu Prime, with less-developed planets rarely producing entertainment that becomes known beyond the Coalition itself.

Despite its humble origins in the Republic of Assunzione, the open-world RPG '''Lightwalker''' has found itself popular throughout the Orion Spur due to its setting and mix of traditional roleplaying game and horror elements. Gameplay centers around the player creating and taking control of a Zeng-Hu-sponsored exploration team that is being sent into uncharted depths of Light's Edge to find and retrieve a device referred to as the “bianhua”. The myriad twist and turns along the way will find the player and their team pushed to the limit by forces inside and outside of their small vessel. When they ultimately reach the bianhua, they are presented with a choice: should this device even be retrieved, or was the bianhua abandoned in this far away sector for a reason? Despite receiving some criticism from Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals itself, Lightwalker has been massively successful throughout the Orion Spur. However, many on Assunzione avoid the game due to its “gamifying” of Light's Edge and what can be found within its uncharted sectors.

The long-running detective drama '''Xanu Underground''' is perhaps the most easily recognized piece of entertainment from the Coalition itself. With the series having run for nearly seventy continuous years, Xanu Underground and its uncompromising depiction of life in the massive cities of Xanu Prime have achieved fame throughout the Orion Spur as one of the greatest police procedurals ever made. Though initially set in the transition from Solarian to local rule at the start of the Interstellar War, Xanu Underground has jumped around the planet's history with a five-season-long series generally centered around two detectives. The most recent protagonists are vice detective Beatrice Fitzpatrick and her baseline colleague ICO (short for Intelligence Cataloguer and Organizer) and their attempts to bring down a drug smuggling cartel operating out of Galatea. With this series' second season having started in 2463, it is clear that much of their story remains.

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