Reade
Formally settled in 2285, the gas giant Reade remains one of the younger colonised bodies within the Tau Ceti. The planet is known for its military industry and R&D, its enormous gas extraction operations of fusion reactants and phoron, and its Tau Ceti Armed Forces military and Zavodskoi Interstellar company towns.
| Contents |
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| Reade |
| Tau Ceti System |
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| Sector: Tau Ceti |
| Capital: Beacon |
| Species: Human |
| Common Languages: Tau Ceti Basic, Solarian Common |
Demonyms:
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| Part of: Republic of Biesel |
| Formerly part of: Sol Alliance |
Environment
Planetary and Orbital Characteristics
Reade is a moderately-sized gas giant, possessing narrow but dense rings of water ice. It has 72 moons of various character, most of which are unremarkable and used for mining efforts or hosting small off-worlder communities. One significant satellite sees greater purpose: New Gibson, the largest of Reade’s moons with an irregular, distant orbit and dubbed the Industrial Heart of Tau Ceti.
Being a gas giant, entering low orbit or entering and-or exiting the atmosphere comes at a massive fuel cost — the same amount it would take to do ten Biesel to New Gibson trips. As such, transport to and off the planet can be quite expensive at times, often deterring the average tourist. This also serves as a natural defence for the planet’s military and phoron extraction industry, akin to being in a mountainous position and, while it does increase costs, the production output and innate security can justify it. Of course, a determined and well-supplied foe can get past this, as seen during the Second Invasion.
Atmosphere
Like most gas giants, Reade is primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, with clouds and crystals of various compounds forming at different elevations. Temperatures and pressures all vary by elevation too, from scorching hot and sparse, to temperate, to freezing and dense.
Reade’s thermosphere is several-hundred kilometers thick, with a temperature gradient of 650°C from the top to 50°C at the bottom of the thermosphere. Conventional radio communications are often hit by extended plasma blackouts lasting hours when transiting the thermosphere, and vessels must be rated for planetary entry or launch to withstand the temperatures.
A 20 kilometer band of the upper atmosphere, known as the Orange Zone, temperatures range between 30°C and 10°C with pressures of 10—30kPa. The layer is predominantly formed of gaseous hydrogen. In this layer, clouds of various compounds — ammonia, hydrocarbons, nitriles, etc. — are formed by radiolysis and polymerisation, precipitating as yellow, red or orange rains or crystals to the lower layers.
Beneath this upper hydrogen zone, a thin, 5 kilometer almost-pure oxygen layer, known as the Blue Zone, sits with habitable conditions ranging between 10°C to 0°C and with pressures of 30-40kPa — rather ideal for an atmosphere for such high oxygen concentration: low enough to moderate the availability of oxygen and lower (but not minimise) flash fire risks; high enough to support human life, if a bit thin. Clouds that form in this layer are predominantly water ice clouds, however precipitation of caustic compounds (such as ammonia) from the Orange Zone are known to fall. Reade’s mobile platforms reside within this layer during non-work operations. Breathing pure oxygen can be dangerous in the long-term, even at the reduced pressure the Blue Zone finds itself at, so mobile stations do pressurise their interiors and exterior work operations are limited to one hour unless breathing apparatus is worn.
Below the Blue Zone, the ever-deep Red Zone expands through the rest of the atmosphere, until Reade’s temperatures see each of the atmosphere’s constituent gases turn to liquid and pressures crumple anything that enters. It is in this zone, however, that helium concentrations spike, making it the ideal layer to extract the gas. Phoron also appears in this layer, likely deposited from millennia of captured meteors from the Romanovich Cloud; being significantly heavier than other fluids in Reade’s atmosphere, the phoron only sits as clouds for a short while, then falling as rain towards the deeper core where it becomes inaccessible. Where these phoron clouds grow large enough, they appear as reddish-purple streaks from orbit, and can potentially form phoron storms which appear as Great Purple Spots that can last years.
Universal throughout the layers are the extreme storms that can form, with wind speeds capable of devastating any outpost, ship, or city that encounters them. These winds often kick up the caustic compounds in Reade’s atmosphere, with ammonia and hydrocarbon rains being one’s first warning of an approaching storm. As such, Reade’s platforms are designed to be mobile, capable of migrating away from the storms and chasing parts of Reade’s Blue Zone that have bearable wind speeds, temperatures, and pressure. These storms regularly interfere with ship traffic to-and-fro Reade.
History
Pre-Colonisation
Following [[Biesel]’s colonisation, it wasn’t long until the first, short-term gas harvesting rigs would crop up around Reade, fielding small teams of non-permanent workers who would extract and export fusion reactants from the gas giant’s stratosphere for use in fusion reactors and warp drives. Many of these original stations were contracted out to Einstein Engines.
Unbeknownst to the system at the time, a larger, clandestine facility operated by the Solarian Navy was also constructed in 2257 — Anemonstrovilos. The mobile platform was constructed with massive fusion thrusters which kept it afloat and mobile, and was tasked with covert military research and development and nuclear fusion research. Obscured by the gas giant’s upper cloud layer, and with Reade’s massive gravity well and thermosphere deterring fuel-conserving and non-specialist vessels from straying near the gas giant, the mobile platform went undetected. Military traffic leaving the gas giant could seamlessly and discreetly merge into that of New Gibson’s before carrying on into the greater Tau Ceti system and beyond.
Colonisation and The Interstellar War (2280—2329)
With tensions rising on New Gibson and the Interstellar War reaching its height, a decision was made by the Solarian Navy to relocate more critical military shipyards to Reade itself, rather than its dissenting, riotous moon. The clandestine Anemonstrovilos mobile platform was the starting point for this relocation, undergoing a 5-year long expansion and refitting operation, turning the station into a major military shipbuilding hub and military city for families posted to. The station’s research decks would be contracted out to Zavodskoi Interstellar, alongside a powerful NDA.
As the mobile platform grew to greater size, fused with satellite stations, and military traffic to-and-fro became more difficult to conceal in New Gibson’s traffic, so too did the impracticability of continuing to keep the station a secret. Information about the not-so-secret station was already common rumour among Zavodskoi Interstellar employees and Solarian Navy servicepeople working in Tau Ceti, and even frequent stoppers at New Gibson had begun to suspect something was off. The station was officially revealed in 2329, pre-empting any exposé.
The Discovery of Phoron and The Neon Night (2352—2378)
Until the discovery of phoron, it was generally regarded that the purple streaks in Reade’s atmosphere were water and ammonia mixing and undergoing a reaction under ultraviolet radiation, or something of a similar vein. However, with the announcement of a new, purple element, NanoTrasen Corporation would launch a probe in 2356 into one of the many Great Purple Spots, and it would be confirmed that phoron was present in small quantities in Reade.
While NanoTrasen Corporation tried to keep this finding a secret, the Solarian Alliance had already found out and planned a second facility to exploit this newfound resource. Thyella would finish construction by the Solarian Navy in 2364 and begin phoron extraction operations the same year. The new mobile platform was plagued with issues from inception: rushed construction; stalling by NanoTrasen Corporation who wanted rights to the phoron extraction; and mismanagement, with the quiet and easy posting often being granted for good conduct or as a result of cronyism, instead of merit.
This culminated in a disaster in 2378, now referred to as the Neon Night. A phoron-carrying shuttle attempted to land during a particularly strong storm, sending it veering off-course and flying through a research and residential spire of Thyella, where the phoron cargo ignited and detonated. A thousand station staff or family thereof working or residing in the destroyed spire were killed, and phoron contamination near the site killed several hundred more. The incident would result in safety legislation on how phoron should be handled, as well as the sale of Thyella mobile platform to both Zavodskoi Interstellar and NanoTrasen Corporation, who would begin rebuilding the facility and resume operations as usual by 2380 — Zavodskoi running the military shipbuilding, local policing, and maintenance, and having the greatest ownership stake; NanoTrasen the phoron extraction and resident accommodations.
Other, smaller mobile platforms in Reade’s atmosphere would soon begin cropping up and of various origin — corporate, state, independent — often interacting with the larger stations. Orbital habitats for those unwilling to brave Reade’s hazards or working to exploit the minerals of Reade’s rings or satellites would also begin appearing in greater numbers.
Independence from the Solarian Alliance and Reade’s Modernisation (2452—2460)
After the secession and formation of the Republic of Biesel, Reade’s mobile platforms would be quickly absorbed into the fledgling republic. This was not without a hitch and Anemonstrovilos would see heavy protesting, where many residents were Solarian military families and descends thereof with no relation to Biesel, and who had to decide between abandoning their homes to migrate to the Solarian Alliance or to continue on Reade under a new government. These protests went ignored by the Republic of Biesel, until a Zavodskoi Interstellar security contractor was fatally wounded after the company purchased one of Anemonstrovilos’ military shipbuilding docks and, across the station, a diplomatic representative of the Republic was injured when returning from a meeting with the mobile platform’s administration.
In response, the Republic of Biesel promised and began work on a long-needed modernisation effort of the near two-century old station and its sister, with Zavodskoi Interstellar contracted to handle mundane, structural and industrial improvements and NanoTrasen Corporation for any phoronic refittings, such as the refitting of the station’s fusion thrusters with those making the best of phoronic magnetic confinement. This posed many engineering and budgetary difficulties, and many of these improvements were quite slap-dash.
Two new mobile platforms were also commissioned as part of the modernisation efforts, and no doubt siphoned many of the funds that would have gone to Anemonstrovilos and Thyella. Finished in 2459 and 2460 respectively, the Joseph Dorn Station and Beacon Platform were twice the size of Anemonstrovilos and Thyella combined, and decked out in the most advanced phoronic technologies at the time. The Joseph Dorn and Beacon were intended to be wholly owned by the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion for shipbuilding and to serve as a large military town for those posted outside of Tau Ceti’s centre, however the former would be short-lived.
Nonetheless, Reade’s modernisation abated most of the frustrations in the less committed pro-Solarians residents and the unrest subsided. However, pro-Solarian sentiments continue to be held by a small majority of Anemonstrovilos’ residents to this day, seeing the mobile platform’s administration often butt heads with other stations and with the Republic. This was only emboldened when — come the completion of the Joseph Dorn and Beacon platforms — the Republic of Biesel sold its military shipbuilding docks on Anemonstrovilos to Zavodskoi Interstellar for megacorporate ship and armament production, with the platform being too subversive to entrust with military purposes, which was seen as depriving Anemonstrovilos of its source of pride.
The Second Invasion of Biesel (2462)
In 2462, come the Second Invasion of Biesel, Reade’s moons and mobile platforms would come under attack. Reade’s military industry was a priority target for sabotage and would see the 35th’s marines deployed to a synchronous assault on Thyella and the fledgling Joseph Dorn for its political value. Anemonstrovilos would also be seized without loss of life, with video footage showing the corridors up to the administration’s control room lined with residents welcoming them aboard — those who were pro-Republic sheltering in their residences. The planet was officially lost, captured by the enemy, while the TCFL’s forces rendezvoused over Biesel. Military industry across Reade’s mobile platforms were hastily sabotaged, slowing the Republic of Biesel’s military production for several years, to which it has only recently recovered from.
Come the Republic’s counterattack with the support of the Republic of Elyra, Coalition of Colonies, and newly-revealed Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Reade would become the mustering point for remaining 35th Fleet forces. However, a covert joint—TCFL-corporate special forces operation saw the reactivation of a planetary defence battery, which was used to strike the flagship of Grand Admiral Raymond Ozdemir mid-burn, seeing it pulled into Reade and eventually crushed within its depths.
As a result, the 35th was routed. Prior to their departure from Reade’s platforms though, and as a final humiliation of the Republic of Biesel, the Joseph Dorn’s fusion thrusters would be irreparably damaged, leaving it to slowly plummet towards Reade’s maelstrom of a core alongside Ozdemir’s flagship. Being such a new platform, few permanent residents were onboard, and the temporary workers and little residents that were onboard were evacuated by the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion and transports from other mobile platforms.
Recent History
In recent years, and particularly with the Peacekeeper Mandate ongoing and tensions rising around the Orion Spur, Reade’s military industry has been pushed to its limit, churning out new TCAF vessels and restoring or refitting older vessel designs used by the Republic of Biesel. Due to the military importance of Reade’s platforms, it has narrowly avoided many of the consequences of the Phoron Scarcity, with the Republic of Biesel diverting much of the state-allocated phoron to Reade’s military facilities, and thus also the platforms in which they occupy and are reliant upon. For the same reasons, and after the failures seen in the Second Invasion of Biesel, Reade’s low orbit has a frightening number of Tau Ceti Armed Forces patrols and watchposts.
Industries, Economy, and the Megacorporations
Reade’s economy has always primarily been its military shipbuilding and R&D industry, despite the fuel costs required to enter a gas giant’s low orbit, let alone atmosphere, as this increase in expense comes as its greatest defence. Zavodskoi Interstellar has always had a clear edge over and early presence on Reade’s platforms in this industry and, with the endless public relations campaigns, the military-industrial giant tends to be favourably viewed, no matter where on Reade someone may be. Reade’s military shipyards bring workers in from across Tau Ceti, particularly New Gibson whose phoronics industry has shrunk with the ongoing Phoron Scarcity. NanoTrasen Corporation’s high tech, phoronic ship armaments and Nexus Corporate Security vessels are also developed and constructed here.
Following the discovery of trace amounts of phoron in Reade’s atmosphere, NanoTrasen Corporation would swoop in to establish a phoron gas extraction industry, and is a primary source of fluidic phoron in the Republic of Biesel. With the phoron clouds in Reade’s atmosphere growing more and more scarce, the mobile stations have had to resort to more dangerous excursions to obtain the resource, which is universally seen as reckless and has begun to damage the reputation of the phoron company.
With the gravitational and thermospheric difficulties imposed on those attempting to approach and-or enter Reade’s atmosphere, the planet also has multiple maximum security penal platforms — federal prisons of the Republic of Biesel, military prisons of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces, and private prisons of Zavodskoi Interstellar. The Zavodskoi Interstellar ‘’’Menoetius’’’ private supermax prison (a frequent subject of conspiracy theories and human right violation concerns, and someone one can find themselves blacklisted from Zavodskoi Interstellar employment for talking about) is precariously positioned in the planet’s Red Zone, its location ever changing and the platform obscured by multiple layers of clouds.
Finally, and not quite a planetary industry, a large mining industry exists beyond Reade’s atmosphere in space, shared with New Gibson. Hephaestus Industries and Orion Express can both be found fielding miners into Reade’s ice rings or to uncolonised satellites of the planet. Many in Tau Ceti, particularly Offworlder Humans unable to acclimate to the gravity-possessing bodies of the system, find themselves in this industry, either under a megacorporation or completing bounties posted by them. Many of Reade’s inhabitants also find themselves in this industry.
Government and State
Reade has no unified planetary government. Each mobile platform operates as a city state under the governance of its local administration. Local laws and politics all highly vary by station as a result, provided they are not at odds with the Republic of Biesel’s federal laws.
Generally, Anemonstrovilos has local laws that closely mimic the Solarian Alliance’s, with the platform’s administration curbing the megacorporations where they can, and regularly sparking frivolous cases in the Republic of Biesel’s federal courts. Each overruling sees the station’s pro-Solarian elements rear their heads; however, as time passes and new generations come, this number continues to fall. It is currently overseen by Governor Daniel Zhuang who has long campaigned for Anemonstrovilos to be recognised as a fully autonomous, Solarian state outside of the reaches of the Republic of Biesel — to no effect, of course.
Thyella, essentially a company town that is majority owned by Zavodskoi Interstellar, is noticeably more lax on economic and anti-trust laws and, while in no way authoritarian, has been known to moderate those publicising their anti-corporate views — especially when it comes to Zavodskoi’s image. It is overseen by Administrator Darla Petrenko, formerly a corporate executive with Zavodskoi, who scarcely deviates from the company line.
Beacon, with its administration kept more in-line by the Republic of Biesel and NanoTrasen Corporation, is in lockstep with the Republic. Its local laws are a one-to-one representation of those seen in the typical Biesellite city. It is overseen by Mayor Quinn Turner, who is often ridiculed for spending far too much time posting comedic PR skits to attract migrant workers to Reade instead of getting anything done. They are well-liked, despite the ridicule.
Readic Culture and Society
As a result of its more recent colonisation, of which much was for military and company families of workers, and its mobile stations lacking a shared planetary government, Reade is still in the process of finding its own culture — a long journey, as its mobile platforms have yet to agree on and can start spats over the demonym applied to those on Reade, with the Republic of Biesel imposing its own where official documents are concerned. Many of the cultural elements that have formed are strongly tied to specific platforms or have trickled down from the Republic of Biesel and the nearby New Gibson.
A few planet-wide staples have had time to emerge though.
Breathing Masks and Cybernetics
Breathing masks, though not necessary when in the pressurised indoors, are a common sight hanging around the necks or waists of those hailing from Reade, even when the local environment does not require them. This is likely a result of generations being wary of Reade’s high oxygen concentration habitable zone, where oxygen toxicity can slowly creep up on an individual, only presenting late as neurological and respiratory symptoms, and so it was better to be safe with tank-supplied air-mix. Breathing masks come in all shapes, sizes, and colours on Reade, and many are further decorated upon purchase to add a personal flair.
Oxygen Monitor Implants are a common cybernetic purchased on Reade, which passively monitors one’s oxygen levels and can send an alert to a device when they soar too high. For those who frequently work on the exterior, such as shipyard workers, cybernetic eyes and lungs have seen an increase in popularity, avoiding the damage of these organs more susceptible to hyperoxia.
Flame Averseness
Also born of this wariness of the oxygen-rich environment is a complete aversion to the unnecessary lighting of flames — particularly smoking. If oxygen concentrations have risen too high in a mobile platform compartment, even a spark can ignite a raging inferno, and so it is better to do away with cigarettes and other unnecessary uses of flames entirely. Rigorous electrical standards are upheld, and those of Reade can have ritual obsessions with ensuring their safety. For those that do continue to smoke on Reade, and tourists or migrants who bring the habit with them, it is met with harsh social shunning and avoidance.
Where fires do appear, even the most hardened and trained Reade inhabitants are known to have a strong fight-flight-freeze response, slowing an immediate response until training and drills do eventually kick in.
Extreme Readic Racing
The various forms of racing originating on Reade are characterised by their extreme risk and short-lived, but infamous participants. They are almost always illegal to participate in or bet money on, however enforcement is difficult.
To the observers, the racer’s character is everything. A racer tends not to reveal their identity unless it is directly tied to the character they race as, even when a racer dies or retires, the identity is not revealed. In turn, deceased or retired characters are often recycled by newer racers hoping to achieve the fame the old character once had, though it is considered taboo to adopt the character of a racer who is commonly considered as better than you or if the character is considered a legend. It is expected that a racer adopts a more renowned character as they progress through the sports.
Storm Chasing, occurring within Reade’s atmosphere, is by far the deadliest form of racing Reade has to offer. Participants utilise heavy, retrofitted, and often stolen, shuttles to brave Reade’s thousand miles-per-hour strong storms, with the racer lasting the longest inside the storm being the winner. While there is no official statistic, it is estimated that roughly half of the groups who venture into these storms never return, yet despite this, the sport continues to maintain a small, but niche following amongst the bravest of daredevils and most desperate of shuttle pilots. Few have lived long enough to become known as legends in the underground storm chasing scenes, but one name stands high above the rest; Monarch is a living baseline synthetic of unknown origin, who has continued to beat their own record time and time again. Some particularly reckless racing storm chasing competitions are held with Reade’s phoron storms, with an even more trifling survival rate; these phoron storm races are highly illegal, frequently beginning with pursuits by Nexus Corporate Security asset protection vessels not wanting their phoron deposits to be disturbed.
Slingshot Racing is perhaps the tamest extreme sport Reade has to offer, considering it does not occur within Reade’s hazardous atmosphere, but its moons instead. Racers must utilise gravity assists to rapidly increase their velocity in order to make it from Reade to Biesel and back to Reade in the fastest possible time. Racers often set their records one at a time, with full courses often taking months to complete. The legends of Slingshot Racing include: The Villa, a living human Valkyrian who set a night-unbeatable time when the planets in Tau Ceti had aligned perfectly; The Zombie, a deceased Readic human who passed away during his flight that went on to be the only record faster than The Villa’s — though, as he died, it did not count. Slingshot Racing is illegal in Tau Ceti, though mid-race enforcement is impossible considering the velocities the racers have and how quick they can disperse into ordinary traffic.
Belt Jumping takes the form of races using incredibly light, tiny spacecraft often stripped of everything but the barest of essentials. Racers must compete against each other to be the first through a set course in Reade’s dense rings. Break-neck reaction speeds are necessary in this sport, with incredibly fast paced speeds in incredibly dense asteroid fields being combined with racers that often care only for victory making it a deadly sport. The legends of Belt Jumping include: The Killer, who was known for their less-than-honourable methods of winning, as indicated by their name; “The Shortstop”, who was known for his incredibly late stopping, which eventually caused his demise. Like Slingshot Racing, Belt Jumping is illegal in Tau Ceti, with federal authorities targeting participants and event organisers of higher-level leagues.
Major Platforms
Reade’s mobile platforms are held up by massive, reinforced balloons (with large vacuum pumps that maintain a void) and large, gimballed fusion ramjet thrusters which compress hydrogen intaken from the local atmosphere (when outside of the oxygen-rich Blue Zone) or a holding tank until it fuses and is channelled as thrust. These propulsion and buoyancy systems allow Reade’s platforms to remain mobile, be it to change elevation to access levels of the atmosphere containing different fluids or to steer clear of the gas giant’s destructive hazards. Power is also generated off of the fusion thrusters.
Following the discovery of phoron, Reade’s mobile platforms received major fusion thruster upgrades, making use of superconductive phoron coils to magnetically confine and channel the fusion reaction with less loss to previously encumbering and inefficient equipment. This was along typical phoron upgrades seen across the Republic of Biesel, such as phoronic superconductive wiring running through the platforms, visible as purple accenting.
Universal to mobile platforms are their massive gas conduits which extend for kilometers below the mobile platforms, used to harvest and channel gases from Reade’s atmosphere to processing facilities.
The mobile platforms follow a strict flight routine:
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday — Red Zone — Efforts are dedicated to helium isotope extraction and, where phoron clouds present, phoron extraction.
- Tuesday, Thursday — Orange Zone — Efforts are dedicated to hydrogen isotope extraction, as well as the harvesting of other misc volatiles.
- Saturday and Sunday — Blue Zone — The mobile platform rests in the habitable zone.
- Between 8PM and 6AM, the mobile platform climbs or descends to the Blue Zone for the duration of the late evening and night.
Beacon
Founded in 2460, Beacon was constructed as a model Readic platform by the Republic of Biesel as part of Reade’s Modernisation. It is the largest and most advanced of Reade’s platforms, twice the size of Thyella and Anemonstrovilos combined, and is poised to become a planetary leader under the steady hand of the Republic.
Design and Population
Beacon is much better designed, compared to the other mobile platforms, with permanent inhabitation in mind. Atop a semi-spherical platform, and with towering wind-guards along the edge, an actual, open-air ‘city’ known as Upper City stands, complete with parks and architecture reminiscent of Mendell City’s more affluent districts. Luxury housing and shopping centres can be found in this city. In the centre, the Liberty Square boasts a large water fountain, around which sits the NanoTrasen Corporation and Einstein Engines branch offices, the administration buildings, and the mayoral estate.
Upper City is home to the University of Beacon, a new but high quality university focusing on administration and finances, with other great courses in prison management, engineering, and physics.
Inside the platform itself, Lower City, more affordable accommodation and commercial centres can be found, as well as almost all of the platform’s occupational facilities — hospitals, gas extraction facilities, fabrication plants serving the shipdocks, etc. The Lower City is rather bland compared to the more luxurious Upper City, with sterile white interiors only infrequently decorated with synthetic plants, cheap paintings, and plenty of advertisements for the megacorporations and TCAF.
In the centre of the Lower City is a military town and barracks, as well as any in-house Tau Ceti Armed Forces production and R&D facilities, known as Hero’s Rest. The BLMS A. Diggs military academy is where many of the TCAF’s engineers and engineering officers receive their training, named in honour of a TCFL special forces sentinel involved in the reactivation of the planetary defence cannon which dealt the deathblow to Ozdemir’s flagship. Hero’s Rest is the most species diverse district of Reade’s platforms, as a result of the number of alien species occupying senior NCO roles and low-ranking officer positions in the TCAF.
While the majority of Beacon’s populace is Readic, drawn away from the older platforms to the Republic’s model city, two other demographics can be found. The platform’s population is heavily composed of Tau Ceti Armed Forces personnel, be they assigned to shipbuilding facilities on Beacon or smaller satellite platforms elsewhere, some of whom opt to bring their families to Beacon’s rather extravagant living facilities in Hero’s Rest. Another large demographic are families who migrated away from other Tau Ceti planets, with Beacon often offering far more affordable housing, relatively safer location, and with its plentitude of new jobs — however, the applications for housing on Beacon for such migrants can be quite exclusive, expecting one to prove strong financial security, which has been criticised for pricing out species such as vaurca.
Industries and Megacorporations
The majority of the platform’s military shipbuilding and R&D facilities are operated by the Tau Ceti Armed Forces. NanoTrasen Corporation owns smaller docks for the construction of asset protection vessels fielded by Nexus Corporate Security and for high-tech, phoronic weapons development which it works alongside the TCAF with.
Einstein Engines and NanoTrasen Corporation awkwardly co-exist together in Beacon’s gas extraction facilities, with the former contracted to harvest fusion reactants and the latter phoron. The platform’s administration often has to moderate management-level disputes that arise out of this shared work space, however the workers of both megacorporations typically get along well — until the monthly sabotage accusation of various merits sour the attitudes again.
Beaconite Culture
As a model city, Beacon’s local culture largely takes after that of the Republic of Biesel’s culture, if a little more patriotic with the concentration of Tau Ceti Armed Forces personnel.
A small cultural clash between populations exists between Hero’s Rest and the greater Lower City and Upper City, with Hero’s Rest being dominated by the TCAF’s alien multiculturalism, where both the Lower and Upper City are noticeably more human-centric due to the financial qualifications required to obtain residence on Beacon.
Every galactic standard year, as part of new year celebrations, the station hosts a Lighting the Beacon ceremony at Liberty Square. Like that of the Eternal Flame in Mendell City, the beacon serves as a physical manifestation of the Republic of Biesel’s light of liberty. Unfortunately, due to the high oxygen levels in the Blue Zone, the beacon tends to burn very bright and very fast — nonetheless, it tends to impress the flame-averse locals.
Anemonstrovilos
The oldest and smallest of the three major platforms, Anemonstrovilos was constructed in 2257 as a Solarian Navy clandestine research facility, and revealed to the public in 2329. Due to its dissenting populace, the Tau Ceti Armed Forces recently shuttered its shipbuilding on the platform, selling them to Zavodskoi Interstellar for megacorporate shipbuilding. The platform hosts the largest, dedicated fusion research plant on the Reade.
Design and Population
Anemonstrovilos is much more blocky in design, being an older platform design, appearing from a distance like a suspended skyscraper, with extending docks, thrusters, and other peripherals emerging as spires or branches. There are few ‘open air’ spaces accessible outside of occupational zones, with much of the commercial and residential areas being within the main body. Inside, it appears quite industrial, even despite recent modernisation efforts and cosmetic improvements, with permanent inhabitation by non-workers being an afterthought.
The population of Anemonostrovilos has stagnated since the Republic of Biesel’s formation and secession, with the only source of new residents coming from Zavodskoi Interstellar employees and their families seeking accommodation closer to their workplace (some choosing to stay), and many older pro-Solarian residents slowly trickling out to migrate to the Solarian Alliance as they become more disenfranchised within the Republic.
Anemonstrovilos is home to the Anemonstrovilos College of Pioneers, with courses in engineering and physics.
Industries and Megacorporations
Zavodskoi Interstellar remains one of the largest employers aboard the platform, owning the vast majority of shipyards and fusion plants on Anemonstrovilos. From here, the military giant constructs, supplies and maintains the larger asset protection and expeditionary vessels of many of the megacorporations operating within Tau Ceti, as well as civilian-grade armaments for use on ships. While less prevalent following the discovery of phoron, the fusion research plants operating aboard the station have pioneered a great number of scientific breakthroughs.
However, with Zavodskoi tending to focus more on Thyella, other megacorporations have been able to creep in. Both Orion Express and Einstein Engines own a few smaller shipbuilding facilities for their own asset protection vessels and armament production and R&D, and Yomi Genetics has recently bought out much of Zavodskoi’s genetic clinics. NanoTrasen Corporation, too closely associated with the Republic of Biesel, has opted not to enter Anemonstrovilos’ industries, and its populace would surely object to such.
Unlike other mobile platforms, Anemonstrovilos has no capabilities of harvesting fluidic phoron from Reade’s atmosphere. As such, NanoTrasen Corporation has no presence on the platform.
Anemonostrovilosi Culture
Anemonostrovilosi culture has been heavily influenced by the Solarian Navy, owed to it essentially being a military base and town for families of navy personnel all the way up until the Republic of Biesel’s secession from the Solarian Alliance.
For a long time, Anemonostrovilos was known for its snobby and ostentatious residents, almost rivalling that of a Lunan’s. While Anemonostrovilosi continue to find pride in their platform setting the benchmark for Reade’s colonisation, it has turned into a bitter, sore-loserism under the Republic of Biesel — more so after the Tau Ceti Armed Forces migrated their military shipbuilding away, depriving the mobile platform of an industry they took great pride in. Anemonostrovilosi do not take defeat well, whatever the occasion — be it a game of cards, sports, or an actual fight. Discipline continues to be a strong tenet among those of Anemonostrovilos, with many holding quite functionalist views of society. Everyone and every institution plays a specific role and, with a disciplined populace, this role can be played well to result in a well-oiled society, workplace, or mobile platform.
A few defining meals have appeared in Anemonostrovilosi kitchens, having trickled out of the original officer messes:
- Readian Elata: A cheap take on the overwhelmingly sweet Cytherean elata, albeit using cheap, caramelised soy milk that is contained in small, biogenerator-printed spherical shells. Often dyed to appear like the gas giant Reade, and frequently served as dessert. An even more knocked-off GetMore sweets brand known as ‘Readies’ can be found around Tau Ceti, based on Readian Elata.
- Lobster Rolls: No longer made with lobster unfortunately, but instead whatever mixed shellfish paste the platform’s aquaponics have in store. The texture is made up by the inclusion of crunchy vegetables, and the taste with a (often diluted) citrussy Lunan vinaigrette, of which Anemonostrovilos continues to have a warehouse full of it that was formerly for Lunan officers of the Solarian Navy. It will be a sorry day when this warehouse finally runs dry.
Thyella
Founded in 2364, Thyella has remained one of the most important sites in Tau Ceti for the research and extraction of phoron since its construction in 2364. It is best known for being a Zavodskoi Interstellar company city, and one of the go-to places for migrants seeking a new home in the Republic of Biesel via Zavodskoi employment.
Design and Population
Thyella’s design is much like Anemonstrovilos’, resembling a skyscraper with emerging spires and branches, and with an industrial interior. However, with greater investment from NanoTrasen Corporation and Zavodskoi Interstellar, it is generally in better condition and with greater amenities.
The mobile platform’s population is almost entirely Zavodskoi Interstellar and NanoTrasen Corporation workers and their families, or the descents of previous generations of such workers who may or may not continue to work for either Zavodskoi or NanoTrasen, making Thyella one large company city. Many who are coaxed into employment by these two megacorporations, especially if not local to the Republic of Biesel, may be offered family housing on Thyella, if unable to afford residence elsewhere in Tau Ceti. As such, Thyella has an incredibly varied population.
On the administration level of Thyella, Cenotaph Plaza can be found, commemorating those lost during the 35th’s capture of Reade in 2462 and the events of the Neon Night nearly a century ago. A staircase leads to the ordinarily inaccessible Level 79 or the Cenotaph Memorials, which is dedicated to housing memorials for those who lost their lives in service of Thyella.
Industries and Megacorporations
Zavodskoi Interstellar is the largest employer on Thyella, operating most of the platform’s shipyards, fusion plants, engineering facilities and, of course, security facilities. A small number of NanoTrasen Corporation and Nexus Corporate Security shipyards continue to operate though, producing more high-tech armaments for use on asset protection vessels or for the Tau Ceti Armed Forces. NanoTrasen Corporation has sole ownership of all of Thyella’s fluidic phoron extraction facilities, as well as any adjacent phoron research labs.
Thyellan Culture
Thyellan culture has been heavily influenced by migrant workers from the Empire of Dominia, being a distant state that shares a strong connection with Zavodskoi Interstellar, and with Thyella being one of the go-to locations for such looking to move to the Republic of Biesel — especially for the less affluent. As such, opera theatres that follow the style of Dominian Opera are common venues in Thyella’s commercial levels. Naturally, they pale in extravagance compared to the shows of Moroz, however the occasional amazing costume, make-up, or music can surface and garner acclaim. The Amphitheatre at Thyella (or just The Amphitheatre), now owned by Idris Incorporated after it went viral on social media in 2460, is an open-air extension of the mobile platform, combining both excellent views of the gas giant’s skies and any performances put on.
The Neon Night Remembrance Day, primarily observed on the 19th of June, is a city-wide holiday that commemorates the events of the Neon Night. Following the Second Invasion, it has since expanded to include Thyellans killed during the invasion. Traditionally, celebrations involved the flash-burning of a small chunk of phoron and a silent vigil throughout Thyella’s Cenotaph Plaza. In recent times following the Phoron Scarcity, the phoron has been substituted with any other flammable solid — usually a small coal, tinted purple with dyes or paints.
See Also
New Gibson: The most significant moon of Reade, with its older, culturally and developmentally distinct colonies.