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<center>[[File:Luna_pixel.png|link=]]</center>
{{Infobox Planet
|Name = Luna
|System = Sol
|Image = Earth's Moon.jpg
|Sector = [[The_Orion_Spur#Jewel_Worlds|Jewel Worlds]]
|Capital = Harmony City
|Species = Humans, Skrell, IPCs
|Languages = Sol Common, Tradeband
|Demonyms = Lunan, Lunarian
|Nation = [[Sol Alliance]]
}}


==International Ideologies==
Earth’s only natural satellite, '''Luna''' was the first extraterrestrial body ever visited and colonized by humanity, with the first humans landing in 1969 and the first permanent colonists arriving as 21st century climate refugees. It is the oldest, richest, and grandest of the Alliance’s colonies, and is the location of many government and corporate headquarters. Lunarian cities are known as dome cities due to their domed structure, and are surrounded by rings of subordinate cities known as satellite cities. While the richest here have wealth beyond measure, the Lunarian working class has historically suffered as the moon’s industries have moved abroad and cheaper synthetic labor has replaced them. Above them the middle class toils away at the endless task of maintaining the Alliance’s huge bureaucracy, and worries about losing their livelihoods and being forced into the working poor.


'''Corporatocracy''' is a government form found throughout the Solarian Alliance and well beyond its borders in which the state is dominated or entirely subverted to the will of corporate interests. It, unlike many of its counterparts in the Alliance, lacks any strong ideological commitments beyond ensuring the profits of dominant corporate actors and can take on a variety of ideological stances to achieve this goal. Changes are so often that the modern corporatocracy can be described as “chameleonic” in its willingness and readiness to change its core beliefs. Corporatocratic systems generally have some broad defining traits, with the most common of these being endemic corruption (such as on New Hai Phong) and a massive amount of corporate influence upon the government’s legislation process (such as in the Republic of Biesel).
==History==
While humanity has been obsessed with Earth’s moon for untold millennia before the invention of the most primitive spacecraft, historians generally regard the modern era of Luna as beginning on July 16th, 1969 - when American Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to ever land upon another celestial body. These pioneers were quickly followed in late 1970 by the Soviet N1/L3 Soyuz 7K-LOK “Pervoprohodets” mission, which landed the third group of humans on the Moon. The “Moon Race” would continue for the rest of the 20th century and result in the first permanent settlement on Luna by the early 1980s - the Soviet “Zvezda” moonbase. The Moon Race ended in an arguable draw in the early 21st century, due to increasing economic instability on Earth.


The primary example of a corporatocracy in the Orion Spur is the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate and NanoTrasen-dominated Republic of Biesel, but many lesser examples exist. Corporatocratic governments are not without their detractors, which range from anti-corporate insurgents in the Corporate Reconstruction Zone to the Solarian Alliance’s Moscow-based Communist Party. But despite these detractors, the corporatocracy seems to be stable for now. wWth the phoron crisis deepening every day, it remains to be seen how long the Spur’s megacorporations will be able to hold their grip before they inevitably must release it.
Luna was mostly ignored by a humanity more obsessed with survival at home until 2070, when colonists from United Orbital Enterprise (a unified space agency between the USA, China, France, and Mexico) landed on its light side. Colonists from Cosmonaut Enterprises (a successor to the Soviet space program of the 20th century) landed on the dark side of Luna in 2072. With this the colonization of Earth’s moon had formally begun, and it would see significant use as a waystation for other points in the [[Sol|Sol System]] over the course of the upcoming decades and centuries. Due to its low gravity, the Soviets and UOE used Luna as a major shipyard and proving ground for deep-space equipment.


'''Anti-Corporatism''' is an ideological stance that, as its name would imply, is broadly defined by its opposition to megacorporate interference in the government and economy of its local region. Its nature as a broad, though generally left-leaning, “big tent” coalition of ideologies means that these Anti-Corporatist groups can often agree on very little aside from their mutually shared distaste for megacorporations. As such they will often collapse or otherwise dissolve after the immediate megacorporate threat is dealt with, and typically only persist when another unifying force, such as an additional external threat or internal moral cause that the front can rally around, is present.  
Further colonization to Luna took place during the 21st and 22nd century as climate damage gradually worsened, with many wealthy families and companies simply moving off-world to Luna when able to do so. With Earth's economy rapidly deteriorating the rich families of the planet found themselves in need of a new home in a very short order with very few good options: [[Mars]] suffered from many of the same problems as Earth, orbital stations were often too impractical, and Luna was -- aside from some way stations built upon it in the late 21st and early 22nd century -- mostly uninhabited. Luna was chosen by most rich refugees fleeing Earth due to its close position to Earth and the perceived ease of development on Earth's only natural satellite compared to the cost of producing dozens of semi-private stations for rich families and businesses.


The best example of a true Anti-Corporatist united front is the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems in the Northern Wildlands, a state that emerged following the collapse of Solarian authority in the region in late 2462. While not explicitly united fronts many other ideologies share Anti-Corporatist traits, with some examples including Elyran Revolutionary Thought’s more left-leaning branches, Soviet-style Communism, Himean Syndicalism, and New Hai Phongese Socialism.
A great deal of manpower and money was required to create this new home for the Earth's richest and brightest as Luna, unlike Mars, was built without the use of cyborg-based labour. To do this hundreds of thousands of well-trained engineers, technicians, and other personnel were employed by the climate refugees to build their new home in exchange for a place on it when the refuge was completed. As such Luna, despite its original conceptualization as a climate refuge for the richest and most notable of Earth, has had a working class from its first days. As settlement continued and more domed cities were created the "lower class" of Luna expanded to include a variety of miners brought by [[Einstein Engines]] in order to exploit Luna's natural Helium-3 and titanium deposits. Though these deposits have since dried up the descendants of these miners can be found on Luna even today, and often still work for Einstein Engines -- though now as engineers and bureaucrats rather than miners.


'''Libertarianism''' is an ideology that upholds personal liberties and freedoms as the ultimate goal that a society should strive for. As an ideology, it can generally be divided into left and right libertarianism, with right libertarianism being the much more widespread version. Both ideological schools of thought are united by a mutual distrust of strong state institutions and other forms of central authority, which they view as threats to personal liberty.
The booming economy of Luna created an environment in which corporations could easily succeed. In 2155 Einstein Engines, using the foundation provided by Lunan Helium-3 mining, created the first practical mass-market warp engines and became the first modern megacorporation. Luna’s prosperity has continued since then, and it remains one of the wealthiest planets in the Sol Alliance to this very day, despite its small size and small population. The Luna of today is, in many ways, the ideal colony. Rich, prosperous, and unfailing in its loyalty to the Sol Alliance.


Right libertarianism, generally in the form of anarcho-capitalism, is the most widespread libertarian school of thought, and is prevalent throughout the Eridani Corporate Federation. Left libertarianism is generally much less common, having been replaced by more centralized leftist ideologies such as Soviet-style communism and Himean syndicalism. Zaurghis, a shipping hub of the southern Coalition of Colonies, is one of the few places in the modern Orion Spur where both left and right libertarian thought can be found.
==Environment==
Luna is a large moon, larger than [[Pluto]] — the ninth planet in the [[Sol|Sol System]]. It has roughly one sixth of the [[Earth|Earth’s]] gravity, which necessitates the use of artificial gravity in its settlements and led to it becoming an early center of Solarian shipbuilding. Arrival gravity in Luna’s cities generally brings the area up to 85% of Earth’s gravity, leading to the typical Lunarian being taller than most Solarians but more awkward in Earth-level gravity. The lunar surface is dominated by lunar dust, which is highly abrasive and can cause damage if inhaled — necessitating the use of large, often multi-stage, airlock systems whenever a Lunarian must venture outside of a dome. The surface is also heavily bombarded by cosmic radiation due to the thin lunar atmosphere, and some cities must use specially treated materials to have their outer shells  resist both dust, radiation, and the occasional meteoroid.


'''Warlordism''' does not, technically speaking, refer to a form of government or an ideology. Instead, it generally refers to a region in which the central authority has collapsed and armed local leaders referred to as warlords have risen to fill the vacuum. These warlords belong to a spectrum of ideologies and equally diverse, and often conflicting, goals in mind for their given zones of control. But all share one common trait: the inability to enforce their control of a region through any system other than the possession of a monopoly on violence. Life in a warlord-controlled region is often defined by uncertainty and violence, and in some regions one cannot be certain who will control their region at the end of the day.
Luna is locked in a synchronous orbit with Earth, leading to both a near side — which always faces Earth — and a far side — which always faces outwards. Lunarian settlements have historically been centered on the near side due to ease of resupply and a desire by early Lunarians to view their home planet. Of the five great dome cities only Gagaringrad is on the far side of the moon, which has earned it the nickname of the “Shaded City” by Lunarians. When viewed from Earth, Luna’s dome cities and their satellite cities create a vision not unlike viewing humanity’s homeworld from orbit. Despite early attempts to sync the Lunarian calendar to lunar months, colonizing governments — then the Alliance — insisted on using the standard Terran calendar for convenience, and this example has been followed across the Spur.


In the Orion Spur, the regions most impacted by warlordism are the Northern and Southern Wildlands that formed after the Solarian Collapse in late 2462, both of which were ravaged prior to the Collapse by rogue Solarian fleets and have continued to be plagued by uncertainties as warlords fight for dominance over the scraps left by the retreating Alliance. The former heartland of the Confederated States of Fisanduh, a nation on Moroz that collapsed after its defeat by the nascent Empire of Dominia, has been similarly ravaged by warlordism, though for a far longer time. Inner Fisanduh, according to some analysts, has been so ravaged by warlordism that it may not recover for centuries. Some areas of the Eridani Corporate Federation’s underworld can fall under the umbrella of warlordism on a much smaller scale due to consecutive generations of Dreg gang warfare and a lack of a functional central government.
==Culture==
[[File:Luna - Final.png|The government flag of Luna. The crescent represents Luna itself, and is meant to remind viewers of Selene's headpiece.|thumb]]


==The Solarian Alliance==
Lunarians are a tightly-knit and somewhat insular people wracked by stark class divisions between the rich, middle, and working class. The rich here are more wealthy than perhaps anywhere else in the modern Spur, but the working poor are just as poor as anywhere else. The richest Lunarians are part of families which have  lived on Earth’s only moon since the 21st century and originally arrived as climate refugees, and upper-class families are known to spend extravagant sums of money to have their entire family trees charted out and known. Members of the middle and working class lack the obsession with pedigree, having neither the desire nor the resources to carry out these projects.


'''Military Governments''' are a form of authoritarianism in which the military has seized control of an entire state. While not by any means a concept unique to the Solarian Alliance, the Alliance itself has a long history of flirting with the concept of autocratic governments in which the mandate to rule comes from the power of its military rather than the voices of citizens. These governments, while occasionally integrating civilian elements into their leadership, lack any real democratic elements and generally rule by mandate or by emergency decree, often drawing their legitimacy from promises of future democratization once the emergency has been resolved.
Regardless of class, Lunarians tend to have certain physical characteristics due to their shared origin on the moon. Due to the lower gravity of the moon, Lunarians tend to be taller than most humans — such as the residents of Earth or [[Republic of Biesel|Tau Ceti]] — and can struggle with adjusting to Earth-level gravity, much like [[Callisto|Callisteans]] or other moon-originating humans. Lunarians also tend to be paler than their Earthborn counterparts due to many living in partially-recessed dome cities where natural light can be rarer, and the Lunar day-night cycle, where most locations have 14 days of light followed by 14 days of darkness — though earthshine (light reflected from the Earth) ensures these nights are brighter than Terran ones. Many develop sunburns more quickly than other humans, and “Lunarian-proofed” sunscreen is a common sight in starports across the current and former [[Sol Alliance|Alliance]].


Military governments such as those found in the Coalition of Colonies prior to its revolt and the Solarian Alliance post-Collapse are generally declared during times of intense crisis, with the civilian government often inviting naval leaders to take control of their governments as stabilizing actors. Others come to power via coup d'états, which can be inspired by a variety of factors. While the aims of military governments can vary greatly depending on the circumstances of their creation, with the historical pre-Interstellar War mandates focusing upon suppressing dissent and the current Solarian junta focusing on national stability, most share an emphasis on military strength and ensuring national security.
Most Lunarians have membership in class-specific clubs and fraternal organizations, which can range from drinking clubs for dockworkers to clubs for politicians where all participants must wear stylized masks. Almost every one of these organizations are invitation only . As all things on Earth’s moon, some are far more prestigious than others, and the most prestigious of these – such as the Oakheart Club of Harmony City, a fraternal order for Solarian Navy flag officers – can and do influence the political culture of the entire moon (and perhaps the broader Alliance). Many prominent Lunarian social clubs have been accused of involvement in the secret societies alleged to run Luna from behind the scenes through proxies, patsies, and fronts. Most clubs will have some form of special, often opaque, gesture or ritual associated with their activities, ranging from handshakes to seemingly occult rituals involving the burning of sacrificial effigies. Many a B-list Venusian crime film has involved a plucky detective investigating a Lunarian fraternal organization, only to find it is not-so-secretly a cover for something supernatural or evil.


'''Civilian Dictatorships''' are, in contrast to their military counterparts, defined by a dictatorial level of state control by a civilian government where the state’s military is subservient to the will of the civilian government (or unwilling to coup the civilian government and set up its own dictatorship). Civilian-led dictatorships, like their military counterpart, are not a concept unique to the Solarian Alliance but have a long history in it, and many governors within the Alliance are entrusted with dictatorial “emergency powers,” that essentially temporarily transform the government into a dictatorship during a time of crisis. The political party of the dictator typically remains involved in the government to some extent, but the true power of the government remains in the hands of the dictator alone. Many of these Solarian civilian dictatorships eventually revert to normal democracies following the period of crisis, but it remains to be seen if the ongoing state of emergency declared after the Solarian Collapse of 2462 will continue to allow such governments to persist for years to come.
===Social Classes===
[[File:Navy graduation.png|Throughout history, members of the Lunarian upper class have made up a large portion of the Solarian Navy's officer corps.|thumb]]
Sitting at the top of Lunarian, and perhaps the entire Alliance’s, society are its most wealthy citizens. Sometimes known as Sol’s aristocracy, or — more derisively, and often by non-Solarians — as the Solarian nobility, the Lunarian upper class is per capita the richest group of humans in the modern Spur. These Lunarians can trace their origins to the original climate refugees, often already rich themselves, and to the early executives of successful corporations such as Einstein Engines. They are obsessed with their pedigrees and their family histories, and few marry outside of Luna or the upper class; though an up-and-coming upper middle class family may find itself aligned to one of these venerable families by marriage, it is an uncommon thing. Genetically-engineered children, even cloned children, are not uncommon, and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals is always willing to provide its services, though Galatean firms have long plied their trade on Earth’s moon. The extent of genetic editing the Lunarian upper-class experience before and after birth ensures they live longer, healthier lives than most other humans in the Spur. It is often joked Luna contains not just the greatest concentration of wealth in its upper classes, but the greatest collection of centenarians anywhere in the modern Spur.


While civilian dictatorships can be found throughout the Alliance and the broader Orion Spur following the Solarian Collapse, the primary example of such a government is the Solarian Provisional Government in the Southern Wildlands. Unlike its nearby counterpart, the Southern Solarian Military District, the SPG’s civilian government maintains a perhaps tenuous control over its local naval branch, and the local governor has enacted the dictatorial emergency powers granted to him in order to stabilize the anarchic situation in the Southern Wildlands.
Wealthy Lunarians are massively influential in its political and economic environment, and many conspiracies — both on Luna and throughout the Alliance — swirl around their wealth and dominance. Some hold membership in secret or semi-secret societies they are rumored to use in efforts to further their influence and dominance, and some claim these societies far predate the founding of the Alliance or the colonization of Luna. The richest Lunarians are an exclusive class and zealously guard their homes in the central domes from intrusion by those deemed beneath their notice or unworthy of the privilege, with secret covenants between rich and influential Lunarians to make their neighborhoods more exclusive not being unheard of. Further increasing their exclusivity is their unusual accent: rich families will teach their children, and sometimes upper-level assistants in their employ, how to speak in a refined, learned dialect known as Formal Lunarian. Formal Lunarian, or FL, must be taught from birth as the way one learns Solarian Common for it to be passable to those who have also learned the dialect to birth. This makes it both hard to passably fake and marks someone as an outsider in a community when they speak, ensuring they may never fit in.


'''Solarian Populism''' is an ideology that is hard to place upon either the left or the right due to holding a multitude of right-wing and left-wing stances at the same time. Broadly speaking, it is nationalistic (sometimes to the point of jingoism or extreme patriotism) and places the Alliance above other human powers, tends towards anti-corporate attitudes (particularly in the wake of the Republic of Biesel’s expansion), opposes further non-human or skrellian immigration to the Solarian Alliance (with some hardliners even advocating for a cessasion of skrellian immigration), firmly opposes granting concessions or rights to synthetic life such as IPCs, and places the interest of the everyday Solarian above those of the elites that it often associates with corporatism. Many Solarian populists are, however, not opposed to working alongside such elites to further the interests of the common Solarian citizen.
The Lunarian middle class makes up the majority of the moon’s population following the decline of its working class populace, and forms the backbone of the modern Solarian central bureaucracy. Most live in satellite cities and work in government buildings of the central dome, performing the endless duties of an interstellar bureaucracy under the watchful eye of the upper class. Often seen as a colorless and boring people due to their line of work, a common Solarian joke claims the stereotypical middle-class Lunarian is a Solarian government bureaucrat who wears a suit to work, commutes by train, and only feels joy when completing paperwork. Though typically wealthy in their own right, many of the middle class suffer from impostor syndrome and drive themselves into debt attempting to follow the trends of those richer than themselves. They are frequent travelers abroad, with middle-class Lunarians having a higher purchasing power off of Luna than on it due to their high wages being needed to match the moon’s cost of living. These Lunarians also form the middle management of Luna-centric corporations such as [[Einstein Engines]], [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]], and [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]].


While Solarian populism can be found throughout the Alliance, it is strongest in areas that view themselves as having been “wronged” by the megacorporations that dominate the Spur’s economy such as the working-class Jintarian communities of Venus and Silverun’s Originals. The primary representative of Solarian populism in the Alliance following the Solarian collapse is Senator Hendrik Strom, a former senator of Venus and current emergency governor of the Sol System. His party, the Solarian People’s Party, has long been favored by the Solarian Navy and seems to be in an ideal position to win an easy majority when elections are opened, which will come.
The Lunarian working class, in contrast to the upper and middle classes, is not flush with wealth. Once almost the equal of the middle class, the working class has seen its size shrink and influence fade away as Lunarian industries have moved abroad from the moon and a new invention has been brought in to replace those they have retained: positronic-based robots known as [[IPC|IPCs]]. Many working-class Lunarians have moved abroad, often to [[Callisto]] or to another colonized world in the [[Sol|Sol System]], and those who have chosen to remain must often make do in poorly-maintained and run-down satellite cities filled with rotting industrial infrastructure that serves as a reminder of the better life their parents and grandparents once lived, with the fading names of these once-great industrial companies now serving as epitaphs to the working-class life that was. These Lunarians are some of the most anti-IPC citizens of the Alliance, viewing them as having taken their well-paying factory jobs before and now threatening what service industry jobs they desperately hang onto, hoping to not be forced into insolvency. Working-class Lunarians who work in mechatronic-focused industries such as ship production take pride in a culture of technical ingenuity and non-positronic automaton maintenance which ensures they can keep positronics out of the workplace, even if their equipment is often slower and less efficient than a positronic-only factory.


'''New Hai Phongese Socialism''' is a broadly popular leftist ideology throughout the Alliance that, as the name implies, originated in the factory towns of New Hai Phong. It has long been considered to be a companion ideology to Solarian populism, but differs on several key accounts. It is less nationalistic than its populist counterpart, significantly more anti-corporate, extremely opposed to tajara immigration and residence in the Alliance yet ambivalent on other species, similarly opposed to IPC rights, and also professes to place the interest of the common Solarian above those of elites. New Hai Phongese socialists often decry Hephaestus Industries as the primary example of corporatism run wild in the Alliance due to the megacorporation’s domination of the ideology’s planet of origin, and many prominent New Hai Phongese socialists have been accused of being funded by the main rival of Hephaestus: Einstein Engines. The ideology’s vehement hatred of tajara and IPCs similarly stems from experiences on New Hai Phong, where both tajara and IPCs were seen as “stealing” jobs from local workers.
===Holidays===
The '''Zhongqiu Jie Festival''' is an extremely popular holiday on Luna said to date back to the 2070s. The holiday is originally rooted in the Lunar New Year, itself imported by East Asian immigrants to Luna, but has since grown to be a common holiday designed to celebrate the success of humanity’s first interstellar pioneers. The Zhongqiu Jie Festival takes place on the same date as its Earthbound variant; the fifteenth day of the eight month of the traditional lunar calendar.


While the movement’s stronghold is on New Hai Phong, ideological adherents can be found throughout the Alliance. Its strongest proponent, however, is New Hai Phong Senator Le Hanh Trang – one of the most prominent politicians of the post-Collapse Alliance. Her party— it is a broad coalition referred to as the Solarian Socialist Unity Party, or SSUP— does not have quite the naval favor of Strom’s SPP, but still expects to sweep a number of positions thanks to its solidly anti-corporate stance in the post-Collapse Alliance. Whether this stance will result in anything remains to be seen, as none are certain when elections will be held in the Alliance.
'''Apollo Day''' is another common holiday, taking place on the sixteenth of July. Similarly to Danza de la Luna, this holiday celebrates the success of humanity’s interstellar pioneers. However, this one celebrates the success of Apollo 11 specifically rather than explorers more generally.


'''Solarian Conservatism''' is an old ideological wing with the Alliance that has dedicated itself to upholding the tried-and-true traditions that made the Alliance into the superpower it was prior to its decay and partial collapse in the 25th century. Modern Solarian conservative thinking can be traced back to Luna, which remains an ideological stronghold of this ideology even today. It is a strong promoter of concepts such as duty, honor, and federalism, the Solarian concept of a union of planets working together, instead of more radical changes proposed by populists or leftists in the Alliance, which adherents of the Solarian conservative tradition often view as rabid and deranged. While not as outwardly nationalistic as other Solarian ideological movements, it is a resolute supporter of the Solarian Navy, has a more positive view of corporations than other Solarian movements due to its Lunan origins, generally opposes non-skrellian immigration, and believes that synthetic life such as positronics are best kept as property rather than citizens.
A variation on Apollo Day named '''Pervoprohodets Day''' is instead celebrated in Soviet-colonized areas, with this holiday instead taking place on the fifteenth of December - the date the USSR’s LK lander touched down on the Lunar surface.


Despite its venerable history Solarian Conservatism is viewed by many as a political ideology on a steady decline to borderline irrelevancy. It has lost much of its traditional military support base to more nationalistic populist parties that support less restrained warfare. Additionally its soft pro-corporate stance has become very unpopular following the Solarian Collapse, which many Solarians view as having been caused by corporate meddling rather than the Alliance itself. These losses have seen the ideology’s main representative, the Sol First Party, steadily shrink over the past decade and lose much of its remaining power in the post-Collapse military takeover of the government. Luna remains one of the last strongholds of Solarian Conservatism, and many analysts doubt that it will be able to make major gains when the military opts to reopen elections.
==Life in Dome Cities==
[[File:New_Odesa.png|A map of New Odesa and some of its satellite cities' rail infrastructure (click to enlarge).|thumb]]
Lunarian settlements are known as dome cities due to their original shape: as one would expect, they are large, domed structures designed in the early 2100s to replace the primitive early structures from humanity’s first settlements on Earth’s moon. The term “dome city” refers to the original dome, which most Lunarians see as the heart of their settlement and the most prestigious location to live, though only the ultra-wealthy can afford it. Central dome cities are ringed by satellite cities that serve as its neighborhoods and suburbs, and are connected by underground rail and highway lines often built into the moon’s long-dormant lava tubes. The quality of a satellite city can vary wildly depending on its original purpose and which individuals now inhabit it, with the best satellite cities resembling the central dome – though less prestigious – and the worst being decaying industrial areas which would not look out of place in a rough area of [[New Hai Phong]] or pre-Violet Dawn [[Mars]]. As all things on Luna, the quality of where one lives is generally determined by the economic strata they are born into.


'''Solarian Social Democracy''' is a broad term used to refer to leftist movements in the Alliance that have opted to, or accepted the necessity of, work in an environment with capitalism and megacorporations. Proponents of this ideology believe that a functioning free market and functioning welfare state are not mutually exclusive, and are perfectly capable of existing alongside one another in the Alliance. It is not a terribly nationalistic movement by Solarian standards and instead opts to concern itself more with the plight of the Solarian working class, believes in a regulated market in which megacorporations operate with state supervision, generally opposes non-skrellian immigration, and is firmly against the granting any rights to synthetics, fearing that such a decision will take away power and employment from the working-class Solarian.
The central domes of dome cities are extremely exclusive locations, with only the wealthiest of already-wealthy Lunarians being found here, living alongside corporate headquarters buildings, fine dining and shopping, government buildings, and public buildings. Their residents are corporate executives, high-level government bureaucrats, and members of Luna’s most prestigious families and dynasties. These individuals will typically work to make the central dome even more exclusive through the creation of formal and informal compacts designed to ensure only those they deem sufficiently worthy. Further worsening one’s chance of ascension into the inner dome are restrictions placed on new constructions – or modifications – by organizations known as Municipal Development Compacts, or MDCs. A unique feature of central domes, MDCs are part social club and part homeowner’s association, and often involve local government officials. Unless one is a member – or has enough money to pass the exorbitant fees they charge – they have no chance of getting into the central dome. MDCs are, of course, always invite-only, further working to exclude new members.


This movement originated on Callisto and still enjoys a comfortable majority there, but can be found throughout the Alliance. It is additionally found abroad, though with local variations that make these branches distinctive from the Solarian version. Solarian Social Democracy heavily influenced much of the thinking of the pre-Collapse Reform Party but now is primarily represented by the Solarian Popular Democratic Party (SPDP), which is strongest in the Sol System itself and has found particular success on Callisto. However, the SPDP lacks much of the naval support that the SSUP and SPP have, making its fortunes in the Alliance’s inevitable first selections quite uncertain.
Satellite cities have no such associations, though some richer ones have close equivalents, and are home to the vast majority of Luna’s population. Often connected to the central dome – where many satellite city dwellers work – by underground rail lines or highways, satellite cities can vary greatly in their quality and in what they contain, and their fates were often determined by how they were originally zoned by the early Lunarian government. Industrial-zoned satellite cities, due to the decay of Luna’s industrial sector, have fared the worst, but residential or commercial ones have fared much better. The typical middle-class satellite city is full of mixed commercial and residential zoning, and often has a high population density reminiscent of Callisto or New Hai Phong due to the height restrictions placed on expansion due to the presence of the dome. They can sometimes extend much further underground, both vertically and horizontally, with the most premium space being in the center of the satellite city where natural light reaches the streets at most times of the Lunar day. Typically they are laid out in a grid pattern, with government and high-rise buildings at the center – the tallest point of the dome – and structures becoming smaller as one approaches the edge of the dome.


'''Soviet Communism''' as an ideology is easily the furthest left of the Alliance’s mainstream schools of political thought. It dates back to the October Revolution of 1917 on Earth in what is now the Soviet Union, effectively making it one of the oldest living ideologies in the Orion Spur. Soviet-style communism rejects many of the tenets of typical Solarian politics: it is not particularly nationalistic (with many of its adherents rejecting the Alliance’s rampant militarism), rejects the market-based approach entirely in favor of a command economy, and favors a style of leadership where the Communist Party (generally its local branch) exercises complete control over the state and its economy. Soviet Communism generally rejects positronics and other synthetics due to a long-held belief that these generally corporate-produced synthetics serve to undermine the collective power of the working man, and opposes most non-human immigration for similar reasons.
==Economics==
The Lunarian economy has undergone significant changes since colonization. Luna’s economy was initially based around heavy industries deemed non-viable on Earth: shipbuilding and He-3 mining and refining. With the earliest of humanity’s vessels having been made in Earth’s orbit, where collisions with abandoned space objects were a constant risk, shipbuilding forms were quick to rebase to Luna, with many concentrating on the near side of the moon and establishing facilities on the outskirts of climate refugee settlements: arguably, these were the first satellite cities. On the far side of the moon the Soviets were quick to establish a settlement of their own — Gagaringrad — and the Union’s insatiable urge for Helium-3 to power warp technology caused mining operations to follow. First the Soviets, then the rest of Earth, staked out mining operations for themselves. For its first few decades, Luna was a very working-class colony: home to those building the new future of humanity. Dinged and scuffed Soviet monuments to the conquest of the Stars on Luna built in this era can be found across its surface, though many are in disrepair and few can read their dated script.


Soviet-style communism is generally only found in the USSR, on Earth, and in those planets and cities colonized by it such as Pluto. Non-orthodox (or “non-hardline”) interpretations of this form of Marxism are not recognized by the Communist Party’s Central Committee in Moscow, and are thus viewed as illegitimate by most followers of the Soviet style. Those planets and regions that follow the Soviet style almost always elect candidates belonging to the official communist party of the Alliance: the Communist Party of the Alliance of Sovereign Solarian Nations (CP-ASSN). However few CP-ASSN candidates from outside the USSR and its colonies are ever elected, which has left the Party with only scarce amounts of influence in the Solarian government. Despite these issues, and the ongoing rise of megacorporations, true adherents of Soviet-style communism know that these are mere bumps upon the road to the inevitable triumph of socialism in the Alliance.
But the early Lunar economy was not to last. As humanity expanded beyond the Sol System and congealed into the Alliance, the need for new ships and more fuel rapidly outpaced what Earth’s moon could produce. Shipbuilding moved further away to larger, purpose-built facilities further out in the Sol System — now a few hours’ travel away instead of weeks — and He-3 operations moved to Pluto, where the Soviets applied everything they had learned on Luna to create the still-largest producer of Helium-3 in the modern Spur, and one with the nearly-unlimited resources of the Oort Cloud rather than Luna’s already-depleted reserves. Shipyards, factories, and refineries began to shutter across the moon’s satellite cities. Skilled labor fled abroad and those who stayed behind suffered from unemployment, with many turning to crime or accepting lower-paying jobs in the now-growing service industry. Some instead chose to work for a growing employer on the moon: the Solarian government, whose bureaucracies were migrating to Luna’s domed cities from a decaying Earth.


'''Martian Nationalism''' is a dying ideology, killed in the same phoron-based firestorm that destroyed the red planet and killed billions of Martians in the blink of an eye. Those Martian nationalists that remain are a haggard, dying breed of rabble-rouser that have had the river of history leave them behind following the Violet Dawn disaster. When Mars was still a habitable planet, full of life and promise, Martian Nationalism was a broadly left-nationalist ideology that called for a greater degree of independence from the broader Alliance for the red planet and repatriations for injustices done to it by the central government over the centuries since the end of the Interstellar War. But this is all in the past now, and the dreams of Martian Nationalism now lie starved to death in the mostly-abandoned halls of the Red Gaia arcology or flash-burned into ash in the phoron-filled hellscape that was once the great arcology of Olympia.
The modern Lunarian economy is heavily based around the government and its service sector, though many previously human-worked service jobs are being supplanted by positronic units owned by corporations or the government. Middle-class Lunarians typically work for the Solarian government or in office roles for corporations with facilities on Luna — with most corporations having a regional headquarters here, [[Hephaestus Industries|Hephaestus]], [[Orion Express]], and [[NanoTrasen Corporation|NanoTrasen]] excepted. Rich Lunarians work in the same sectors as their middle-class colleagues, but tend to be in senior-level positions rather than the middling ones occupied by the middle class. Working-class Lunarians are left with what remains: most work in the service industry, with a minority being employed in government-run blue collar jobs such as Navy shipyards and urban maintenance. They have significantly less purchasing power than other Lunarians and often live paycheck to paycheck, with the creeping growth of synthetics in their traditional jobs having caused many to migrate abroad, often to Callisto, in hopes of a better life.


'''Fascism''' is an ideology talked about by many and understood by very few. Born on Earth in the fires of the chaotic 20th century out of fusion of disillusioned leftists and radical nationalistic thought, the ideology has long persisted in the background of humanity’s politics since its dramatic fall from popular grace in the same century as its origin. Though some traces of Marxist thought can be found within its worldview, it is at odds with its leftist counterpart. Fascists are virulently nationalistic and slavishly devoted to the Solarian state, with many opting to serve in its military. Corporations and other institutions may be allowed to exist but must be under the control of the state and the government, which is often dominated by a single strongman figure. Non-human immigration is an anathema to Solarian fascists, who paradoxically view such outsiders as both sniveling degenerates inferior to humanity and an existential threat to the integrity of a human-dominated Alliance. Positronics and synthetics are, interestingly, tolerated and often actively encouraged by Solarian fascists, which view such machines as the perfect shock troops for a fascist movement if lawed properly: unerring in their adherence to Solarian fascist thought, merciless in their enforcement of the state’s will, and unquestioning in their absolute loyalty to the state and its leadership.
===Corporations===
Luna is home to headquarters — or regional headquarters — for many corporations based inside and outside of the Alliance. Of the megacorporations Einstein Engines, Zavodskoi Interstellar, and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals are most prominent on the moon. However, dozens of other corporations — from [[Empire of Dominia|Dominian]] engineering firms to [[Coalition of Colonies|Coalition]] shipping companies to Solarian industrial companies — have regional headquarters here, and establishments frequented by corporate employees for their breaks can be a whirlwind of dialects and languages, with [[Federal Technocracy of Galatea|Galatean]] firm representatives working out deals with Solarian businesses over food well outside the purchasing power of many Lunarians. Most of these companies have their headquarters on the near side of the moon in Harmony City, with only Zavodskoi Interstellar stubbornly remaining on the far side in Gagaringrad, in a building known locally as the Obelisk.


In the modern Alliance fascism can only be found across the fringes of politics: in the smoking rooms of naval bases, where officers huddle to discuss the weaknesses of the civilian government. In meeting halls on planets that have suffered from terrorist attacks by aliens, packed full of those who have grudges against the greater Orion Spur. It can be found in hundreds of other places on the dim periphery of polite political society, ever present as a backdrop. ATLAS flirted with Solarian fascism during its reign but ultimately was undone by their connections when former Prime Minister Frost used ATLAS’ connections to far-right movements to dissolve the party. In the lawless wasteland of the Northern Wildlands, however, Solarian fascists have been delivered their first true fascist state: the Solarian Restoration Front. If the SRF, with its rabidly xenophobic and feverently nationalistic stance on the Alliance, can achieve a victory in the Northern Wildlands with the help of its allies in the Solarian Navy, Solarian fascism may have its chance in the limelight— and the whole Spur may suffer due to it.
[[Einstein Engines]] is the de facto kingmaker of the Lunarian corporate world, and any company with a desire to be successful on Earth’s moon will find themselves interacting with the oldest megacorporation sooner or later. Based on Harmony City, Einstein is unofficially regarded as the Lunarian corporation, and many in its upper management come from the moon. Most still-functioning heavy industries on Luna are connected to EE or one of its affiliates, and most facilities previously operated by NanoTrasen have been bought out by Einstein at below market prices using their connections to the Lunarian government. Most synthetics on Luna are produced by Einstein in one of its facilities, which has led to growing resentment from the Lunarian working class in recent decades. The famed Suzuki-Zhang Hammer Drive was invented in the Robert H. Goddard Administrative, Commercial, and Research Facility, an Einstein Engines proving ground located in a satellite city of Harmony City.


==The Coalition of Colonies==
[[Zavodskoi Interstellar]] is, alongside Einstein, one of the prominent corporations on Luna. Based mostly on the far side of the moon in Gagaringrad, unwritten rules between ZI and EE have seen Zavodskoi’s domain in Gagaringrad mostly untouched by Einstein in exchange for unknown concessions. Zavodskoi, to the chagrin of [[NanoTrasen_Corporation|NanoTrasen]], often works alongside Einstein — sometimes in the same facilities — and is a major supplier of the Lunarian Public Safety Bureau, providing the moon’s police with everything from bulletproof vests to their service weapons to tear gas. Like Einstein, much of Zavodskoi’s upper echelon is dominated by Lunarians. However, recent decades have seen a steady encroachment by Dominian staff, with more and more ZI board meetings on Luna having at least one Morozian present.


'''Xanusanii Social Democracy''' is a leftist movement that originated on Xanu shortly after the end of the Interstellar War. While it holds many stances that are similar to its Solarian counterpart – the necessity of working in an environment with capitalism and megacorporations, an emphasis on social welfare, and a lack of outward-facing nationalism – the trauma of its origin in the years following the Interstellar War has caused Xanusanii social democracy to have significant differences from Solarian social democracy. As a movement it is a significant proponent of defense spending while opposing unnecessary foreign warfare (a stance that has often put it at odds with Gadpathur), believes in a well-regulated market where megacorporations and smaller local corporations can function alongside one another, is a proponent of human and non-human immigration (particularly favoring refugee populations), and is neutral on synthetic rights.
[[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] controls much of the medical industry on the moon, though through the corporation’s unique keiretsu structure instead of direct oversight. Medical facilities across Luna are controlled by ZH’s tendrils, and the keiretsu is likewise dominated by Lunarian staff. Many graduates from Luna’s universities go straight into Zeng-Hu’s staff, where they have historically succeeded in its competitive environment. ZH’s generic medicine divisions readily provide their services to the Lunarian upper and middle class, and it is not uncommon for Lunarians to live significantly longer than average Solarians as a result — a lucky genetically engineered Lunarian may live well over a century.


Xanu Prime is the primary stronghold of the Xanusanii model of social democracy, where it is often credited with the rebuilding of the planet’s shattered economy following the Interstellar War. This success, and its comparatively moderate ideological stances, have seen it steadily spread throughout the Coalition of Colonies and beyond, though it is not yet as widespread as Solarian social democracy. Supporters of Xanusanii social democracy often find themselves in conflict with Himean syndicalists, which view the Xanusanii stance as too soft on the megacorporations they view as having wronged the Coalition.
==Politics and Government==
The Lunarian government is dominated by the richest of its population, with political dynasties having always influenced the moon’s politics. The amount of wealth one needs to enter into the moon’s political scene is prohibitively expensive, and acts as a barrier against non-dynastic political actors entering into politics. Without a significant wealth reserve or a powerful backer, a prospective candidate will simply not have enough cash on hand to get their name out to be heard, and thus voted in. Some seemingly independent actors do enter into its politics, but a savvy Lunarian will easily uncover these seeming independents often have connections to the political dynasties and are only pretending to be free of their influence — a trick often used to subvert a dynasty’s rivals through subterfuge.


'''Himean Syndicalism''' is a left-wing socialistic ideology that calls for the creation of a society based upon the strength of unions and their workers and promotes the use of direct action,  such as sabotaging production, general strikes, and demonstrations, to achieve this goal. Himean syndicalism traces its roots to the general uprising that overthrew Hephaestus’ control of the planet during the Interstellar War and has long retained an ideological emphasis on revolutionary action through the process of general strikes. While not particularly nationalistic, Himean syndicalism has a large emphasis on the creation of defensive militias in order to safeguard the revolutionary state, though it tends to distrust large standing forces. It is an extremely anti-corporate ideology, with megacorporations having few chances to operate in areas subscribing to this ideology, and Hephaestus Industries in particular often outright denied chances to interact with Himean syndicalist governments at all. Immigration and positronics are treated along similarly ideological lines, and immigrants that are perceived as having been “wronged” by corporations will find themselves more readily welcomed by syndicalists than their non-wronged counterparts.
Conspiracies have long swirled around the moon’s political dynasties, with some claiming their influence over the moon includes control over the various Solarian government agencies headquartered here, and that the Alliance’s direction is largely chosen ahead of time by a cabal of Luna’s ultra-wealthy. Other, more outlandish, conspiracies claim the dynasties are in league with demonic forces, are an outgrowth of Earther conspiracies such as Majestic 12, are shapeshifting aliens (distinct from [[Skrell|real aliens]] met by the Alliance), or are supernatural creatures such as vampires. The Lunarian government has long not entertained these claims, deeming them too ridiculous to even be worth denying.


The capital of Himean syndicalism and general syndicalist thought are the United Syndicates of Himeo, the industrial heart of the Coalition of Colonies. The revolutionary nature of Himean syndicalist thought and its emphasis on anti-corporatism has allowed this ideology to spread well beyond the borders of the United Syndicates and greater Coalition, and local branches (often underground by necessity) can be found across the Orion Spur. Himeo itself has made no attempts to exert control over these branch movements, viewing such attempts to be anathema to the ideology’s emphasis on control by local unions. Himean Syndicalists and Soviet-style communists, despite both emphasizing a state controlled by workers, are not known to cooperate with one another due to ideological differences.
The current governor of '''Luna is Dietmar de Esterházy von Galántha'''. Governor de Esterházy von Galántha, known as E-V-G by many Lunarians, is the patriarch of a venerable Lunarian political dynasty with historical ties to the Solarian government, particularly its diplomatic service, and Harmony City’s branch of Luna’s local police agency, the Lunarian Public Safety Bureau. The governor has connections to most political dynasties on the moon and is rumored to be one of the most powerful men in the Alliance, though such theories often bear an edge of conspiracy. Dietmar is old, past eighty, and it is expected he will retire when the current term expires in 2480, having served as the moon’s governor for thirty years, surviving ATLAS, Frost, the coup, the civil war, and its aftermath. What dynastic family will replace him, or if one of his relatives will be elected, remains to be seen.


'''Agrarianism''' is a conservative ideology that places a heavy emphasis on political decentralization, egalitarianism, and the primary of the small, self-sufficient family farmer or herder over massive megacorporate-run factory farms. A very old ideology, agrarianism is extremely popular on Vysoka due to the ideals it emphasizes. Agrarianism primarily concerns itself with the welfare of independent farmers and herders and is a generally anti-corporate ideology and views uncontrolled capitalism as a threat to the traditional fabric of agrarian society. However, this is not to say that agrarianists are utterly unconcerned with urban centers as agrarian parties generally place a heavy emphasis on fighting urban issues such as overcrowding and pollution. The stronghold of agrarianism is on Vysoka, though it can be found anywhere in the human-controlled Orion Spur where significant numbers of independent farmers still remain.  
In addition to local politics Luna is home to most of the Solarian government’s agency and department headquarters, and millions of civil servants are either Lunarians or work on Luna, toiling away at computers or filing cabinets as part of the endless struggle to ensure the Alliance’s labyrinthine and massive bureaucratic apparatus does not collapse under its own weight. Most government bureaucrats on Luna are drawn from its middle class, though the long reach of the upper classes cannot be entirely escaped as they often head local offices or the departments of offices. Government work is an honest life for many Lunarians, and local residents take pride in their moon’s status as the beating heart of the Alliance’s government and its bureaucracy. Many say that Unity Station has ideas, but it is Luna which makes them into reality.


'''Luceian Democracy''' is an ideology founded upon two central pillars: that it is the duty of every true follower of Ennoia to help the people, and that democracy is the best form of government for its followers. This form of religiously-influenced democracy is generally conservative in its leanings and places a great amount of emphasis on upholding the fabric of Assunzione’s traditional society, and protecting its faith and culture from potentially harmful external actors. To ensure Assunzionii society is ready to endure societal shocks Luceian democrats have invested heavily into a social safety net build by both the government and by the Luceian Church, which has ensured that no citizen of the Republic will ever fall below a certain economic level as long as both the church and the state continue to function. Luceian democratic thought emphasizes pride in the Republic and in the Luceian faith instead of rampant nationalism, holds a neutral stance on megacorporate involvement in the Republic, and is generally against non-Luceian immigration to the Republic without good reason. Positronics, as long as they follow the Luciean faith, are actively encouraged to engage in the Republic’s quasi-theocratic form of democracy.
Lunarian law enforcement is handled by the '''Lunarian Public Safety Bureau''', or '''LPSB'''. One of the most well-funded public security services in the Solarian Alliance, it is regarded as one of the better policing agencies in the Sol System by middle and working-class Lunarians. However, the LPSB operates on a pay-to-play system of corruption with rich Lunarians where crimes, assuming they are not completely egregious, can be deemed a non-issue if one pays enough. The moon’s wealthy political dynasties exert an immense amount of control over the LPSB and de facto run the Bureau, with its upper ranks dominated by those affiliated with the ultra-rich. The police officers of the Bureau are known as public security agents, or PSAs, and the officer in charge of an entire satellite city is known as a chief director. The officers of the LPSB are typically recruited from the Lunarian working or middle class. They are well-trained and well-equipped, often having instructors affiliated with [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]] or the [[Solarian Armed Forces]] and utilizing the most cutting-edge equipment, ranging from laser-based weaponry to [[San Colette|Colettish]]-produced police drones. Zavodskoi is known to recruit many ex-LPSB officers into its ranks, though this source of qualified manpower has started to dry up as Solarian attitudes have shifted to be anti-corporate in a post-2462 Spur.


As a regional ideology, Luceian democracy barely has a presence outside of the Republic of Assunzione. While the ideas of religiously-influenced democracy can be found throughout the Orion Spur, the unique environment of the Republic of Assunzione, where the church and the state are so closely entwined as to be inseparable, is what gave rise to Luceian democracy and made it so difficult to recreate elsewhere.
Compared to other Solarian police forces, the LPSB uses a larger number of [[IPC|synthetics]]. Industrial units serve as backup for IPC-qualified officers and as riot suppressors, Bishops serve in technical or intelligence roles, and shells do much of the LPSB’s clerical work, but none serve in patrol roles. These IPCs are often secondhand units from the Solarian military or corporate security, though some have been purchased directly by the Bureau itself, and often with the assistance of wealthy backers.


'''Ultra-Militarized Regimes''' are an unusual form of state in which the state itself is essentially a gigantic military organization that has supplanted and replaced all forms of civilian government. Almost all resources of an ultra-militarized regime are put towards military endeavors that are supported by a societal doctrine of uncompromising nationalism and dedication to the state’s military goals. Ultra-militarized regimes are generally extremely nationalistic and often have an external enemy power they utilize to encourage jingoism amongst their citizens. Due to the economic autarky that ultra-militarized regimes pursue, few megacorporations are willing to do business with them— with the exception of Zavodskoi Interstellar. Immigration is generally extremely uncommon both to and from these regimes due to their militarism, and synthetic rights are almost unheard of. nstead, they are viewed as tools to strengthen the state and military.
==Major Dome Cities==
'''Harmony City''' is the capital of Luna and the beating heart of both its political life. Here, the political deals that will run Luna for decades are made in the private rooms of high-end establishments. Situated in the Mare Insularum, it has a unique feature not found in any other dome city: a coastline situated in Mare Luistania, an artificial lake built out of an asteroid crater inside the dome city. The center of this lake is an artificial island known as the Isle of Harmony where the government buildings of Luna’s central administration are found. The Isle of Harmony can only be accessed by appointment if one is not a government employee or elected official, ensuring the government remains out of practical reach for many Lunarians. Harmony City is home to the headquarters of Einstein Engines and many of the megacorporation’s employees live here, giving the city a reputation as the de facto capital of the megacorporation as well as Luna. Notable sights in Harmony include the Museum of Aeronautics and Astronautics, where the original landers of the Soviet Union and United States of America were moved after the city’s establishment. Most of Harmony City’s satellite cities are home to corporate employees or employees of the Lunarian government itself, and few were designed for industrial use. Residents of Harmony City are often negatively stereotyped by other Lunarians as social climbers and backstabbers who are all too willing to betray even their family for minor political or social gain.


The only example of a contemporary ultra-militarized regime in the Orion Spur is the United Planetary Defense Council of Gadpathur, a highly-militant authoritarian government dedicated to countering Solarian influence in the former Weeping Stars region of the Coalition of Colonies. While Gadpathur’s large military, strategic position between the Central Coalition and Sol, and willingness to fight the Solarian Alliance to the bitter end has afforded it a great amount of clout in the Coalition, its ideological stances have not found success beyond its borders  The Gadpathurian tradition of rabid hatred of the Solarian, economic autarky, and the militarization of all levels of society is something few societies can reasonably imitate.
'''Nouvelle Caen''', originally settled by French climate refugees, is the heart of Luna’s culture and home to many of its corporate offices. Known for its art galleries and high society functions, the residents of ''Le Nouvelle'' – as they often refer to their dome city – pride themselves on being the highest echelons of modern Solarian culture, and on enjoying the finer things in life. The city’s government has taken the unusual step of turning all of its former industrial satellite cities into upper- and middle-class housing, making Nouvelle Caen the only dome city without any industrial satellites. It is home to most of Luna’s small Dominian expatriate noble population, and is the only dome city to have an Imperial consulate aside from New Odesa. Sights in Le Nouvelle include its entertainment district, where one can find theaters, opera houses, and playhouses in an architectural style known as Nouveaux Beaux-Arts which deliberately calls back to French history, and its numerous art galleries, some of which are the only galleries in the Sol System to feature prominent non-human artists. It is the richest dome in terms of raw wealth, and many Venusian stars have homes away from home in its satellite cities. Residents of Le Nouvelle are stereotyped as foppish and somewhat aloof by other Lunarians, and it is commonly joked that most speak French – a dead language – at home, and Solarian Common only when inconvenienced by those not of Le Nouvelle.


==The Empire of Dominia==
'''Hangzhou''' is Luna’s academic center, and traces its origins to a joint project between NASA and the Federal Republic of China’s Space Agency. Viewed by many as the Alliance’s brain, the central dome city of Hangzhou trades conventional Lunarian styles of zoning for a number of universities, student houses, and laboratories. More middle-class Lunarians live in Hangzhou’s central dome city than in the rest of Luna’s central domes combined, and some rich Lunarians from elsewhere on the moon look down at Hangzhou residents as unworthy of the prestige of living in a central dome. The dome city has a large Solarian military presence due to numerous proving grounds and testing facilities, some originally built by the Solarian Armed Forces and some seized from corporate actors in 2463. Hangzhou is a key medical research hub in the Orion Spur due to housing the Lunar University of Medical Science, the city’s largest employer, and many Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals facilities. Zeng-Hu. Residents of it often brag they may not be the richest dome, but they are undoubtedly the longest-lived. Hangzhouers are stereotyped by other Lunarians as shy intellectuals who are issued a pair of glasses and a degree at birth by the city’s government.


'''Absolute Monarchism''' is doubtlessly one of the oldest forms of government known both to humanity and to the broader Orion Spur. It is defined by the concentration of absolute power into a singular individual that inherits power through a hereditary line of succession. While much of the day-to-day running of the absolute monarchy is left to the monarch’s ministers and subordinates, the monarch themselves reserves the right to overtune or enforce decisions at will. Ideologically these governments tend to be traditionalist and conservative, but their nature as a government by a singular individual lends them a degree of ideological flexibility that allows them to surpass the traditional bounds of conservatism. Leaders in this form of government will often claim that they have a divine right to rule in order to discourage potential competition and to promote further loyalty from the commoners of their monarchies.
'''Gagaringrad''' is the largest dome city founded by the Soviet Union and the largest dome city on the dark side of the moon. It was the heart of the moon’s mining and refining industries before the USSR moved most of these operations to [[Pluto]] as the city’s Helium-3 deposits began to dry up, causing Gagaringrad to fall on hard times as thousands emigrated to Pluto, returned to Earth, or became unemployed on Luna. Many Lunarians see Gagaringrad as a dome city on its last legs, only one economic shock away from total collapse, with many of its once-proud industrial satellite cities now being abandoned relics of a better time. The high unemployment rate of the city has led to a rise in crime, and Gagaringrad is unofficially known by many Lunarians as the moon’s crime capital. The one remaining bright spot for the moon’s Soviet city is the presence of a still-active shipbuilding industry affiliated with the Solarian Navy, and the domes associated with this industry are home to the last remnants of the Lunarian Soviet man. Residents of Gagaringrad are stereotyped as gloomy, due to living in darkness for most of the year, and easily irritable people who may or may not have organized crime links.


The primary example of an absolute monarchy in the Orion Spur is the Empire of Dominia, which is currently ruled by Emperor Boleslaw Keeser the First. While the Empire has established itself as a competent regional power this success has not translated into an increase in absolute monarchies beyond its borders, and absolute monarchies are regarded as an antiquated “thing of the past” by most humans in the Orion Spur outside of the Empire.
'''New Odesa''' is the administrative hub of the [[Sol Alliance#Government|Solarian government]] on Luna, and is home to literally millions of government bureaucrats and most of the moon’s foreign embassies. Abroad, it is rumored by some to be the heart of the Lunarian conspiracy to control the Spur, a claim Odesans find absurd. The youngest satellite city, it is the moon’s transit hub and has a twice-hourly shuttle to Unity Station utilized by many Solarian government employees and elected officials. It is also home to Yuri Kondratyuk Shuttleport, the moon’s primary interstellar shuttleport. It is also home to the headquarters of Pan Solarian Interstellar. New Odesa’s central dome has the lowest population of any dome city as most of its space is taken up by government offices, though its population rises during the week as many bureaucrats are known to sleep overnight in government-owned dormitories. Most workers commute from its satellite cities and suited bureaucrats asleep on high-speed trains are common sights. Sights in New Odesa include the Zvezda Museum, which chronicles early colonization of the moon, and New Lviv Satellite City, which has been carefully zoned to ensure all buildings are in the antique Hustul Secession style of architecture. Odesans are stereotyped by other Lunarians as underslept and overworked bureaucrats twitching from caffeine (or stimulant) abuse in their desperate struggle to conquer the Alliance’s endless tide of paperwork.
 
'''Imperial Mandates''' are planets of the Empire of Dominia generally within its core worlds that have either been colonized by Morozians (natives of the planet Moroz, the Imperial capital) or judged loyal enough to be considered honorary Morozians (such as the residents of Novi Jadran, the Empire’s “model colony”). In contrast to their colonial counterparts, those planets that have been declared as Imperial mandates by the Emperor receive much less harsh treatment and are allowed a degree of autonomy as their loyalty to the Emperor is considered to be total enough that whatever actions they take are undoubtedly for the benefit of the Empire and Emperor rather than trifling personal gains. Imperial mandates are ruled over by a governor that sits on the Empire’s main colonial authority: the Council of Imperial Governors.
 
As they are generally limited to the Empire’s core worlds, the prime examples of Imperial mandates are the Dominian core worlds of Sparta, Alterim Obrirava, and Alterim Balteulis. One exception to this trend is the colonial world of Novi Jadran, which was awarded the status of Imperial mandate by Emperor Boleslaw Keeser the First for its steadfast loyalty to the Empire of Dominia throughout its period as a colonial government.
 
'''Imperial Viceroyalties''' are the primary method through which the Empire of Dominia expands and controls its frontier provinces. These colonial governments are initially primarily staffed by Dominian citizens and gradually transition into having more and more collaborationist Ma’zals involved in them as time goes on, though the true power in the government will always rest with the Morozian-born bureaucrats at the top. Economically speaking, these governments are primarily concerned with ensuring that the resources and wealth of their planet returns to the Dominian core worlds where it will be used in further Imperial conquests. Dominian viceroyalties receive their orders from the governor of their planet and rarely entertain most requests made of them by their native populations, which often inspires resistance by the native population. Viceroyalties generally have very strong links to the Imperial military, and often rely upon Imperial Army garrisons to enforce their rule in the short term. The often-draconian nature of the Empire’s colonial regimes is intended to soften as more and more of the local population submits to Imperial rule in order to encourage a swift submission to Dominian rule on the planet.
 
Viceroyalties can be found throughout the Imperial frontier upon worlds such as Sun Reach, a recently-conquered addition to the Empire that was only formally added to it in 2460. The brutal methods that the Dominian Empire’s colonial governments employ to bring stability and order have greatly soured its interstellar reputation, particularly in the Coalition of Colonies, and brought it into further diplomatic conflict with the nearby Republic of Elyra. Despite interstellar pressure, the tried-and-true “strong methods” of the Empire’s colonial governments seem likely to continue under the current Emperor.
 
'''Tribunalist Democracy''' is an unusual form of government which believes that the Moroz Holy Tribunal is not mutually exclusive with democratic forms of governance, and that such a form of government is more in line with the Goddess’ vision than the current absolute monarchy of the Empire of Dominia. This radical stance has resulted in its banishment to the war-torn region of Inner Fisanduh, where it has opted to lick its wounds and bide its time. The main promoters of this form of government are the Goddess’ Resistance, an insurgent group located in the mountains of Inner Fisanduh. Outside their fortified compounds and the villages they protect, Tribunalist democracy is generally only found in expatriate communities consisting of Dominian refugees.
 
'''Ma’zalist Communalism''' is an ideology that calls for the total upending of the Empire of Dominia’s social order where nobles rule over commoners in order to create a more just state, one in which the Ma’zal is free to do as he or she pleases without having to answer to a Primary or Secondary. To create a society in which the Ma’zal is their own master must inevitably result in armed struggle against the Primaries, which has manifested in the ideology’s main proponent: the All-Morozian Union of Ma’zalist Communes, an insurgent group operating in Outer Fisanduh. Ma’zalist communalism, while a leftist ideology, is not based in Marxist thought and instead derives its thinking from more classical ideas of republicanism and liberalism.
 
==The Serene Republic of Elyra==
 
'''Elyran Revolutionary Thought''' broadly defines the political ideology of the Serene Republic of Elyra. Born of a rejection of the authoritarian Solarian colonialism, the central pillar of Elyran Revolutionary Thought is the creation of a strong, independent Republic that is able to stand on its own. To this end it tends to be externally isolationist and anti-megacorporate, and features very little opportunities for immigration. However the “Four Faces of Elyran Politics,” Elyra’s four major parties (all of which claim to adhere to Elyran Revolutionary Thought), often agree on little domestically. As such, the ideology can broadly be broken down into four camps.
 
'''Elyran Revolutionary Thought – Constitutionalist''' is the ideology of the Republican Revolutionary Society, the oldest and largest of the Republic’s four major parties. The Constitutionalist school under the RSS claims to be the most accurate interpretation of Elyran Revolutionary Thought as it was originally intended, and the Constitutionalists are often regarded as the most conservative of the Four Faces in their interpretation. This interpretation of Elyran Revolutionary Thought is isolationist, anti-megacorporate (instead preferring to bolster native corporations and government economic involvement), strongly opposed to immigration, and holds a positive view towards positronic citizenship. On social programs, the RSS generally supports the current status quo. The Constitutionalist school of thought is popular across the entirety of the Republic, but is strongest on Damascus II – the heart of Elyra’s revolution.
 
'''Elyran Revolutionary Thought – Liberalist''' is the ideology of the League of United Republicans, the Republic’s second-largest party. The League’s interpretation of Elyran Revolutionary Thought is more economically liberal than its counterparts, and has pushed for a lessening of immigration restrictions for skilled migrants. This interpretation of Elyran Revolutionary Thought is less isolationist, promotes limited megacorporate involvement via the use of special administrative zones, believes immigration restrictions should be lessened for skilled migrants, and holds a positive view towards positronic citizenship. The League believes that Elyra’s social programs should be expanded. Liberalist thought is popular across the entire Republic and has significant minorities on every planet aside from Damascus II, and has been known to carry more votes than the Constitutionalists at times.
 
'''Elyran Revolutionary Thought – Islamist Democratic''' is the ideology of the Muslim Democratic Conference, Elyra’s third-largest party. The MDC’s interpretation of Elyran Revolutionary Thought fuses it with Islamic values and principals, believing that a moderate Islamist approach is the best course for the modern Republic. The Islamist interpretation is difficult to define along the traditional left-right axis used throughout the democracies of the Orion Spur. It is a proponent of military isolationism, favors the controlled involvement of megacorporations in Elyra’s economy, wishes to loosen immigration restrictions (with some members calling for alien (aside from vaurca) citizenship to be permitted), and wishes to strip all positronics of their citizenship as they believe synthetic life lacks a soul. The MDC believes that Elyra’s social programs should be expanded. The Islamist Democratic interpretation is most popular on Damascus II, with small followings scattered across the broader Republic.
 
'''Elyran Revolutionary Thought – Militarist''' is the ideology of the Elyran People’s Party, the newest major party of the Republic. The EPP’s interpretation of Elyran Revolutionary Thought is significantly more militant than any of its counterparts, and is the only of the four major interpretations to advocate for spreading Elyran Revolutionary Thought abroad. The Militarist interpretation is an atypical mix of economic isolation combined with nearly unrestricted immigration and military interventionism that attracted few followers until the Lii’dra Incursion. This interpretation of Elyran Revolutionary Thought is extremely nationalistic and militant, vehemently opposes megacorporate involvement in Elyra’s economy (and views the nearby Coalition of Colonies as the only true trading partner for the Republic), combines liberal human immigration with xenophobia, and seeks restrictions on positronic citizenship. Militarist thought has small followings across the Republic, but is most popular on Bursa.
 
'''Special Economic Zones''' are zones in the Serene Republic of Elyra where megacorporate involvement is allowed to a limited degree. A SEZ does not have its own independent political stances, and simply exists as a subordinate entity of the Ministry of Economics, Revenue, and Commerce. As the only regions where foreign megacorporations are allowed to nominally operate in the Republic of Elyra a SEZ will often possess a larger foreign population than Elyran population, and they have often become major points of debate over Elyra’s current highly-restrictive system of immigration. The most significant example of a SEZ in the Republic is the moon of Persepolis: New Suez, home of the New Suez Free Trade Zone.


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Latest revision as of 03:53, 19 January 2026

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    • Human Lore
    General Interstellar Relations · Notable Humans · Timeline of Humanity · Offworlder Humans · Human Wildlands · Human Piracy · Human Entertainment Media · Human Social Media · Human Ideologies and Governments · Human Educational Institutions
    Republic of Biesel Tau Ceti · Biesel · Valkyrie · New Gibson · Caprice · Mictlan · Port Antillia · Odin · Corporate Reconstruction Zone · Tau Ceti Armed Forces · Biesellite Security and Law · Biesellite Culture and Society · The Trasens · Tau Ceti History
    Sol Alliance Sol System · Earth · Mars · Luna · Venus · Jupiter · Callisto · Europa · Pluto · New Hai Phong · Silversun · San Colette · Visegrad · Solarian Reconstruction Mandates · Sol Alliance History · Solarian Armed Forces · Solarian Security and Law
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    Eridani Federation Eridani I · Eridani Federation Military
    Republic of Elyra Persepolis · Damascus II · Medina · Aemaq · New Suez · Elyra Military · Elyran Government and Politics · Elyran Culture, Law, and Society
    Coalition of Colonies Xanu Prime · Himeo · Galatea · Vysoka · Stolitism · Scarabs · Gadpathur · Assunzione · Luceism · Burzsia · Konyang
    Luna
    Sol System
    Sector: Jewel Worlds
    Capital: Harmony City
    Species: Humans, Skrell, IPCs
    Common Languages: Sol Common, Tradeband
    Demonyms: Lunan, Lunarian
    Part of: Sol Alliance

    Earth’s only natural satellite, Luna was the first extraterrestrial body ever visited and colonized by humanity, with the first humans landing in 1969 and the first permanent colonists arriving as 21st century climate refugees. It is the oldest, richest, and grandest of the Alliance’s colonies, and is the location of many government and corporate headquarters. Lunarian cities are known as dome cities due to their domed structure, and are surrounded by rings of subordinate cities known as satellite cities. While the richest here have wealth beyond measure, the Lunarian working class has historically suffered as the moon’s industries have moved abroad and cheaper synthetic labor has replaced them. Above them the middle class toils away at the endless task of maintaining the Alliance’s huge bureaucracy, and worries about losing their livelihoods and being forced into the working poor.

    History

    While humanity has been obsessed with Earth’s moon for untold millennia before the invention of the most primitive spacecraft, historians generally regard the modern era of Luna as beginning on July 16th, 1969 - when American Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to ever land upon another celestial body. These pioneers were quickly followed in late 1970 by the Soviet N1/L3 Soyuz 7K-LOK “Pervoprohodets” mission, which landed the third group of humans on the Moon. The “Moon Race” would continue for the rest of the 20th century and result in the first permanent settlement on Luna by the early 1980s - the Soviet “Zvezda” moonbase. The Moon Race ended in an arguable draw in the early 21st century, due to increasing economic instability on Earth.

    Luna was mostly ignored by a humanity more obsessed with survival at home until 2070, when colonists from United Orbital Enterprise (a unified space agency between the USA, China, France, and Mexico) landed on its light side. Colonists from Cosmonaut Enterprises (a successor to the Soviet space program of the 20th century) landed on the dark side of Luna in 2072. With this the colonization of Earth’s moon had formally begun, and it would see significant use as a waystation for other points in the Sol System over the course of the upcoming decades and centuries. Due to its low gravity, the Soviets and UOE used Luna as a major shipyard and proving ground for deep-space equipment.

    Further colonization to Luna took place during the 21st and 22nd century as climate damage gradually worsened, with many wealthy families and companies simply moving off-world to Luna when able to do so. With Earth's economy rapidly deteriorating the rich families of the planet found themselves in need of a new home in a very short order with very few good options: Mars suffered from many of the same problems as Earth, orbital stations were often too impractical, and Luna was -- aside from some way stations built upon it in the late 21st and early 22nd century -- mostly uninhabited. Luna was chosen by most rich refugees fleeing Earth due to its close position to Earth and the perceived ease of development on Earth's only natural satellite compared to the cost of producing dozens of semi-private stations for rich families and businesses.

    A great deal of manpower and money was required to create this new home for the Earth's richest and brightest as Luna, unlike Mars, was built without the use of cyborg-based labour. To do this hundreds of thousands of well-trained engineers, technicians, and other personnel were employed by the climate refugees to build their new home in exchange for a place on it when the refuge was completed. As such Luna, despite its original conceptualization as a climate refuge for the richest and most notable of Earth, has had a working class from its first days. As settlement continued and more domed cities were created the "lower class" of Luna expanded to include a variety of miners brought by Einstein Engines in order to exploit Luna's natural Helium-3 and titanium deposits. Though these deposits have since dried up the descendants of these miners can be found on Luna even today, and often still work for Einstein Engines -- though now as engineers and bureaucrats rather than miners.

    The booming economy of Luna created an environment in which corporations could easily succeed. In 2155 Einstein Engines, using the foundation provided by Lunan Helium-3 mining, created the first practical mass-market warp engines and became the first modern megacorporation. Luna’s prosperity has continued since then, and it remains one of the wealthiest planets in the Sol Alliance to this very day, despite its small size and small population. The Luna of today is, in many ways, the ideal colony. Rich, prosperous, and unfailing in its loyalty to the Sol Alliance.

    Environment

    Luna is a large moon, larger than Pluto — the ninth planet in the Sol System. It has roughly one sixth of the Earth’s gravity, which necessitates the use of artificial gravity in its settlements and led to it becoming an early center of Solarian shipbuilding. Arrival gravity in Luna’s cities generally brings the area up to 85% of Earth’s gravity, leading to the typical Lunarian being taller than most Solarians but more awkward in Earth-level gravity. The lunar surface is dominated by lunar dust, which is highly abrasive and can cause damage if inhaled — necessitating the use of large, often multi-stage, airlock systems whenever a Lunarian must venture outside of a dome. The surface is also heavily bombarded by cosmic radiation due to the thin lunar atmosphere, and some cities must use specially treated materials to have their outer shells resist both dust, radiation, and the occasional meteoroid.

    Luna is locked in a synchronous orbit with Earth, leading to both a near side — which always faces Earth — and a far side — which always faces outwards. Lunarian settlements have historically been centered on the near side due to ease of resupply and a desire by early Lunarians to view their home planet. Of the five great dome cities only Gagaringrad is on the far side of the moon, which has earned it the nickname of the “Shaded City” by Lunarians. When viewed from Earth, Luna’s dome cities and their satellite cities create a vision not unlike viewing humanity’s homeworld from orbit. Despite early attempts to sync the Lunarian calendar to lunar months, colonizing governments — then the Alliance — insisted on using the standard Terran calendar for convenience, and this example has been followed across the Spur.

    Culture

    The government flag of Luna. The crescent represents Luna itself, and is meant to remind viewers of Selene's headpiece.

    Lunarians are a tightly-knit and somewhat insular people wracked by stark class divisions between the rich, middle, and working class. The rich here are more wealthy than perhaps anywhere else in the modern Spur, but the working poor are just as poor as anywhere else. The richest Lunarians are part of families which have lived on Earth’s only moon since the 21st century and originally arrived as climate refugees, and upper-class families are known to spend extravagant sums of money to have their entire family trees charted out and known. Members of the middle and working class lack the obsession with pedigree, having neither the desire nor the resources to carry out these projects.

    Regardless of class, Lunarians tend to have certain physical characteristics due to their shared origin on the moon. Due to the lower gravity of the moon, Lunarians tend to be taller than most humans — such as the residents of Earth or Tau Ceti — and can struggle with adjusting to Earth-level gravity, much like Callisteans or other moon-originating humans. Lunarians also tend to be paler than their Earthborn counterparts due to many living in partially-recessed dome cities where natural light can be rarer, and the Lunar day-night cycle, where most locations have 14 days of light followed by 14 days of darkness — though earthshine (light reflected from the Earth) ensures these nights are brighter than Terran ones. Many develop sunburns more quickly than other humans, and “Lunarian-proofed” sunscreen is a common sight in starports across the current and former Alliance.

    Most Lunarians have membership in class-specific clubs and fraternal organizations, which can range from drinking clubs for dockworkers to clubs for politicians where all participants must wear stylized masks. Almost every one of these organizations are invitation only . As all things on Earth’s moon, some are far more prestigious than others, and the most prestigious of these – such as the Oakheart Club of Harmony City, a fraternal order for Solarian Navy flag officers – can and do influence the political culture of the entire moon (and perhaps the broader Alliance). Many prominent Lunarian social clubs have been accused of involvement in the secret societies alleged to run Luna from behind the scenes through proxies, patsies, and fronts. Most clubs will have some form of special, often opaque, gesture or ritual associated with their activities, ranging from handshakes to seemingly occult rituals involving the burning of sacrificial effigies. Many a B-list Venusian crime film has involved a plucky detective investigating a Lunarian fraternal organization, only to find it is not-so-secretly a cover for something supernatural or evil.

    Social Classes

    Throughout history, members of the Lunarian upper class have made up a large portion of the Solarian Navy's officer corps.

    Sitting at the top of Lunarian, and perhaps the entire Alliance’s, society are its most wealthy citizens. Sometimes known as Sol’s aristocracy, or — more derisively, and often by non-Solarians — as the Solarian nobility, the Lunarian upper class is per capita the richest group of humans in the modern Spur. These Lunarians can trace their origins to the original climate refugees, often already rich themselves, and to the early executives of successful corporations such as Einstein Engines. They are obsessed with their pedigrees and their family histories, and few marry outside of Luna or the upper class; though an up-and-coming upper middle class family may find itself aligned to one of these venerable families by marriage, it is an uncommon thing. Genetically-engineered children, even cloned children, are not uncommon, and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals is always willing to provide its services, though Galatean firms have long plied their trade on Earth’s moon. The extent of genetic editing the Lunarian upper-class experience before and after birth ensures they live longer, healthier lives than most other humans in the Spur. It is often joked Luna contains not just the greatest concentration of wealth in its upper classes, but the greatest collection of centenarians anywhere in the modern Spur.

    Wealthy Lunarians are massively influential in its political and economic environment, and many conspiracies — both on Luna and throughout the Alliance — swirl around their wealth and dominance. Some hold membership in secret or semi-secret societies they are rumored to use in efforts to further their influence and dominance, and some claim these societies far predate the founding of the Alliance or the colonization of Luna. The richest Lunarians are an exclusive class and zealously guard their homes in the central domes from intrusion by those deemed beneath their notice or unworthy of the privilege, with secret covenants between rich and influential Lunarians to make their neighborhoods more exclusive not being unheard of. Further increasing their exclusivity is their unusual accent: rich families will teach their children, and sometimes upper-level assistants in their employ, how to speak in a refined, learned dialect known as Formal Lunarian. Formal Lunarian, or FL, must be taught from birth as the way one learns Solarian Common for it to be passable to those who have also learned the dialect to birth. This makes it both hard to passably fake and marks someone as an outsider in a community when they speak, ensuring they may never fit in.

    The Lunarian middle class makes up the majority of the moon’s population following the decline of its working class populace, and forms the backbone of the modern Solarian central bureaucracy. Most live in satellite cities and work in government buildings of the central dome, performing the endless duties of an interstellar bureaucracy under the watchful eye of the upper class. Often seen as a colorless and boring people due to their line of work, a common Solarian joke claims the stereotypical middle-class Lunarian is a Solarian government bureaucrat who wears a suit to work, commutes by train, and only feels joy when completing paperwork. Though typically wealthy in their own right, many of the middle class suffer from impostor syndrome and drive themselves into debt attempting to follow the trends of those richer than themselves. They are frequent travelers abroad, with middle-class Lunarians having a higher purchasing power off of Luna than on it due to their high wages being needed to match the moon’s cost of living. These Lunarians also form the middle management of Luna-centric corporations such as Einstein Engines, Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals, and Zavodskoi Interstellar.

    The Lunarian working class, in contrast to the upper and middle classes, is not flush with wealth. Once almost the equal of the middle class, the working class has seen its size shrink and influence fade away as Lunarian industries have moved abroad from the moon and a new invention has been brought in to replace those they have retained: positronic-based robots known as IPCs. Many working-class Lunarians have moved abroad, often to Callisto or to another colonized world in the Sol System, and those who have chosen to remain must often make do in poorly-maintained and run-down satellite cities filled with rotting industrial infrastructure that serves as a reminder of the better life their parents and grandparents once lived, with the fading names of these once-great industrial companies now serving as epitaphs to the working-class life that was. These Lunarians are some of the most anti-IPC citizens of the Alliance, viewing them as having taken their well-paying factory jobs before and now threatening what service industry jobs they desperately hang onto, hoping to not be forced into insolvency. Working-class Lunarians who work in mechatronic-focused industries such as ship production take pride in a culture of technical ingenuity and non-positronic automaton maintenance which ensures they can keep positronics out of the workplace, even if their equipment is often slower and less efficient than a positronic-only factory.

    Holidays

    The Zhongqiu Jie Festival is an extremely popular holiday on Luna said to date back to the 2070s. The holiday is originally rooted in the Lunar New Year, itself imported by East Asian immigrants to Luna, but has since grown to be a common holiday designed to celebrate the success of humanity’s first interstellar pioneers. The Zhongqiu Jie Festival takes place on the same date as its Earthbound variant; the fifteenth day of the eight month of the traditional lunar calendar.

    Apollo Day is another common holiday, taking place on the sixteenth of July. Similarly to Danza de la Luna, this holiday celebrates the success of humanity’s interstellar pioneers. However, this one celebrates the success of Apollo 11 specifically rather than explorers more generally.

    A variation on Apollo Day named Pervoprohodets Day is instead celebrated in Soviet-colonized areas, with this holiday instead taking place on the fifteenth of December - the date the USSR’s LK lander touched down on the Lunar surface.

    Life in Dome Cities

    A map of New Odesa and some of its satellite cities' rail infrastructure (click to enlarge).

    Lunarian settlements are known as dome cities due to their original shape: as one would expect, they are large, domed structures designed in the early 2100s to replace the primitive early structures from humanity’s first settlements on Earth’s moon. The term “dome city” refers to the original dome, which most Lunarians see as the heart of their settlement and the most prestigious location to live, though only the ultra-wealthy can afford it. Central dome cities are ringed by satellite cities that serve as its neighborhoods and suburbs, and are connected by underground rail and highway lines often built into the moon’s long-dormant lava tubes. The quality of a satellite city can vary wildly depending on its original purpose and which individuals now inhabit it, with the best satellite cities resembling the central dome – though less prestigious – and the worst being decaying industrial areas which would not look out of place in a rough area of New Hai Phong or pre-Violet Dawn Mars. As all things on Luna, the quality of where one lives is generally determined by the economic strata they are born into.

    The central domes of dome cities are extremely exclusive locations, with only the wealthiest of already-wealthy Lunarians being found here, living alongside corporate headquarters buildings, fine dining and shopping, government buildings, and public buildings. Their residents are corporate executives, high-level government bureaucrats, and members of Luna’s most prestigious families and dynasties. These individuals will typically work to make the central dome even more exclusive through the creation of formal and informal compacts designed to ensure only those they deem sufficiently worthy. Further worsening one’s chance of ascension into the inner dome are restrictions placed on new constructions – or modifications – by organizations known as Municipal Development Compacts, or MDCs. A unique feature of central domes, MDCs are part social club and part homeowner’s association, and often involve local government officials. Unless one is a member – or has enough money to pass the exorbitant fees they charge – they have no chance of getting into the central dome. MDCs are, of course, always invite-only, further working to exclude new members.

    Satellite cities have no such associations, though some richer ones have close equivalents, and are home to the vast majority of Luna’s population. Often connected to the central dome – where many satellite city dwellers work – by underground rail lines or highways, satellite cities can vary greatly in their quality and in what they contain, and their fates were often determined by how they were originally zoned by the early Lunarian government. Industrial-zoned satellite cities, due to the decay of Luna’s industrial sector, have fared the worst, but residential or commercial ones have fared much better. The typical middle-class satellite city is full of mixed commercial and residential zoning, and often has a high population density reminiscent of Callisto or New Hai Phong due to the height restrictions placed on expansion due to the presence of the dome. They can sometimes extend much further underground, both vertically and horizontally, with the most premium space being in the center of the satellite city where natural light reaches the streets at most times of the Lunar day. Typically they are laid out in a grid pattern, with government and high-rise buildings at the center – the tallest point of the dome – and structures becoming smaller as one approaches the edge of the dome.

    Economics

    The Lunarian economy has undergone significant changes since colonization. Luna’s economy was initially based around heavy industries deemed non-viable on Earth: shipbuilding and He-3 mining and refining. With the earliest of humanity’s vessels having been made in Earth’s orbit, where collisions with abandoned space objects were a constant risk, shipbuilding forms were quick to rebase to Luna, with many concentrating on the near side of the moon and establishing facilities on the outskirts of climate refugee settlements: arguably, these were the first satellite cities. On the far side of the moon the Soviets were quick to establish a settlement of their own — Gagaringrad — and the Union’s insatiable urge for Helium-3 to power warp technology caused mining operations to follow. First the Soviets, then the rest of Earth, staked out mining operations for themselves. For its first few decades, Luna was a very working-class colony: home to those building the new future of humanity. Dinged and scuffed Soviet monuments to the conquest of the Stars on Luna built in this era can be found across its surface, though many are in disrepair and few can read their dated script.

    But the early Lunar economy was not to last. As humanity expanded beyond the Sol System and congealed into the Alliance, the need for new ships and more fuel rapidly outpaced what Earth’s moon could produce. Shipbuilding moved further away to larger, purpose-built facilities further out in the Sol System — now a few hours’ travel away instead of weeks — and He-3 operations moved to Pluto, where the Soviets applied everything they had learned on Luna to create the still-largest producer of Helium-3 in the modern Spur, and one with the nearly-unlimited resources of the Oort Cloud rather than Luna’s already-depleted reserves. Shipyards, factories, and refineries began to shutter across the moon’s satellite cities. Skilled labor fled abroad and those who stayed behind suffered from unemployment, with many turning to crime or accepting lower-paying jobs in the now-growing service industry. Some instead chose to work for a growing employer on the moon: the Solarian government, whose bureaucracies were migrating to Luna’s domed cities from a decaying Earth.

    The modern Lunarian economy is heavily based around the government and its service sector, though many previously human-worked service jobs are being supplanted by positronic units owned by corporations or the government. Middle-class Lunarians typically work for the Solarian government or in office roles for corporations with facilities on Luna — with most corporations having a regional headquarters here, Hephaestus, Orion Express, and NanoTrasen excepted. Rich Lunarians work in the same sectors as their middle-class colleagues, but tend to be in senior-level positions rather than the middling ones occupied by the middle class. Working-class Lunarians are left with what remains: most work in the service industry, with a minority being employed in government-run blue collar jobs such as Navy shipyards and urban maintenance. They have significantly less purchasing power than other Lunarians and often live paycheck to paycheck, with the creeping growth of synthetics in their traditional jobs having caused many to migrate abroad, often to Callisto, in hopes of a better life.

    Corporations

    Luna is home to headquarters — or regional headquarters — for many corporations based inside and outside of the Alliance. Of the megacorporations Einstein Engines, Zavodskoi Interstellar, and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals are most prominent on the moon. However, dozens of other corporations — from Dominian engineering firms to Coalition shipping companies to Solarian industrial companies — have regional headquarters here, and establishments frequented by corporate employees for their breaks can be a whirlwind of dialects and languages, with Galatean firm representatives working out deals with Solarian businesses over food well outside the purchasing power of many Lunarians. Most of these companies have their headquarters on the near side of the moon in Harmony City, with only Zavodskoi Interstellar stubbornly remaining on the far side in Gagaringrad, in a building known locally as the Obelisk.

    Einstein Engines is the de facto kingmaker of the Lunarian corporate world, and any company with a desire to be successful on Earth’s moon will find themselves interacting with the oldest megacorporation sooner or later. Based on Harmony City, Einstein is unofficially regarded as the Lunarian corporation, and many in its upper management come from the moon. Most still-functioning heavy industries on Luna are connected to EE or one of its affiliates, and most facilities previously operated by NanoTrasen have been bought out by Einstein at below market prices using their connections to the Lunarian government. Most synthetics on Luna are produced by Einstein in one of its facilities, which has led to growing resentment from the Lunarian working class in recent decades. The famed Suzuki-Zhang Hammer Drive was invented in the Robert H. Goddard Administrative, Commercial, and Research Facility, an Einstein Engines proving ground located in a satellite city of Harmony City.

    Zavodskoi Interstellar is, alongside Einstein, one of the prominent corporations on Luna. Based mostly on the far side of the moon in Gagaringrad, unwritten rules between ZI and EE have seen Zavodskoi’s domain in Gagaringrad mostly untouched by Einstein in exchange for unknown concessions. Zavodskoi, to the chagrin of NanoTrasen, often works alongside Einstein — sometimes in the same facilities — and is a major supplier of the Lunarian Public Safety Bureau, providing the moon’s police with everything from bulletproof vests to their service weapons to tear gas. Like Einstein, much of Zavodskoi’s upper echelon is dominated by Lunarians. However, recent decades have seen a steady encroachment by Dominian staff, with more and more ZI board meetings on Luna having at least one Morozian present.

    Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals controls much of the medical industry on the moon, though through the corporation’s unique keiretsu structure instead of direct oversight. Medical facilities across Luna are controlled by ZH’s tendrils, and the keiretsu is likewise dominated by Lunarian staff. Many graduates from Luna’s universities go straight into Zeng-Hu’s staff, where they have historically succeeded in its competitive environment. ZH’s generic medicine divisions readily provide their services to the Lunarian upper and middle class, and it is not uncommon for Lunarians to live significantly longer than average Solarians as a result — a lucky genetically engineered Lunarian may live well over a century.

    Politics and Government

    The Lunarian government is dominated by the richest of its population, with political dynasties having always influenced the moon’s politics. The amount of wealth one needs to enter into the moon’s political scene is prohibitively expensive, and acts as a barrier against non-dynastic political actors entering into politics. Without a significant wealth reserve or a powerful backer, a prospective candidate will simply not have enough cash on hand to get their name out to be heard, and thus voted in. Some seemingly independent actors do enter into its politics, but a savvy Lunarian will easily uncover these seeming independents often have connections to the political dynasties and are only pretending to be free of their influence — a trick often used to subvert a dynasty’s rivals through subterfuge.

    Conspiracies have long swirled around the moon’s political dynasties, with some claiming their influence over the moon includes control over the various Solarian government agencies headquartered here, and that the Alliance’s direction is largely chosen ahead of time by a cabal of Luna’s ultra-wealthy. Other, more outlandish, conspiracies claim the dynasties are in league with demonic forces, are an outgrowth of Earther conspiracies such as Majestic 12, are shapeshifting aliens (distinct from real aliens met by the Alliance), or are supernatural creatures such as vampires. The Lunarian government has long not entertained these claims, deeming them too ridiculous to even be worth denying.

    The current governor of Luna is Dietmar de Esterházy von Galántha. Governor de Esterházy von Galántha, known as E-V-G by many Lunarians, is the patriarch of a venerable Lunarian political dynasty with historical ties to the Solarian government, particularly its diplomatic service, and Harmony City’s branch of Luna’s local police agency, the Lunarian Public Safety Bureau. The governor has connections to most political dynasties on the moon and is rumored to be one of the most powerful men in the Alliance, though such theories often bear an edge of conspiracy. Dietmar is old, past eighty, and it is expected he will retire when the current term expires in 2480, having served as the moon’s governor for thirty years, surviving ATLAS, Frost, the coup, the civil war, and its aftermath. What dynastic family will replace him, or if one of his relatives will be elected, remains to be seen.

    In addition to local politics Luna is home to most of the Solarian government’s agency and department headquarters, and millions of civil servants are either Lunarians or work on Luna, toiling away at computers or filing cabinets as part of the endless struggle to ensure the Alliance’s labyrinthine and massive bureaucratic apparatus does not collapse under its own weight. Most government bureaucrats on Luna are drawn from its middle class, though the long reach of the upper classes cannot be entirely escaped as they often head local offices or the departments of offices. Government work is an honest life for many Lunarians, and local residents take pride in their moon’s status as the beating heart of the Alliance’s government and its bureaucracy. Many say that Unity Station has ideas, but it is Luna which makes them into reality.

    Lunarian law enforcement is handled by the Lunarian Public Safety Bureau, or LPSB. One of the most well-funded public security services in the Solarian Alliance, it is regarded as one of the better policing agencies in the Sol System by middle and working-class Lunarians. However, the LPSB operates on a pay-to-play system of corruption with rich Lunarians where crimes, assuming they are not completely egregious, can be deemed a non-issue if one pays enough. The moon’s wealthy political dynasties exert an immense amount of control over the LPSB and de facto run the Bureau, with its upper ranks dominated by those affiliated with the ultra-rich. The police officers of the Bureau are known as public security agents, or PSAs, and the officer in charge of an entire satellite city is known as a chief director. The officers of the LPSB are typically recruited from the Lunarian working or middle class. They are well-trained and well-equipped, often having instructors affiliated with Zavodskoi Interstellar or the Solarian Armed Forces and utilizing the most cutting-edge equipment, ranging from laser-based weaponry to Colettish-produced police drones. Zavodskoi is known to recruit many ex-LPSB officers into its ranks, though this source of qualified manpower has started to dry up as Solarian attitudes have shifted to be anti-corporate in a post-2462 Spur.

    Compared to other Solarian police forces, the LPSB uses a larger number of synthetics. Industrial units serve as backup for IPC-qualified officers and as riot suppressors, Bishops serve in technical or intelligence roles, and shells do much of the LPSB’s clerical work, but none serve in patrol roles. These IPCs are often secondhand units from the Solarian military or corporate security, though some have been purchased directly by the Bureau itself, and often with the assistance of wealthy backers.

    Major Dome Cities

    Harmony City is the capital of Luna and the beating heart of both its political life. Here, the political deals that will run Luna for decades are made in the private rooms of high-end establishments. Situated in the Mare Insularum, it has a unique feature not found in any other dome city: a coastline situated in Mare Luistania, an artificial lake built out of an asteroid crater inside the dome city. The center of this lake is an artificial island known as the Isle of Harmony where the government buildings of Luna’s central administration are found. The Isle of Harmony can only be accessed by appointment if one is not a government employee or elected official, ensuring the government remains out of practical reach for many Lunarians. Harmony City is home to the headquarters of Einstein Engines and many of the megacorporation’s employees live here, giving the city a reputation as the de facto capital of the megacorporation as well as Luna. Notable sights in Harmony include the Museum of Aeronautics and Astronautics, where the original landers of the Soviet Union and United States of America were moved after the city’s establishment. Most of Harmony City’s satellite cities are home to corporate employees or employees of the Lunarian government itself, and few were designed for industrial use. Residents of Harmony City are often negatively stereotyped by other Lunarians as social climbers and backstabbers who are all too willing to betray even their family for minor political or social gain.

    Nouvelle Caen, originally settled by French climate refugees, is the heart of Luna’s culture and home to many of its corporate offices. Known for its art galleries and high society functions, the residents of Le Nouvelle – as they often refer to their dome city – pride themselves on being the highest echelons of modern Solarian culture, and on enjoying the finer things in life. The city’s government has taken the unusual step of turning all of its former industrial satellite cities into upper- and middle-class housing, making Nouvelle Caen the only dome city without any industrial satellites. It is home to most of Luna’s small Dominian expatriate noble population, and is the only dome city to have an Imperial consulate aside from New Odesa. Sights in Le Nouvelle include its entertainment district, where one can find theaters, opera houses, and playhouses in an architectural style known as Nouveaux Beaux-Arts which deliberately calls back to French history, and its numerous art galleries, some of which are the only galleries in the Sol System to feature prominent non-human artists. It is the richest dome in terms of raw wealth, and many Venusian stars have homes away from home in its satellite cities. Residents of Le Nouvelle are stereotyped as foppish and somewhat aloof by other Lunarians, and it is commonly joked that most speak French – a dead language – at home, and Solarian Common only when inconvenienced by those not of Le Nouvelle.

    Hangzhou is Luna’s academic center, and traces its origins to a joint project between NASA and the Federal Republic of China’s Space Agency. Viewed by many as the Alliance’s brain, the central dome city of Hangzhou trades conventional Lunarian styles of zoning for a number of universities, student houses, and laboratories. More middle-class Lunarians live in Hangzhou’s central dome city than in the rest of Luna’s central domes combined, and some rich Lunarians from elsewhere on the moon look down at Hangzhou residents as unworthy of the prestige of living in a central dome. The dome city has a large Solarian military presence due to numerous proving grounds and testing facilities, some originally built by the Solarian Armed Forces and some seized from corporate actors in 2463. Hangzhou is a key medical research hub in the Orion Spur due to housing the Lunar University of Medical Science, the city’s largest employer, and many Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals facilities. Zeng-Hu. Residents of it often brag they may not be the richest dome, but they are undoubtedly the longest-lived. Hangzhouers are stereotyped by other Lunarians as shy intellectuals who are issued a pair of glasses and a degree at birth by the city’s government.

    Gagaringrad is the largest dome city founded by the Soviet Union and the largest dome city on the dark side of the moon. It was the heart of the moon’s mining and refining industries before the USSR moved most of these operations to Pluto as the city’s Helium-3 deposits began to dry up, causing Gagaringrad to fall on hard times as thousands emigrated to Pluto, returned to Earth, or became unemployed on Luna. Many Lunarians see Gagaringrad as a dome city on its last legs, only one economic shock away from total collapse, with many of its once-proud industrial satellite cities now being abandoned relics of a better time. The high unemployment rate of the city has led to a rise in crime, and Gagaringrad is unofficially known by many Lunarians as the moon’s crime capital. The one remaining bright spot for the moon’s Soviet city is the presence of a still-active shipbuilding industry affiliated with the Solarian Navy, and the domes associated with this industry are home to the last remnants of the Lunarian Soviet man. Residents of Gagaringrad are stereotyped as gloomy, due to living in darkness for most of the year, and easily irritable people who may or may not have organized crime links.

    New Odesa is the administrative hub of the Solarian government on Luna, and is home to literally millions of government bureaucrats and most of the moon’s foreign embassies. Abroad, it is rumored by some to be the heart of the Lunarian conspiracy to control the Spur, a claim Odesans find absurd. The youngest satellite city, it is the moon’s transit hub and has a twice-hourly shuttle to Unity Station utilized by many Solarian government employees and elected officials. It is also home to Yuri Kondratyuk Shuttleport, the moon’s primary interstellar shuttleport. It is also home to the headquarters of Pan Solarian Interstellar. New Odesa’s central dome has the lowest population of any dome city as most of its space is taken up by government offices, though its population rises during the week as many bureaucrats are known to sleep overnight in government-owned dormitories. Most workers commute from its satellite cities and suited bureaucrats asleep on high-speed trains are common sights. Sights in New Odesa include the Zvezda Museum, which chronicles early colonization of the moon, and New Lviv Satellite City, which has been carefully zoned to ensure all buildings are in the antique Hustul Secession style of architecture. Odesans are stereotyped by other Lunarians as underslept and overworked bureaucrats twitching from caffeine (or stimulant) abuse in their desperate struggle to conquer the Alliance’s endless tide of paperwork.

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