Callisto

REGION - JEWEL WORLDS
This location is centered in the Jewel Worlds region.
Centered in the heart of the Sol Alliance and largely safe from any common galactic dangers, the Jewel Worlds are the pride of Humanity to some, and a massive bane to others. Here is where the first colonization from Humanity arose, and where the Interstellar War was powered, producing an extremely polarized mindset against it amongst the Colonial territories. Nearly sixty billion Humans can be found here with an undetermined amount of aliens. Among the Jewel Worlds are the entirety of the Sol star system, Epsilon Eridani, New Hai Phong, and Silversun. The Jewel Worlds possess two bluespace gates, one from Sol to Konyang - which is in the process of being dismantled - and another from Epsilon Eridani to Qerrbalak. Earth, Venus, Luna, Mars, Jupiter, Pluto, New Hai Phong, Silversun, and the planets of the Eridani Federation are considered Jewel Worlds.

Located in the Jovian System, the Sovereign Solarian Commonwealth of Callisto is one of the commercial centres of the Sol Alliance and the largest port in the Alliance itself. Callisto's ideal location and relatively hospitable environment made it an ideal point of colonisation when humanity first went beyond the Sol System's Asteroid Belt, and Callisto has been a critical port since its inception and is one of the most populous bodies in the Orion Spur, with almost all of its surface covered by highly-developed urban areas. Callisto and its highly-valuable port are the subject of intense protection by the Alliance's navy, and the moon itself is completely protected by the Callistean Supra-Atmospheric Ring Shield Generation Facility, a massive shield system locally referred to as either “the Ring” or “the Dome,” with residents often debating which local name more accurately describes the shield. The residents of Callisto are referred to as Callisteans, or Callistean.

History

The government flag of the Commonwealth of Callisto.

The first of the Jovian Moons to be colonized by humanity, Callisto has had human settlements since 18 June, 2107 -- when settlers from United Orbital Enterprise made landfall on the moon. The Sol Alliance eventually acquired the moon in 2140 following UOE's liquidation and Callisto became a significant area of investment for Einstein Engines following the megacorporation's founding in 2155. Callisto's relatively hospitable surface conditions made it, in the eyes of both Einstein and the Alliance, the ideal point for the development of a major center of commerce and trade in the Sol System. In the late 2100s an effort to rapidly terraform Callisto to a level of habitability suitable for heavy urbanization began while the first practical warp gates were set up in the moon's orbit. The original colonists involved in this rapid urbanisation project were plucked from across the world and tended to be from the countries that remained from the mid-20th century Commonwealth of Nations -- such as India and the United Kingdom -- due to its relative neutrality in the historical rivalry between major powers on Earth itself. The terraforming project was more successful on Callisto than on Mars due to the moon's smaller size and succeeded in granting the moon a breathable atmosphere by 2240, with rapid colonisation following in the years after. This, combined with Callisto's network of (for the time) cutting-edge warp gates, led to a massive amount of investment and building on the moon, which rapidly became one of the most urbanized member states of the young Alliance.

While Callisto's shine was slightly tarnished by the Second Great Depression, its status as the Alliance's single largest port remained intact and investment continued to pour into the moon. However, its system of aging warp gates began to struggle to keep pace with the demands of interstellar traffic by the early 2300s, and it became clear to the Alliance that the moon's gates would need to be retrofitted sooner rather than later. And who, of all the Alliance's many megacorporations, was better for the job than the original designers: Einstein Engines? Thus Callisto became the first test of the Warp Gate Project, a massive infrastructure project that would ultimately leave Einstein Engines more powerful than it had ever been and the Alliance in deep debt to the megacorporation. Despite the Alliance's woes Callisto profited, and found itself granted even more massive infrastructure projects with the completion of the Callistean Supra-Atmospheric Ring Shield Generation Facility in 2395.

Despite the immense troubles faced by the Alliance in the 2400s Callisto has remained a heavily-populated and immensely trafficked planet, with the majority of the Sol System's trade flowing through it even before the destruction of the shipping ports of Mars during the Violet Dawn disaster. While many planets and colonies in the Orion Spur now find themselves on shaky ground following the Alliance's partial collapse, Callisto and its massive ports seem to be experiencing nothing but smooth sailing. At least, for now.

Environment

Callisto before its terraforming was a cold, cratered, and utterly desolate moon only set apart from dozens of other objects in the orbit of Jupiter by its low radiation levels and thin atmosphere. It was this lack of radiation and thin atmosphere that made it, and not its sister moon Europa the ideal location for humanity to settle -- even if a massive terraforming project was required. The project took 43 years and lasted from 2197 to 2240, when the moon was finally declared fit for human life. The surface, over the course of these four decades, had been radically altered.

Callisto's environment following the terraforming is relatively pleasant and warm, and gradually becomes cooler as one moves further from the equator. This climate has seen the planet develop a relatively successful tourism industry, though its tourism industry is nowhere near the scale of Silversun. The Callistean surface, despite massive terraforming efforts, remains relatively hilly due to the moon's surface's previous status as the most-cratered surface in the Sol System. While many of these craters were “smoothed out” and reduced during the terraforming process the hills that they left behind are almost universal across the Callistean surface, and the sprawling urban topography that Callisto has come to be most readily known for is built regardless of how hilly the surface can become. Callisto is home to three major seas that were previously massive multi-ringed impact craters on its surface. The seas, from largest to smallest, are the Valhallan Sea, Asgardian Sea, and Sea of Adlinda.

As Callisto had no native life beyond a cellular level on it all animals and plants on the moon are “transplants” from Earth, though centuries of life on Callisto has caused a variety of adaptations unique to the moon itself. The terrestrial animal life of Callisto is typically small, agile, and adapted to urban environments, with some of the most common animals being the Callistean pigeon and the ever-present domesticated house cat. Callistean flora is similarly adapted for urban life and primarily consists of small flowering plants and some mosses, many of which tend to grow up the sides of buildings instead of expanding horizontally. Most notable amongst Callisto's flora is the Callistean fan palm: a relatively short and quite sturdy palm tree found along the coasts of the Callistean seas and throughout the moon's cityscape with an easily-recognisable fan-shaped leaf.

Aside from its three seas the vast majority of Callisto's surface is dominated by densely-populated urban sprawl and large facilities utilising interstellar trade and commerce. Green space is very rare on the Callistean surface, and the massive urban sprawl of the moon has allowed it to support a massive population of approximately twelve billion permanent residents. The continuous nature of Callisto's urban sprawl, with rare exceptions in its green spaces, has led to the creation of a unique ecological environment where only small, agile animals such as cats, pigeons, and rodents are able to survive and thrive -- with the feral version of the common housecat serving as the apex nonhuman predator of the moon's urban ecosystem. Larger animals are typically only found in ecological green spaces such as open-air zoos found in the District of Fisher's Rest, Callisto's renowned academic centre that is also home to some of the largest green spaces on the moon.

Excepting green spaces and Callisto's seas the two least-urbanised regions in terms of raw population density of the moon are the northern and southern spires of the Callistean Supra-Atmospheric Ring Shield Generation Facility, the massive shield that keeps Callisto protected from orbital attacks. The twin support spires of “the Ring” are both roughly two-hundred kilometers across at their base and stretch one-hundred-and-fifty kilometers into the air, at which point both are connected by a massive ring which is used to generate Callisto's protective shield. These facilities are large enough to have an impact upon Callisto's climate, and an area around the bases of both facilities suffers from what is locally referred to as the “ring shadow” -- a localised rain shadow created by the nearby spire. Once one reaches one-hundred-and-fifty kilometers into the air they will find the projected shield, which features free floating “ring gates” interspersed throughout the shield that serve as the primary point of entry to Callisto for ships possessing the proper Sol Alliance-flagged credentials. Due to the massive amounts of manpower required to keep the Ring operational authority over the structure is somewhat messily divided between the Solarian Navy and Callisto's local administration, particularly the Port Authority of the Callistean Commonwealth.

Culture

As one of the most populated member states of the Alliance aside from Earth and the largest single port in the Sol System, Callisto's surface is overwhelmingly dominated by urbanized settlements in a manner similar to the megapolises of New Hai Phong that are organized into districts rather than individual cities, as the urban sprawl of the moon covers it completely aside from its seas. Callistean culture varies on a district-by-district basis but possesses some universal traits -- and stereotypes -- that are associated with the moon as a whole rather than individual regions upon it. While the nearest equivalent to Callisto is New Hai Phong; life on Callisto is, compared to its Middle Ring counterpart, radically different thanks to the more hospitable conditions of the moon's surface and the great amount of wealth brought in by the massive amounts of interstellar trade that Callisto is most known for abroad.

What is commonly defined by contemporary sociologists as the unified “Callistean culture” or, somewhat inaccurately, “Jovian culture” of Callisto's is in reality much less monolithic than it may originally seem. The conurbations that eventually became Callisto's districts all have their unique spins and twists upon Callistean culture and have all likewise contributed to the popular perception of the planet throughout the Orion Spur. However, some districts -- such as New Valletta, the district home to Callisto's largest ports; and Gomul Catena, home to the vast majority of Callisto's beaches -- have had more influence than others. Perhaps the best example of this is how the Callistean accent is perceived abroad as a rapid, breathless, and often loud manner of speaking. This accent, while well-known abroad as the Callistean accent, is a regional accent originating in and around New Valletta, and other districts possess different manners of speech entirely. Yet despite these differences of districts, Callisteans share a great deal of cultural traits.

Amongst these commonly-shared cultural traits are the two major holidays of Callisto: Callistean Landfall Day and Pigeon Day. Callistean Landfall Day takes place on the 18th of June every year and is intended to celebrate the date that the first human settlers landed in what would eventually become New Edinburgh. While an elaborate ceremony still takes place in the Callistean capital district Callistean Landfall Day has become, to most Callisteans, a time to take a family vacation to the beaches of Gomul Catena thanks to the week-long period surrounding the holiday when most businesses are closed. Whether the holiday is best referred to as “Callisto Day” or “Landfall Day” is a matter of some debate among Callisteans. The other major holiday on Callisto is the Pigeon Day on 26 June and celebrates the unification of Callisto's districts into the modern Commonwealth of Callisto in 2341, when the ten individual metropolitan areas that made up pre-Commonwealth Callisto cast aside their common identities to form a greater whole. The holiday's name is derived from the Callistean pigeon, the moon's most common bird, and Callisteans are immensely proud of Pigeon Day despite its somewhat unusual name. Insulting or otherwise belittling Pigeon Day's name in front of a Callistean is considered to be a major faux pas, and travel guides to Callisto strongly recommend against doing so. Pigeon Day's celebrations similarly last a week and each district holds its own series of celebrations. This includes the Solarian Navy-dominated Ringpole District, where the holiday's celebrations have become a flash point for tensions between the Navy and Callisteans living in the district.

The Gomul Catena District has, as mentioned above, had a larger impact on Callistean culture than most other districts. This is thanks to the district's geography, as it completely surrounds the Valhallan Sea -- Callisto's largest body of water -- and all the beaches that can be found along the coastline. While this geography was initially used for the practical-yet-boring purpose of fishing and water purification the tourism industry rapidly emerged following urbanization efforts on Callisto, and the district has become the go-to location for many vacationers from Callisto and the greater Alliance. The main attraction of the Gomul Catena is its beaches, which locals claim are far better (and more affordable) than those on Silversun, and life in the district often revolves around the waves. Surfing and swimming are particularly well-loved pastimes both in this district and -- thanks to its cultural impact -- Callisto more generally and many younger Callisteans seek to become involved with “surf culture” in the district, with the season lasting almost all year thanks to the orbital pull of Jupiter on the moon's oceans. Swimming and surfing culture is so ubiquitous on Callisto that indoor wave pools designed for surfing and swimming can be found throughout the planet, with many advertising that their machines are capable of producing waves “just like” famous Valhallan beaches.

While surfing is more famous than it, swimming is no less of a big deal for many Callisteans due to the Gomul Catena District and Callisto has -- according to some surveys -- more people able to swim on it than any other planet, including Earth. In contrast to surfing, which primarily takes place on the Valhallan Sea, swimming is generally seen as an indoor activity in Callisto, with many apartment complexes featuring multiple indoor pools on various levels. The New Edinburgh District features a large swimming pool -- the single largest on the moon -- where the yearly Neptunian Sprint, a competition used to determine the best swimmer on Callisto, is held between the ten districts of the Commonwealth. Another common pastime on Callisto, particularly at the northern and southern poles of the moon, is ice skating. In contrast to the glamour of surfing and the often-competitive nature of swimming ice skating is typically seen as a leisurely and often romantic activity that is best quietly enjoyed. But there are some exceptions such as the controversial and often-hazardous variation on ice skating from the Northern Shield District known as “rocket skating.” Rarely involving actual rockets despite its name, rocket skating is a local term for an “extreme sport” variant of ice skating which involves using the typically iced-coated craters found in the district to catapult oneself into the air and perform tricks. Despite calls from the local Solarian Navy presence to ban the practice, rocket skating has rapidly become immensely popular locally.

While Venus' is often regarded as the undisputed emperor of Solarian cinema, Callisto's local film industry has managed to carve out its own market, though it is not nearly as large or as prominent as its counterpart in Cytherea. Callistean cinema -- sometimes referred to as “Callistema” by fans -- tends to be more grounded and often grittier than its Cytherean counterpart, favouring crime dramas and action-focused movies that revolve around average people forced into difficult situations that often end in dramatic shootouts -- often with spectacular violence committed in the name of heroism, despite the lower budgets of most Callistean films compared to their Cytherean counterparts. Callisto's film industry is primarily based in the port district of New Valletta and the heavily-urbanised Ha Wan District, and the vast majority of the industry's films are shot on-location in Callisto -- typically in Ha Wan itself due to the district's heavily-urbanised nature and unique neon-dominated entertainment districts near its border with New Valletta. Arguably the most famous of the Callistean film industry's productions is the 2435 A New Day, an action-crime film in which two brothers -- one involved in smuggling in New Valletta and the other working with the CMPD -- must reconcile their differences to get revenge for their father's murder by a crime kingpin in Ha Wan. The film is well-known for the iconic character of “Martin,” the sunglasses-wearing criminal associate of the brothers that is only known by his nickname and ultimately sacrifices himself in the film's climactic gunfight out of a sense of loyalty to the brothers.

While the vast majority of Callisto's culture comes from its native population, the moon's massive districts are home to several significant expatriate communities from locations across the Solarian Alliance. The two largest expatriate communities on Callisto originate on Silversun and Mars. The Silversun expatriate community on Callisto is made up of Originals that have emigrated from the planet due to dissatisfaction with Idris Incorporated's dominance of Silversun, and is primarily found in the Gomul Catena District. The community is starkly divided between those that wish to maintain their unique identity from Silversun and those that wish to integrate into the urban society of Callisto, with many young Silversun Originals in the community that have grown up on Callisto identifying more with the urban jungle of Callisto than the tropical environment of Silversun they have never truly known. The Martian expatriate community is primarily found in the heavily-urbanised Han Wa district and is principally made up of refugees from the Violet Dawn disaster of 2462. In contrast to Venus the majority of the refugees that made their way to Callisto were members of the middle and upper class that were rich enough to afford transportation through the asteroid belt to Callisto, rather than just to Venus. Most have been successfully resettled on Callisto due to the more effective and efficient government of the Commonwealth, though there remains some minor tension between the residents of Han Wa and these recent arrivals due to cultural differences.

Life on Callisto

The heavily urbanised and hospitable surface of Callisto has led to a style of day-to-day life quite unlike anywhere else in the Sol Alliance or the greater Orion Spur itself. Life for the average Callistean is -- compared to other Solarian member states -- very good. In contrast to the massive hab-cube complexes used on New Hai Phong or the microdistricts of Pluto most Callisteans live in imposingly tall apartment complexes where the vast majority of families own their own apartments in which only their immediate, rather than extended, family resides. These individual apartments are private spaces and are typically located around a central area in the middle of the level that provides a common social area for the floor's residents. Some apartments go against this trend and many working-class Callisteans reside in apartments located above ground-level businesses rather than in the high-rise apartment complexes Callisto is best known for. The heavily-urbanised nature of Callisto has naturally lent itself to the development of public transportation, the most widespread of which is the Callistean Metropolitan Magnetic Rail Line. This network, which is typically referred to as simply “the Magtro,” spans the entire moon and consists of thousands of miles of track laid in both underground and elevated lines.

Districts

The ten districts of Callisto are the smaller sub-municipalities of the massive super-city that makes up the modern Commonwealth of Callisto. These districts are truly massive urban centres with slightly over a billion residents per district on average, and are made up of a multitude of smaller municipal entities that have, over time, come to form the greater district. The Commonwealth's government defers a great amount of autonomy to Callisto's individual districts due to their sheer sizes, and each district has gradually developed a unique regional identity with its own variation upon what the greater Orion Spur generally views as Callistean culture. A Callistean's district of origin will almost always have a large influence on them and there can be a surprising amount of variation between Callisteans from different districts.

New Edinburgh is the capital district of the Commonwealth of Callisto. This district is home to the majority of the Commonwealth of Callisto's government buildings, and has long been the center of governance for the moon. This district contains the landing zone where humans originally set foot on Callisto, which has been converted into a small memorial inside the capitol building. Callisteans from this district tend to be wealthier and more educated than others, and many of New Edinburgh's best and brightest end up working for either the Solarian government or as management for megacorporations such as Einstein Engines. As the administrative centre of the Commonwealth New Edinburgh is home to the main headquarters of the Callistean Metropolitan Police Department, one of the largest police agencies in the Alliance, and is regarded by some as the administrative hub for the entire Jovian System, although a resident of Ganymede would absolutely disagree on this point.

New Valletta is the heart of Callisto's shipping industry, and is perhaps the most important port in the entire Solarian Alliance. The district is home to a number of ports including the massive Galilean Port, the largest single port in the entire Alliance. Ships landing in the ports of New Valletta can come from locations as close as Io or Ganymede or as far away as Persepolis or Assunzione and the district itself is sometimes known as the centre of the Spur by sailors, which has led to the official motto of New Valletta: “The Conflux of of the Cosmos.” This official motto is frequently mocked by the residents of New Valletta as overly grandiose, but is deeply endeared at the same time -- perhaps due to how easily it can be mocked. Due to the immense amount of interstellar trade that comes to the district, New Valletta is extremely diverse and Callisteans from it are often more familiar with non-Solarian humans and Skrell than their fellow Alliance citizens. Callisteans from New Valletta are perhaps most readily known abroad for their rapid, breathless manner of speech with very few pauses that has, thanks to the district's status as the port of Callisto and the small film industry that the district has become known for, become the most commonly known example of the Callistean accent.

While New Valletta is the heart of Callisto's ports, Attlee Heights is where the deals that keep goods flowing into those ports are made. The financial heart of Callisto is one of the most important financial markets in the Spur due to Callisto's status as one of the Spur's largest centres of trade, and is where the flow of interstellar trade is often determined -- both in its stock markets and behind the closed doors of the Heights. The Callistean Interstellar Stock Exchange within the Heights is regarded by some as the beating heart of interstellar trade, and stands as the largest singular stock market in the Orion Spur by market capitalisation despite recent anti-corporate efforts undertaken by the Alliance. The district additionally houses many of the Alliance's economic think-tanks, and many of the Spur's best and brightest economists eventually end up working here. The Heights' relationship with its counterpart in the Republic of Biesel's Mendell City, Bullard Avenue, is not an equal or pleasant one. Even following the Solarian Collapse of late 2462 and expansion of the Republic of Biesel the Heights remains, to most economists not backed by the NanoTrasen Corporation, the true financial centre of the Orion Spur.

The Gomul Catena District is a geographically large district that stretches around and entirely encompasses the Valhallan Sea. The long coastlines of this district have made it into the premiere destination for Callisteans on vacation and Solarians unable or otherwise unwilling to vacation on the sunny Idris Incorporated-dominated Silversun. The Gomul Catena District is also home to the Callistean fishing industry, which has become the largest of its kind in the Sol System due to the ongoing effects of ecological damage on Earth. Callisteans from this district are typically involved in either the fishing or tourism industries, with many of the latter working for Idris Incorporated in various fashions. Despite its stellar beaches and status as a frequently visited tourist locale, the district's nightlife has long been viewed as inferior to that of the Ha Wan District. The Gomul Catena is the heart of Callisto's renowned surfing scene, which first emerged in the district during the planet's initial rapid urbanisation.

Located between New Valletta's massive ports and Gomul Catena's docks is the Utgardian Plains Industrial District. It houses the majority of Callisto's heavy industry and factories in addition to large amounts of working-class housing. Despite its heavily industrialised nature the standard of living in the Plains remains high, particularly when compared to the industrial zones of New Hai Phong. The industrial production of the Plains has historically been dominated by heavy industry but has seen a rapid growth in its synthetic production sector following Konyang's secession. Many of Idris Incorporated and Einstein Engines' synthetics are produced in this district, and Callisteans from it tend to be very familiar with IPCs due to interacting with them on an almost daily basis. The rapid growth of the synthetic production sector in the Plains has caused unexpected problems for the local government and the district's CMPD branch, which is now responsible for policing more synthetics than perhaps any other agency in the entire Solarian Alliance.

Next to New Valletta is the Ha Wan District, otherwise known as the “Lower Circuit” District. Built into the remains of a large crater ring following Callisto's terraforming, the district gained its name due to its status as the lowest district in terms of elevation. As a result of this Han Wan does not have a large amount of commercial shipping within its limits, which has allowed it to become a flourishing (and high-density) housing and commercial district. Ha Wan's position next to Callisto's New Valletta, Callisto's major port district, has made it the centre of Callisto's nightlife, with areas adjacent to New Valletta constantly bathed in neon. This position has also made it one of the centres of Callisto's film industry, with filmmakers based in New Valletta often crossing into Ha Wan to shoot scenes for their latest blockbusters. Further away from New Valletta, the district rapidly calms down as it turns into residential housing and commercial zoning. Despite its locally renowned nightlife Han Wan does not receive anywhere near the amount of tourism that the Gomul Catena District does and the majority of its off-moon visitors are sailors from the ports of New Valletta looking to spend their hard-earned Solarian Credits in the nightclubs and gambling halls of the district's commercial areas.

If New Valletta is the beating commercial heart of Callisto, then the District of Fisher's Rest is the brain of the moon. Fisher's Rest is home to a number of renowned Solarian universities and academic institutions ranging from the Einstein-sponsored Jovian Institute of Technology to the Solarian Navy's Naval War College, and Solarian students from across the Alliance compete for a position in the district's universities. The district is also known for Crater Park, the largest singular green space on Callisto. Graduates from the universities and colleges of Fisher's Rest can be found throughout the Orion Spur, including in the Republic of Biesel, though many remain on Callisto itself thanks to the massive economic strength of the moon. Due to the secession of Konyang and the rapid growth of the synthetic production sector in the nearby Utgardian Plains Industrial District many academic institutions in Fisher's Rest have found their robotics programs quickly overwhelmed with applicants and have scrambled to keep up the pace.

The Cassini District is located between the Ha Wan and Gomul Catena Districts, which has led to it becoming the primary port location for non-commercial interstellar travel such as tourists and other spacecraft carrying passengers instead of cargo. Its convenient location has also led to it being the centre of Callisto's Magtro, with hundreds of lines converging at Cassini Central Station. Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals has a surprisingly large presence in the Cassini District due to the megacorporation's presence on Europa, and Zeng-Hu employees stationed there are routinely rotated off to Zeng-Hu facilities in the district to relax and recuperate. Workers employed on the volcanic surface of Io are typically similarly rotated off of the moon and into the Cassini District to rest and recuperate.

At and around the northern pole of Callisto is the Northern Shield District, more typically known as “the Ringpole” by most Callisteans. Nowhere else on Callisto is the influence of the Tsushima Naval Base felt more clearly than inside the Ringpole, which holds many of the Solarian Navy's planetside installations, such as Togo Shuttleport, along with a significant civilian population. The district is well-known as the coldest in the Commonwealth thanks to its position at the extreme north. Ongoing issues between Callisteans and the Navy are worse here than in any other district on the moon's surface, despite the profits brought in by off-duty sailors. Ringpole is infamous in the CMPD for the amount of public disturbance calls related to the Navy. Callisteans from Ringpole tend to have a negative outlook of the Solarian Navy, and the district has become a major source of political agitation against the current emergency military junta. The district is home to a variety of unfilled craters left over from Callisto's terraforming that have recently become the arenas of “rocket skating,” a local sport which involves using the iced-over craters to launch oneself into the air. While typically performed using normal ice skates some skates with literal rockets fitted to them have been used to varying degrees of success.

The polar opposite, in a quite literal sense, of the Northern Shield District is its counterpart at the southern pole of Callisto: the Trafalgar District. While the Ringpole is dominated by the Navy the Trafalgar District is home to the much more popular Port Authority of the Callistean Commonwealth, which is integrated effectively into the commercial ports of the moon. While the Navy dominates its district and allows not much beyond itself to flourish in the Northern Shield District, the Port Authority's home is known to be a major port unto itself -- though not nearly as large as New Valletta. Due to its location the Trafalgar District is the second coldest of Callisto's districts and is the heartland of Callisto's national sport: ice skating.

Economics and Industry

Callisto's economy is primarily based upon the interstellar trade that flows through its massive warp gate network and into the various port facilities that dot the moon's surface. Due to the need to service massive freight starships that travel to Callisto on a regular basis Callistean ports are massive and sprawling facilities capable of fitting even the biggest interstellar freighters, vessels which can sometimes be as long as a kilometer. The largest of these ports is the Galilean Port, a massive complex spanning forty kilometers that processes hundreds of millions of tons of cargo every year. While the Callistean shipping industry remains free of major corporate interference thanks to the heavy hand of the Solarian Alliance both Hephaestus Industries and Einstein Engines are heavily invested into the industry and many port facilities feature equipment produced by both corporations. Industrial IPC frames produced by Hephaestus Industries are a common sight in many Callistean dockyards, while more clerical frames -- such as Einstein Engines shells -- can be found in the offices of many ports.

Tourism is a secondary source of Callisto's immense wealth and prosperity, and yet another region where Idris Incorporated has managed to work its way into the local market. Tourism on Callisto, unlike its fellow Galilean Moon Europa, is generally focused on activities not on the moon itself. The majority of Callistean tourism is focused on Jupiter itself, with the main attraction being scenic flyovers of Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Most companies that offer these scenic flights, which can last anywhere from a few hours to weeks at a time depending on the client's needs and the quality of the vessel in use, are based out of Callisto with only a few flying out of other locations, such as Ganymede. A smaller minority of Callistean tourism is focused around the moon's three major seas. While not as awe-inspiring as a cruise with a clear view of the Great Red Spot vacations to the beaches of Callisto are a common getaway for working and middle-class Solarian families, particularly those from the Sol System itself, that cannot afford or are otherwise unable to vacation on the famous resort world of Silversun.

A third aspect of Callisto's economy is its newfound status as the centre of the Solarian Alliance's synthetic industry, particularly the production of IPC frames. Callisto has always been home to a large synthetic production industry centred around IPCs, with many of Idris Incorporated's synthetic units being produced here, but has long been the second most important centre for synthetic production in the Alliance after Konyang, thanks to the planet's status as the birthplace of the modern positronic brain. However Konyang's secession from the Alliance during the Solarian Collapse in late 2462 led to Callisto's robotics industry unexpectedly becoming the centre of synthetic production in the Alliance. With much of the investment that previously entered the factories and markets of Konyang now entering Callisto's industries the moon's robotics industry has seen unprecedented amounts of growth, with megacorporations investing heavily into it.

Government

Callisto's local government is regarded as reasonably competent by most Callisteans, particularly when it is compared to to the cronyism of Venus, the apocalyptic conditions faced on Mars following the Violet Dawn Catastrophe, or the massive corruption of New Hai Phong. As with other Solarian member states the Commonwealth of Callisto has representation in the Alliance's senate. Thanks to Callisto's immense size and influence it, unlike many Solarian member states, has two senators: Barnaby Wade and Anastasie Renaud. At a local level Callisto is a representative democracy, with the varying districts of Callisto's “super city” electing representatives to the moon's local senate. The number of representatives a given district receives is based upon its total population and Callisto's political scene is reflective of the diversity of the moon itself, particularly following the dissolution of the traditional parties of the Alliance following the Solarian Collapse of late 2462.

One of the largest ongoing issues in the Commonwealth's political scene is the ongoing presence of the Solarian Navy both on the surface and in the orbit of Callisto. The Navy has maintained a continuous presence on Callisto since the completion of the Callistean Supra-Atmospheric Ring Shield Generation Facility in 2395 and primarily operates out of Tsushima Naval Base, an artificial satellite located in the near orbit of Callisto. Conflict between Callisteans and the Navy has been for almost as long as there has been a naval force stationed on the moon. Navy vessels are known for clashing with Callisto's local port authority over enforcement issues and have been known to harass ships from non-Solarian nations such as the Coalition of Colonies and Republic of Biesel when arrive at the moon to trade, with naval officers rarely being charged for these harassments despite outcries from Callisto itself. Despite this the naval presence has been a benefit for Callisto at times, with it -- and the Callistean Supra-Atmospheric Ring Shield Generation Facility -- having kept the moon from ever being attacked throughout its history. Off-duty sailors and marines are a signficiant source of income for the Callistean tourism industry, with some bars near Togo Shuttleport, the major moonside port of Tsushima Naval Base, marketing to the Navy first and Callisteans second.

Local law enforcement on Callisto is controlled by two main agencies: the Port Authority of the Callistean Commonwealth and the Callistean Metropolitan Police Department, both of which are regarded to be better than similar organisations in the Alliance such as the often-maligned police force of Venus. Callisto's Port Authority is a massive agency responsible for security in Callisto's many ports, anti-smuggling operations, and -- alongside the Solarian Navy -- the maintenance and operation of the massive Callistean Supra-Atmospheric Ring Shield Generation Facility. The Port Authority has an infamously sour relationship with the local Solarian Navy presence and conflicts between it and the Navy over who is responsible for what are all too common. The Callistean MPD is -- due to the sheer population of Callisto -- one of the largest police agencies in the Alliance and is an atypically structured authority. CMPD district branches operate with a large amount of independence due to the sheer size of Callisto's districts while the CMPD's central authority in New Edinburgh, the moon's capital district, controls specialised personnel and provides overall policy for the department. The CMPD has unexpectedly found itself policing more IPC frames than any other police department in the Alliance, as the secession of Konyang has shifted the Alliance's centre of synthetic production to Callisto.