User:NewOriginalSchwann/Sandbox

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 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 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 2040. 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 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 planet’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 utilised 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 two least-urbanised non-oceanic locations 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. Free floating “ring gates” can be found interspersed throughout the shield, and are the primary point of entry to Callisto for ships possessing the proper Sol Alliance-flagged credentials.

Culture

It's hella.

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.

Districts

Bottom text.

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

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 Tushima 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 Valletta, 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.

Districts

This summer, Neo-Callisto is about to explode.