Random Interstellar Empires/Star Kingdoms

[SolCannibal]

Spacefaring corporate culture doesn't always mean mature.....especially if you're handed spacefaring technology such as FTL...It merely allows your corporate mindset to spread the stupid over larger areas of territory.
Combine that with corporate statehoods and galactic geopolitics? That's a recipe for some potentially disastrous decision-making with consequences in the trillions of dollars/credits.

All the bone-headedness with a billion times the reach....

[taalismn]

All the bone-headedness with a billion times the reach....

"That's an apt summary of our marketing department."

[SolCannibal]

All the bone-headedness with a billion times the reach....

"That's an apt summary of our marketing department."

"Well, at least your bosses are not outsourcing the legal department to a literal infernal dimension...."

"Yet, you mean."

[taalismn]

The Gotrune Organization(Extradimensional)
“-the experiment environment offers many interesting variables. The chosen birth-host is a courtesan of some local high reputation, thus the matter of the paternal identity will be obscured. The most likely home environment will present its share of challenges. The local government is a paternal-line monarchy with presumed divinely-granted authority, so the eventual public manifestation of the test-subject’s special abilities will doubtlessly arouse attention from high places. “
“I have chosen a similar scheme in a like community on the opposite side of the planet. However, the seed-individual in my experiment will be female, so that the reaction of the patriarchy may be observed. I also intend to present the conception as the result of a divine encounter event.”
“Good. Once you have finalized the observation and intervention apparatus, commence with acquisition of the hosts and the zygote implantation.”

“Your father was a kami....”

“-yeah, I was paid to be your friend. Some mysterious guys looked me up one night and offered me a nice lot of coin to chum up to you...even pointed you out to me. When I freaked at your powers later, they offered me more...but this freak show’s gotten too much for -anything- they could pay me, so , so long!”

“So...my entire reason for being was not an act of love, but somebody’s idea to see what damage a superpowered ******* could do to society? Yeah, that sounds like an apt summary of my life.”

A mysterious organization at first thought to be a spinoff of Mad Scientist Scientific Supply, this group has since been identified as a wholly separate operation with only scant business connections to M3S.
The Gotrune seem to be a group of alien(though humanoid) scientists with access to advanced biotech. They seem obsessed with the ‘Great Man’ theory of historyin that they feel that the primary catalyst of change in primitive cultures is the emergence of individuals with special characteristics who use those abilities to leverage themselves into positions of power and change. To prove or advance this theory, the Gotrune visit primitive human/humanoid worlds and introduce ‘the element of greatness’. This is typically done by performing eugenic breeding experiments, manipulating and maneuvering what they consider ‘superior’ specimens of the local men and women into having children of exception, or, they simply take a more direct approach and enlist suitable local females under false pretenses and impregnate them with genetically-engineered embryos to produce children with integral special abilities(the host mothers may remember the experience as false memories or divine intervention).
The Gotrune then sit back and observe what happens. Depending on the nature and circumstances of the experiment, the observers may occasionally intervene to help their test subjects along, but in general, the Gotrune are content to watch events unfold.
The exact identities of those behind the Gotrune remain unknown. The organization employs a number of species and local lackies in their operations, but details abut the top leadership are few and hard to pin down. What is most common is descriptions of humanoids in body armor with large round helmets and access to high technology, including metagenetic manipulation . The Gotrune also appear to be very long-lived, in order to be able to watch the courses of their experiments.
The Gotrune can be considered to be amoral scientific minds, Aberrant at best, as they often use involuntary and unknowing subjects as host mothers and gene donors. The Gotrune have been behind heroes and villains alike, and have been responsible for tyrants and champions in equal number.
The United Systems Alliance has encountered the Gotrune on several lowtech worlds, and have found their activities disturbing. The Gotrune on several occasions have tried to remove the interference of the USAns or have tried to incorporate them into their experiments.

Game Notes:
The Gotrune Organization can serve as a background for a superpowered PC, and as mysterious benefactors(or antagonists) to the character. The Goltrune may act through various cut-outs and middlemen to help the character along, bail them out of trouble, and help them in various situations, but their motivations are not altruistic. The character was created by them to test a theory or advance an agenda, and the Gotrune may be hurrying the PC along to a predetermined ‘destiny’ or may be setting them up for some test. Other variables in the experiment may involve orphaning the character(killing off or disappearing the parent(s) to influence the PC), getting them INTO trouble, or manipulating those around them. The reveal that the PC was created as a sociological experiment in itself may be reason for trauma.

[taalismn]

Golgan Republik/As-Than ‘Kregmar’ Mobile Assault Gun
(aka ‘Garart-gun’,)
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a crawler or a hover or a mek; enemy troops with heavy weapons holding ground are still a matter of concern. You can fly over them, or get around them, but sooner or later you’re going to have to deal with them, and modern technologies mean cutting off their supplies and getting them to surrender or starve is a lot harder than it was back in the olden days. If they got good weapons, they can hurt you and even turn the tide of battle, no matter how ridiculously out of date their equipment may look.”

“Despite its limitations, the Kregmar is still a good weapons system, especially since the As-thanans have been quick to know how to use them smartly. Despite having a hovertank-heavy ground combat doctrine, the Zyganians have learned to -loath- the Kregmar because the As-Thanans like holding these things in camouflaged positions and lure the Zygs’ armor into traps. An entrenched Kregmar’s a bastard to knock out, even with artillery.”

“###ing assies and their @@@ing crawlers! The Royal Zyganian Eighth could have strolled into the capital already if the phib-huggers hadn’t seeded the old mine-lands on the approaches with their damn assault guns! Can’t send in skimmers to burn them from the air because their aor defense is so good, and can’t drive in under their radar because they got kill-zones already mapped out in their sights. We gotta wait until the Fleet can cut enough heavily-armored gunships free from suppressing their aerospace assets to do a proper job of bombing their hideyholes and killing their armored with suborbital smite, adn that takes time! Too much time we should be using for preparing a couteroffensive against the As-Than worlds! Damn ###ing assies!”

The Kregmar is a conventional armored fighting vehicle developed and deployed by the Republik of As-than, a satellite of the Golgan Republik.
The Kregmar is a low-slung tread-borne combat vehicle, with its heaviest weapon, a particle beam cannon, mounted in a fixed-forward-firing position in the forward hull. The main cannon is powerful and can take apart other AFVs with just a few shots.
The problems with the Kregmar, however, are rife. Though doing away with a heavier turret for a scaled-up gun allows for a heavier weapon to be carried at lower cost, the mounting limits the arc of fire of the main armament, a problem well-known to AFV designers for eons. That the Kregmar is carried on treads only accerbates the problem of laying the gun on target, as the vehicle cannot track fast-movers, such as hovercraft or power armor, long enough to get more than one or two shots off at them. The slow manuevering of the ‘crawler’ also limits the ability of the tank to reposition and keep up with more mobile companion units and allies. In an age of contragravity armor, this can spell doom on the battlefield for the crawler-tank in most environments.
The saving grace of the Kregmar is the large dorsal ‘self-defense’ turret holding the tank’s secondary weapons. The irregularly-shaped turret sprawls over the top of the tank and is festooned with several different optics and sensory systems , and a high-elevation-mount air defense laser cannon. The air defense turret is fast enough in travese to acquire and track airborne targets, and accurate enough to score hard hits on them, thanks to a potent fire control system that quickly ‘locks up’ targets. A secondary ‘spray laser’ is mounted in the same turret to deter enemy infantry.
The Kregmar is best used in prepared positions and as a defensive unit, where its main gun can attack from ambush or into a pre-sighted killzone while its air defense systems intercept artillery and deter air strikes. It is less useful in open field battles.
The Kregmar is mainly used by the Republik of As-than’s armed forces, but a few have been deployed with other Golgan allies. A number of captured and refurbished examples have also turned up on the Galactic arms market.

Type: GRA/RAT-SPG05 Kregmar
Class: Mobile Assault Cannon
Crew: 5(driver, co-driver/engineer, 2 gunners, commander)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 750
Reinforced Crew Compartment 150
Main Gun 190
Air Defense Turret 240
Treads(2) 250 each
Smoke/Countermeasure Grenade Launchers(2) 25 each
Height: 9 ft
Width: 10.3 ft
Length: 33 ft
Weight: 89 tons
Cargo: Enough space in the cabin for survival packs, tool kits, sidearms, and a few small personal possessions.
Powerplant:Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:(Ground) 55 MPH.
(Fording) Can button up and drive on the bottom of bodies of water at 20 MPH, down to depths of 120 ft.
Market Cost: 39 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Robot Systems, plus:
*Air Defense Acquisition and Tracking System----The upper turret sports amulti-media sensor suite of lidar, radar, and optical tracking sensors that give the ADS a +3 to strike airborne targets.

Weapons Systems:
1) Particle Beam Cannon(1)---This is the main weapon of the Kregmar; a large aerospace-grade PBC mounted in the forward glacis plate, with a 30-degree arc of fire.
Range: 8,000 ft/1.5 miles
Damage: 6d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: 3 times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Air Defense Laser Cannon(1)---Mounted in the dorsal turret is a long-barrel high-intensity air defense laser with a high-elevation arc of fire.
Range: 11,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per pulse-blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH, or 4 times per melee in auto-defense mode.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Anti-Personnel Laser(1)---Mounted on the same turret as the ADL, this is a wide-aperature ‘spray’ laser with an area of effect. It can be manually operated, or fired by an automated defense program that fires on anything registering as ‘enemy’ to predetermined criteria entering sensor/weapon range.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD single shot, 1d4x10 MD pulse burst, or 5d6 MD to a 30 ft-wide area.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH, or 4 times per melee in auto-defense mode.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

4) Smoke/Countermeasure Grenade Launchers(2) ---’Universal’ launcher-mortars that can deploy smoke grenades, or decoy flare/chaff(both Triax and Northern Gun -equivalent types).
Range: 6,000 ft, creates a 30 ft cloud, +10 ft per each additional chaff/flare launched in the volley. Cloud lasts 2 melees before dissipating(or less in a very strong wind).
Damage: None
(Triax Style)
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
(Northern Gun Style)
10% chance per chaff cloud deployed of decoying missiles, up to maximum of 60%
Aircraft, power armor, and beings flying through the chaff will be -6 on perception, -3 on initiative, -5 to strike, -2 to parry, -2 dodge, and lose 1 melee attack that round(or the next). Sensory and Piloting rolls are at -20% for as long as the characters are caught in the cloud, and the next as they recover.
Payload: 12 per launcher

Options:
*Antipersonnel Rail Guns(2)---Some Kregmar crews replace the Smoke/Countermeasure Grenade Launchers with a pair of remote-control light rail guns:
Range: 3,000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single round, 1d4x10 MD per 20 round burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 5,000 rd drum

Variants:
* GRA/RAT-SPAA05---This variant does away with the main hull gun in favor of focusing on air defense, especially after it was discovered that many As-Thanan ground units were using their Kregmars primarily as AAA vehicles. The -SPAA05 has a redesigned turret that sports TWO Air Defense Laser Cannons, the extra room in the hull being occupied by extra capacitors for the added cannon. This is becoming the most commonly distributed variant and the one most likely to appear with non-As-Thana Republik forces.

[SolCannibal]

A mysterious organization at first thought to be a spinoff of Mad Scientist Scientific Supply, this group has since been identified as a wholly separate operation with only scant business connections to M3S.
The Gotrune seem to be a group of alien(though humanoid) scientists with access to advanced biotech. They seem obsessed with the ‘Great Man’ theory of historyin that they feel that the primary catalyst of change in primitive cultures is the emergence of individuals with special characteristics who use those abilities to leverage themselves into positions of power and change. To prove or advance this theory, the Gotrune visit primitive human/humanoid worlds and introduce ‘the element of greatness’. This is typically done by performing eugenic breeding experiments, manipulating and maneuvering what they consider ‘superior’ specimens of the local men and women into having children of exception, or, they simply take a more direct approach and enlist suitable local females under false pretenses and impregnate them with genetically-engineered embryos to produce children with integral special abilities(the host mothers may remember the experience as false memories or divine intervention).
The Gotrune then sit back and observe what happens. Depending on the nature and circumstances of the experiment, the observers may occasionally intervene to help their test subjects along, but in general, the Gotrune are content to watch events unfold.

Oh, those guys have a potential to be quite troublesome indeed, specially when one considers that "primitive worlds" by 3GS' secret cabal standards can cover anything from stone age to the cusp of Robotech season 1.
And that without discussing what kind of psychic or magical resources they might mix in the pot or not. Plenty of potential headaches those people can be, in success, failure or anything in between.

[taalismn]

Oh, those guys have a potential to be quite troublesome indeed, specially when one considers that "primitive worlds" by 3GS' secret cabal standards can cover anything from stone age to the cusp of Robotech season 1.
And that without discussing what kind of psychic or magical resources they might mix in the pot or not. Plenty of potential headaches those people can be, in success, failure or anything in between.

Yep...I figure I'll have to post a version of them to the Heroes Unlimited threads, because they're ideal for mysterious superpower origins and narrative twists.

Like what if SupremoMan turned out not to be divine providence or a really lucky genetic lottery, but a deliberate effort to create a super being to alter society? How does everybody react? How does SupremoMan take the news?

[SolCannibal]

Oh, those guys have a potential to be quite troublesome indeed, specially when one considers that "primitive worlds" by 3GS' secret cabal standards can cover anything from stone age to the cusp of Robotech season 1.
And that without discussing what kind of psychic or magical resources they might mix in the pot or not. Plenty of potential headaches those people can be, in success, failure or anything in between.

Yep...I figure I'll have to post a version of them to the Heroes Unlimited threads, because they're ideal for mysterious superpower origins and narrative twists.

Like what if SupremoMan turned out not to be divine providence or a really lucky genetic lottery, but a deliberate effort to create a super being to alter society? How does everybody react? How does SupremoMan take the news?

Or how does it turn reactions to a world's "mutant phenomena" or equivalent when evidence about such organization's existence is leaked into places outside conspiracy theory forums and such?

[taalismn]

[
Or how does it turn reactions to a world's "mutant phenomena" or equivalent when evidence about such organization's existence is leaked into places outside conspiracy theory forums and such?

'Alien Invasion and 'Alien Manipulation' paranoia goes mainstream. Today's superhero becomes tomorrow's Trojan horse .

[taalismn]

Some expanded reposts

Kampadow---(United Systems Alliance Colony)
(aka ‘Mossworld’)
“Yahp, Kampadow’s pleasant enough...well, the technical word in use is it’s BORING...with about the only excitment that’s been generated was the brief panic when it was discovered that a local algae liked colonizing our fur....The ‘Kampmeadow Mange’ ran its course, but not before a few hundred colonists got permanent discoloration from the roots up.*”

Kampadow is a PS/GNE outpost world that is in the process of being developed. It was during the exploration of Kampadow that a stable natural dimensional link was discovered leading to Ser-Chai, the original homeworld of the d-bee ChaiChuk minority of Greater New England, Rifts Earth, With contact reestablished with Ser-Chai, and the reconnections of family lines once thought lost, the ChaiChuk homeworld became a firm ally of the GNE, with Kampadow being one of the corridors of regular communication and trade between the two polities.
For a time, Kampadow followed the usual pattern of GNE colonization; exploration, establishment of a small test colony and survey station, and the posting of a small defensive garrison to protect the colony and various assets relocated to the planet for ‘safekeeping’ (from possible theft/destruction on Rifts Earth and other similarly violent worlds). With the establishment of the United Systems Alliance, Greater New England invited their fellow Alliance members to visit their colonies, with an eye towards increasing investment and support for them. As Kampadow was already well-known to the ChaiChuk, the planet seemed a natural fit for the Ser-Chaians to take a greater interest in.
During the Minion War, the GNE withdraws the bulk of the Kampadow garrison to reinforce other outposts and worlds under more immediate threat from Infernal-affiliates. In the interim, to prevent the planet from being claim-jumped, the GNE leases the planet and facilities to the ChaiChuk, who establish their first outdimension outpost directly administered from the Ser-Chai homeworld. With GNE permission, the SerChaians have begun expanding their outpost into a colony, with several settlements already established. As Kampadow is considered to be a ‘low risk’ world, the planet was considered suitable for a first-time extraplanetary colony for the ChaiChuk home polities. Kampadow’s heavier gravity(compared to Earth) also makes it more comfortable, long term, for native SerChaiians, more accustomed to their homeworld’s 1.5 g gravity field.
It’s been rumored that Kampadow is going to also be developed as an industrial site for producing several out-of-production Iron Heart Armaments designs(the Ser-Chai governments having negotiated manufacturing licenses with surviving New Kenora expats for many of IHA’s designs), such as the PS-modified GF-2C ‘Grey Phoenix’. Kampadow’s location on a dimensional thruway servicing both SerChai and GNE worlds makes it a good location for delivering both sides with product.

Update:
Post-Minion War, Kampadow does indeed become an industrial site for IHA expatriates, and also home to the Kugrin Armored Warfare School, a large military reservation teaching land warfare. There, armored vehicles and infantry chew up the landscape in large-scale maneuvers and exercises against each other and drone-piloted vehicles.

*The ‘Kampadow Mange’ has become something of a local fad, once it was discovered it was essentially harmless. Though treatments exist to prevent it from happening in the first place, many colonists have come to consider coming down with a case of it and being subsequently ‘marked’ in the form of peculiarly-discolored fur as a sign of their being ‘true dirters’ or hardcore settlers. Others scoff at this, heckling them as ‘manged men’ and ‘slothmen’.)

Solar System(Kadow 121C)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars: Orange Dwarf
Number of Planets: 3
- Terrestrial(Kampadow)---Life World

- Dwarf Planet(Cartwren)---This Pluto-sized planetissimal shows brilliant jets of water vapor escaping from through its icy crust, suggesting a substantial ice-roofed internal ocean. Scientific surveys are still ongoing to determine how large this body is, and whether or not it supports any form of life.

- Gas Giant(Belgad)---Belgad follows the standard model of system development; the larger of the gas giant’s twelve moons have been developed as gas harvesting and starship refueling stations, with mining going on to provide space infrastructure with construction materials, though the operations currently in place are small and largely automated.

Planet(Kampadow)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 10,000 km
Gravity: 1.3 Earth average
Temperature: Temperate, but on the cool side
Unusual/Special Features:
-Moon(Havist)---Havist is slightly larger than Earth’s Moon, and has been designated as a development area. PS/ASI has already landed several automated mining outposts at promising sites, and a small (50 man) manned outpost established. The outpost is expected to be expanded as the SerChai unified space program deploys its own people in the system, using a combination of aerospace technologies both acquired from abroad and developed at home.
-Energy Field---Kampadow has a low-level PPE field roughly equal to te Palaldium Fantasy World’s. Spell magic is possible, but megadamage magic spellcasting costs 2-4 times as much.
-Other---Kampadow has been proven to have reliable dimensional rift connection to the ChaiChuk homeworld Ser-Chai.

Atmosphere: Normal, and breathable nitrox mix.
Terrain: 4+ terranes. Mountains, hills, plains and coastal wetlands
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Chromium
- Iron
- Molybdenite
- Amethyst
- Sulfur
- Barite
- Quartz
- Salt
Hydrosphere: Moist---65% of Kampadow’s surface is covered in water.
Biosphere: Sparse. There’s evidence to suggest that Kampadow is recovering from a Cryogean-style global ice age that killed off most of the planet’s life. Indeed, most of the indigenous life is concentrated in the oceans and coastlines. The most successful and widespread local lifeform are varieties of moss that cover much of the landscape and form peat-bogs, incidentally increasin the soil fertility.
Civilization:
Colonial
Population:
Currently 25,000 Chai-chuk pioneers and 3,800 non-Chai-chuks(the PS/GNE survey and development teams)
(Post-Minion War this jumps to 575,000(roughly 30% of which are non-Chai-chuks), plus an additional 12,000 permanent staff at the Kugrin Armored Warfare School)
Technology:
Can be considered to be Early Megadamage Age; the Chai-Chuks have been bootstrapped from Early Atomic Age into space/dimension-faring with the assistance of their offworld allies.
Economy:
Agricultural, with Trade and Manufacturing as a secondary economies.
Wealth:
Prosperous-----Kampadow is already showing promising returns as a colony world; several plant breeds regarded as luxury foodstuffs among the Chai-Chuks show signs of doing very well in the planet’s soil, and exports back to SerChai have benefitted from the public relations ‘aura’ of being grown on SerChai’s first -official- offworld colony.
Government:
Appointee governor selected by the colonial development council on SerChai.
Law Level:
Lawful
Popularity:
Popular----There’s some concern about the scion of the Umberiish Imperial Family who’s been chosen as the main Colonial Governor, but, despite being somewhat stuffy and starch-shirted, Arboath Magjio III has proven wise and fair-minded.
Stability:
Stable. There has been some quibbling by factions back on SerChai about the respective quotas of colonists allowed from each of the participating members, but among the colonists themselves, there’s no such friction.



Update: Truon(Extradimensional)(Protectorate, United Systems Alliance)
“Truon’s undergoing a sea-change; the majority of the new generation are going to go Galactic and quite a few turn Belter. Those that remain on the old bombed-out homeworld are going to return to being farmers while much of the planet goes fallow and the rest becomes either agricultural preserves or cultural museums.”

Truon is an Earth-analogue world accessed along the Galian Flow sequence. On Truon, nationalism, and especially monarchies, continued unabated. In particular, one kingdom, Scintella, through several generations of diplomacy and military conquest, came to dominate the planet. Scintellan leadership was dynastic, and as Scintella’s imperial power grew, so too did the arrogance and ambition(and some say deterioration of the mental faculties) of the ruling dynasty. Finally, Queen Kathori IV(‘Mad Kath’), particularly rapacious and arguably unhinged, decided to have it all at once, and launched a series of military campaigns to seize control of the rest of Truon. By this time, several of the smaller nations had developed WMDs to counter the Scintellan military advantage in numbers. When one of these lesser kingdoms deployed tactical nuclear weapons against a Scintellan armored division, an enraged Queen Kathori had her own nation’s strategic nuclear arsenal unleashed on the cities of the opposition in a disproportionate retaliation. What followed was a chain reaction escalation that saw global nuclear war sweep Truon.
Though most of the nucleonics used were of the short-half-lived neutron variety, the cumulative effect of so many weapons used has greatly damaged Truon’s ecosystem, to say nothing of the cost in human lives. Nations ceased to exist in the chaos that followed(Mad Kath herself fell victim to a massive nuclear decapitation strike that destroyed the Scintellan leadership---the still-glowing crater is known locally as The Mad Queen’s Lake or Kath’s Cauldron) leaving scattered and shattered, mainly rural, communities to try to rebuild from the ruins.
Drawn by detection of a mass casualty catastrophe fold event, GNE explorers along the Galian Flow came across devastated Truon. Making contact with the survivors, the GNE offered assistance in restoring civilization, or evacuation for those who wanted to leave their war-haunted world and try elsewhere. The Truonians said yes to both offers and accepted USA help in getting back on their feet.
Today, Truon is slowly recovering as a probationary/protectorate member of the United Systems Alliance, Their solar system plays host to a waystation along the Galian Flow. Socialism and democracy are now pushing aside what little remains of the aristocratic power structures of Old Truon, and a unified resource-sharing organization among the surviving communities has been set up. A number of Truonians have immigrated offworld rather than tough it out on their still -bleeding homeworld, and of those, several have joined the USA militaries. Truonian humans tend to have a general dislike of monarchies, and are more specifically distrustful of queens.

This post-war world comtinues to struggle along with the still oozing scars of a global nuclear war. Though USA shattertechs have been working to rebuild the planet’s biosphere, given the option, many Truonians have elected to leave their wounded planet and seek greener pastures, even if it’s only to space stations elsewhere in the system. Many fear that this brain drain will damage the national recovery efforts, and indeed the largely agricultural regions and nations that came through the nuclear apocalypse best are reporting declines in populations of skilled technical workers. The USA cannot refuse people, but are working with the Truonian governments to promote the good news of progress in cleaning up the mess left by the war.
While Truon continues to revert to an agricultural world, the rest of the Abashis system is seeing a boom in the construction of space-habs and servicing stations, as trade on the Galian Flow increases.
Many Truonians feel that the best course of action would be to go with the flow and largely abandon Truon to let it lie fallow while it recovers. They love their homeworld, but feel it has too many ghosts for the sanity of new generations. In this respect, they are very much like the natives of the eco-collapsed world of Tenlen.

Abashis System(Truon)
Solar System(Abashis)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars:
-Orange Dwarf
Number of Planets: 4
-Exotic/Wormhole(Pif)----One of the ‘jumps’ on the Galian Flow and the reason the GNE came to the Abashis system. Unusually, this dimensional rift is deep in the solar system’s gravity well. It may be gravitationally coupled to a gravitic ‘eddy’ following Denath. The Pif is visible as a circular optical distortion against its background; ‘Pif’ in the accepted scientific language of Truon means ‘eddy’ or ‘gyre’.

-Gas Giant(Denath)----Gargantuan gas giant with 10 sizable moons. Despite its proximity to Abashis, Denath has not picked up the sort of radiation belt other gas giants tend to. Though this can be explained partially by Abashis being a cooler and less active star, USA scientists are still puzzled and are looking to see if the gas giant either absorbs solar wind radiation and particles or somehow shunts them away.
In the meantime, Denath’s moon system is open and accessible to exploration and exploitation, and several outposts and colony stations have been set up; some 17 million residents already call the Arleth, Diogen, and Paleth lunar colonies home. Some Truonians are already predicting that the center of civilization and activity in the Abashis system will eventually shift from Truon to the Denathian moons.

-Terrestrial(Truon)----System Lifeworld

-Exotic/Wormhole(Whorl)----Another ‘rapids’ in the Galian Flow. this jump point is surrounded by an icy nebula and several dwarf planets, which have been explored and turned into waystations for traffic coming in and going out the jump-point.

Planet(Truon)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 11,700 km
Gravity: 0.97 g
Temperature: Temperate, but Truon is experiencing the lingering effects of a cooldown ‘nuclear winter’.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Moons(3)---One of the moons, Dizane, was claimed by the Scintella kingdom, who established a scientific base on it and expanded it into a military base secretly hosting dozens of nuclear missiles aimed at Truon. These missile batteries were apaprently linked to the strategic ‘Queen’s Protocol’, because when the War erupted. the missiles launched on Queen Kathori ‘s direct order. The warheads arrived on Truon three days later, arriving mere minutes before the massive attack that killed Mad Kath and ended the War. The Scintellan base survived a weak counterstrike, but when allied forces, staging from a rival base on the other side of Dizane, broke into the base weeks later, they found the base complement all dead of apparent suicide. While the rival mockingly-named Trepass Station has become the core of an expanding moon colony, Scintellation(it was Kathoan Base) remains abandoned as a memorial.
Prialle and Tresmin are the two smaller moons, and both were landed on and claimed by nations that were rivals to Scintella. They, too, were militarizing their bases when the War came, and were attacked by missiles from Kathoan Base, but had enough forewarning and the means of intercepting the inbound weapons. Both bases have since been expanded to faciltate what some are calling the ‘Truonian Diaspora’ into space.

Atmosphere:
Breathable terrstrial nitrox mix, but tainted with fallout byproducts.
Terrain:
Exotic; Truon is notable for having several regions of very tall, very narrow, very stratified ‘painted towers’, a combination of volcanic extrusion and erosion. Most of these survived the War, as they occured in regions not heavily settled. Tourism to these areas has been considered as a possible moneymaker for Truon.
Before the War, there were hints that Truonian prospectors may have discovered deposits of the valuable exotic mineral Xanthine. though they didn’t know its full import(the Truonians have no history of working magic). Unfortunately, little of the data about the samples and where they were found survived the War, and it is suspected that the sample sites are in one of the radioactive zones that cannot be entered without extensive protective equipment.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Iron
- Aluminum
- Tin
- Mercury
- Barite
- Talc
- Samarskite
- Nickel
Hydrosphere:
43% of Truon’s surface is covered in open water.
Biosphere:
Was Cornucopia, but has dropped to Moderate as a result of the war. USA shattertechs are sure they can restore much of the plant and animal species from cell samples, but re-establishing pre-War ecosystems will take time. Many Truonians aren’t so optimistic, especially with regards to the higher animals, and they’ve resigned themsleves to presiding over major extinctions.
Civilization:
Settled, Ravaged
Population:
Was 7.8 billion, but dropped to 1.4 billion Humans.
Technology:
Was early Information Age, but has been bootstrapped into Interstellar. Prior to the War, Truonians had landed men on the planet’s moons and had sent unmanned probes to Denath’s moons and to the Whorl.
Economy:
Was Industrial, but is headed to Agricultural, to feed the survivors and preserve plant and animal species. USA-UJU analysts predict that the offworld Abashisian colonies will become Industrial- and Commercial-oriented with an emphasis on trade services with a recovering Truon providing ‘taste of home’ foodstuffs.
Wealth:
Effectively Depressed for the planet; after spending available resources on taking care of the on-planet population and chipping away at recovering viable land and resources, there’s very little surplus and that is immediately earmarked for the next fiscal cucle of recovery work.
The offworld colonies and outposts, on the other hand, are doing good business(Kauffin Scale ER of 4+, Average and improving); the extra revenue is being split between expanding the offworld colonies and the planetary recovery efforts.
Government:
The surviving Truonian governments are representative and socialist democracies. Truonians have pretty much ditched strongman governments in favor of rule-by-committee with plenty of checks and balances on power, especially the power to declare war.
Law Level:
Overbearing---The agricultural regions and nations had to mobilize militarily in a hurry to deal with floods of refugees fleeing the more war-ravaged nations. The hard martial law restrictions have eased back only slowly. Most of the hardline laws are with regards to hoarding resources, possessing military weaponry, and abusing the environment.
Popularity:
Ambivalent---Though most survivors prefer the new recovery regimes to the old pre-war kingdoms, they don’t always believe in what the govs are selling. There is, however, a strong ‘loyal to the homeworld’ movement that echoes Mark Twain’s philosophy of ‘being loyal to your country always, to the government only when it deserves it’. Even immigrant and expatriate Truonians will send extra money back to help the homeworld recover.
Stability:
Stable, but increasingly, the old vestiges of the pre-War nations are being swept away, especially as the offworld colonies gain in affluence and influence. .

Note:
Truonians are baseline humans, but most of the current generation bear the lingering scars of the War, and undergone treatment for various radiation-related disorders and been vaccinated against war pathogens and epidemics caused by the breakdown of technological civilzation. 50% of Truonians will have boosted immune systems and stamina as a result(+10% save versus disease, and +1d4 to P.E.). Another 20% will have a biotech or eugenic implant such as a biosystem heart, improved lungs, or other improved internal organs. 15% will have cybernetics.

[taalismn]

Paldrus ---(CCW Member)(Anvil Galaxy)
“Those big spheres you see down on the loading ways? They’re antimatter shipping pods. They may look big, but they actually hold a number of smaller pods nested inside, like seeds in a fruit. The actual volume of antimatter is quite small...maybe only the size of a small watchcase for such a big sphere, but it’s divvied up and wrapped in multiple redundancy cells seperated by containment fields. All that safety engineering’s expensive per container, but the antimatter they hold more than pays back the cost, provided it’s shipped right and safe, and the Paldrusians are damn good at that.”

“Living as they do under glassteel, the Paldrusians could be considered large-scale planetary Belters after a fashion, but the Belters prefer to call them ‘domers’. Takes mighty good prospects to attract folks out to live in artificial habs for the rest of their lives or set for their descendants’ lives, but there are worlds that do it because they figure the profits they can eke out of their surroundings are going to be greater than the costs of their air, water, sust, and cubic. Paldrus is one of the ones that got it right, in no small part thanks to the antimatter fields they got virtually next door.”

“Paldrusian dome cities are virtually fortresses under a methane-ammonia sea. And their corporate security’s top-notch with good equipment. Damn few idiots have tried attacking Paldrus because it’s not worth getting am-blasted trying to pry some of that money off the planet.”

Paldrus-Salite is a heavily industrialized star system and part of the CCW. It’s also a very wealthy world for what many would consider a cold and high-pressure hellworld.
Paldrus itself is a dome-world; its inhospitable environment would kill unprotected sophonts within minutes, so of necessity life must be cultivated under the protection of hab-domes. These domes are armored and reinforced against the planet’s very dense atmosphere(which has been likened to just short of being liquid), and the life support is energy-intensive. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of energy with the Lathem plasma-fields so close by, and the Paldrusians are making money hand over fist, so the dome-communities are well-appointed and well-supplied. Heavy industry has also flourished in the system, with a number of high-performing manufacturing firms establishing major presences around the Salite trinary.
Until relatively recently, too, the well-funded Paldrusian Navy and Power Guards were regular customers of Naruni Enterprises, purchasing much of their equipment from NE. However, after several attempts by NE affiliates to quietly gain controling infuences in Paldrus-based concerns, the Paldrusian All-Council quietly began to scale back orders and upgrades, without citing a compelling(at least from NE’s viewpoint) and went to patronizing other firms(mainly CCW-based) for their armament needs. Though Naruni doesn’t consider the quiet rebuff worth adding the Paldrusians to a Vengeance Volume, they HAVE punished the underlings who overstepped their authority(and failed) in their control-schemes, and have instigated long-term planning to try to get back in the Paldrusians’ good graces and wallets.
Among Paldrus’s big moneymakers is its production of antimatter. The Paldrus AM trade is one of the busiest in the Anvil Galaxy, a right tempting target for pirates. However, the Paldrusians figured this from an early date and have maintained some of the tightest mercantile security patrols found anywhere. The Paldrus ‘Anti-Lane’ was considered unassailable as a result, until the Styvan pirate Nacyssa Nocture Blackmane actually managed to hijack an AM tanker and its full load, before she had a later change of heart(and tried to donate her heart and other internal organs) and was captured. The Paldrusian government has tried to spin this as a success for their ‘harrying’ campaign, though Blackmane was captured by another polity.

Solar System(Salite)
Number of Stars: 3
Types of Stars:
- Blue Dwarf(Salite-a)
- Red Dwarf(Salite-b)
- Red Dwarf(Salite-c)
Number of Planets: 8
-Gas Giant(Lathem)---- This enormous gas giant seems protected from being solar wind-vaporized by an exceptionally strong energy field generated from its interior. The field also traps energetic particles from all three Salite stars and generates antimatter naturally. The dense plasma flux around Lathem is a natural AM reservoir and is harvested, at no small risk, by the Paldrusian Energy Bureau

-Terrestrial(Albris)----Enormous ‘super-Venus’ lashed by solar weather.

-Gas Giant(Omend)----Enormous Omend possesses a less hazardous plasma field and a large moon system. However, its antimatter particle density is far lower. The Paldrusian Energy Bureau uses the Omend field for training on energy-harvesting.

-Terrestrial(Paldrus)----System ‘lifeworld’. Small rocky world with a dense atmosphere. It proved convenient, however, for settlers exploiting the other resources of the system.

-Gas Giant(Vecmal)----Large gas giant that is frequently skimmed for commercial gases.

-Gas Giant(Elvat)----Not ones to leave anything to chance, the Paldrusians decided to hedge their bets and have set up a secondary facility to artificially generate antimatter by forced means. Jupiter-sized Elvat is orbited by several large fusion power stations fueled by gases harvested from the gas giant, and the generated power used to smash atoms and produce commercial quantities of antimatter. The Elvatan moons and their industrial plants are well-protected by the ever-alert Paldrusian Energy Bureau’s elite Power Guards.

-Gas Giant(Tetum)----Miniscule Tetum would hardly get a mention in the midst of all the activity elsewhere in the solar system. At least until it came out that Nacyssa Nocture Blackmane, before her spectacular heist, had infiltrated the Salite system beforehand while formulating her plans, and scouted the Paldrusian defenses from a temporary aerostat base in Tetum’s atmosphere. She slipped in and out with the Paldrusians being none the wiser. Now the Paldrusian Navy and Power Guards stage frequent patrols and in-atmosphere ‘dips’ on Tetum, and extended ‘murk runs’ through Tetum’s clouds are a popular disciplinary assignment for underperformers in both organizations.

-Terrestrial(Relton)----Large rocky world, with a puzzlingly high (punishing levels) gravity field, suggesting a very dense core. Noone has been able to (safely) set foot on Relton’s methane fog-shrouded surface, but a number of robotic science probes have been landed. There’s speculation that Relton may have accumulated around a neutronium fragment.


Planet(Paldrus)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 9,800 km
Gravity: 1.02 g
Temperature:
Freezing; only the high pressure of the atmosphere keeps it from freezing out entirely, but icing is a significant problem for aerospacecraft flying in and out, and through the atmosphere.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Other(Gravitic)---Paldrus has an unusually high gravity for its size. This puzzles many planetologists.
Atmosphere:
SuperDense Methane-Ammonia. Pressure is bad enough that only specially pressure-rated vessels may make planetfall, and venturing outside requires deep sea-rated power armor.
Terrain:
Exotic. bordering on Hostile; Paldrus’s cold and atmosphere quickly creates massive formations of ice, much of it rock-hard and unstable. Some formations, if subject to heat or movement. explode with the force of a bomb, sending ice shrapnel flying. The Paldrusian government deploys remote control ‘sweepers’ after ‘gro-storms’ near settled areas to identify any unstable ice-growths and remote-detonate them(usually with the application of microwaves).
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Iron
- Amethyst
- Mercury
- Manganese
- Samarskite
- Barite
- Fluorite
- Graphite
Hydrosphere:
69% of Paldrus’s surface is covered in water-ice.
Biosphere:
Sparse; the Paldrusian colonists introduced several forms of commercially valuable exolife to the planet they would call home; mainly oxygen-sequestering lichens and sugar-producing encysted algae forms.
Civilization:
Settled
Population:
3.5 billion humans
Technology:
Galactic, with a emphasis on high energy generation, storage and applications.
Economy:
Industrial---There are many big manufacturers and corporations on Paldrus besides the Energy Bureau. Consolidated Galaxy Drives and Annihil Dynamics/AnniDyn LTD both have propulsion and fuel-containment system(antimatter) fabrication factories on Paldrus.
Wealth:
Rich; trading in antimatter has made the Paldrusians very rich and very happy.
Government:
Syndricacy--While there are many well-to-do corporations on Paldrus, there’s no denying that top dog in the local business scene is the Energy Bureau, which heads up the Paldrusian All-Council.
Law Level:
Moderate; the great wealth enjoyed by Paldrusians has led to over-exuberance.
Popularity:
Beloved---Paldrusians LOVE their government that pays them an annual dividend from antimatter sales. Some might call it a bribe, others would call it sharing the wealth.
Stability:
Long-standing. Paldrusians LIKE being rich, and the government has avoided crass decisions and policies that would threaten that prosperity.
.
Known/Posted Antimatter Producers in the GNEverse
The following are producers of antimatter already mentioned in the GNEverse:

*Paldrus(CCW member)(Anvil Galaxy)---Harvest it from a plasma field fueled by a trinary star, and also produce it artificially.

*Vetero-390( Corkscrew Galaxy, CCW Antimatter Production System)
Vetero-390 is a ‘desert’(in that it has developed no worlds capable of supporting life) star system in the Consortium of Civilized Worlds. It lies, along with several dozen other desert systems, along the Aeran-Celestra Hyperspace TradeWay, between two of the Human Alliance’s coreworlds.
Vetero-390 is home to the Vitom Power Farm, one of several facilities operated by Vitom Dynamics..

*Hedelsburg League(Thundercloud Galaxy)---Independent star-nation with access to a large naturally-ocurring antimatter field around a constellation of black holes. They have leveraged this into a virtual trade monopoly supplying energy to their lesser members.

* Xan Xanti---The Xan Xanti have an as-yet unidentified way of economically producing antimatter in large quantities. They use most of this themselves in industry and weaponry and sell very little to outsiders.

*Trevis Collective(Thundercloud Galaxy)--- Conditions in the region of the Collective, along with some brilliant breakthroughs, were apparently amenable to producing antimatter on an industrial scale with the relatively low Trevis tech-base. The Trevis Civil War nearly went full-AM, and the survivors managed to keep a few of the remaining plants operational, but locked down. The Trevis have since been very squirrely about letting anybody scavenge antimatter from their ghost-worlds and rarely trade their production of AM.

*Kretig Domain---The Kretig had access to a naturally-ocurring source of antimatter in the plasma tubes formed around the gas giant Keljek in the Kretig core system Bahern. The harvesting facility was destroyed along with adjacent naval yards during a suspicious accident, and the Kretig have not yet been able to restore production.


In addition, in the Gosnold Cluster(CCW), Crammer Energy has proposed building an AM production facility on the outskirts of the populated system. The proposal has faced numerous challenges and has yet to break ground.

[taalismn]

The Great Golgan War in the Thundercloud
“Okay, that can’t be good.” the Apisori ranger lieutenant muttered as she tracked her macroculars on a dust trail on the distant ridge.
“What is it? Naruni patrol? They see us?” The nervous corporal next to the officer nuddled under the sensor shroud wanted to know.
“No, not Naruni. Not this far out from the killaryte fields. Nobody to abuse. Somebody else who shouldn’t be here.”
“Who?” The squad of USAJC rangers hidden under the patch of chameleon-brellas now wanted to know.
It was the Seljuk sergeant still following the receding dust trail who answered; “Those were Mariman warriors on hovershrikes. Golgan allies on what looks like regular issue Republikan Guard equipment...not mercenaries....I doubt they’re here to keep an eye on Naruni, like we’re doing, so I strongly doubt they’re helping the Denlech take back their lands. “
“Got it in one.” the lieutenant lowered the scope. “They’re not supposed to be on this side of the Hollan Gulf. Check what’s in the direction those riders were going. Something’s going to go down and we better let the Spector know the Golgans are here.”

One of the few fronts where the Golgans can be said to be be faring well is their Enklave territory in the Thundercloud Galaxy. There they have put fear in the hearts of many of the explorers and colonists in the region.
The head of the Golgan Enklave military forces, Fifth Citizen Gaus Btal-Trino, is one of First Citizen Gaus Binjo’s enthusiastic Assemblage supporters. Btal-Trino comes from a background in the Golgan military-industrial complex and, while she essentially bought her way into politics, earned her military rank coming up through the Argosy(admittedly, though, her famlly’s wealth secured her a comfortable privileged ensign’s rank right out of the Akademy, and from there it was a simple step to Frias). Btal-Trino sees her role in the Thundercloud as many-fold; carve out a massive territory for the Republik, draw the attention of and distract forces that would otherwise be deployed against the Republik coreworlds, and create a fallback position for the Assemblage.
Before the Great Golgan War started, Gaus Btal-Trino managed to get a substantial amount of the Republik’s cutting-edge mlitary hardware and logistics transferred to her command in the Thundercloud, over the objections of many in the Argosy. This has given the Golgan forces in the Gaelra Arm a significant edge in firepower over other polities in the area.
Using her superior weight in firepower and easily-swayed allies like the Meriman, Btal-Trino’s Thundercloud Argosy has managed to seize a number of indie-claimed worlds, threaten many others, and generally inject fear and uncertainty into those near the Enklaves. Her aggressive policies have panicked the holdings of other polities. Though some of her subordinates worry that Gaus Btal-Trino is leaving their positions overstretched, she has convinced her men of the value of a strong offensive as a defense. The Thundercloud Argosy has been effectively terrorizing colonies and indie worlds up and down the Outer Hollan Gulf. She has attempted to take advantage of the Bushi Federation’s organizational chaos following the Minion War by forcing their attention with a show of ‘helpful force’ on their borders, and has threatened Naruni’s killaryte production in the Denlech worlds with some bold deep raids in the region. Meanwhile at the other end of the Enklaves, her sub-division heads have been pursuing a war of aggression against the Shing, largely unopposed by the CCW and others as the latter deal with more pressing problems closer to their territories..
Privately, Btal-Trino harbors more personal ambitions, encouraged by her successes. Should the Kultural Revolution fail and the Republik collapse, Gaus Btal-Trino will declare the Thundercloud territories a ‘nationall/kultural bastion’ for Golgan refugees, and take the title of First Citizen for herself. She hasn’t decided yet, though, what to do about the current First Citizen Gaus Binjo if he survives and contests her actions(her idolized image of him expects him to go down with the ship of state). However, she is convincing herself that Binko and the Assemblage compromised their leadership with theri foolish gamble on seizing Altess Prme....and losing badly. She correctly sees the follow-up campaign as flailing to regain the initiative, and will use that indecisivess to justify her vision of the New Republik in the Thundercloud.
Though Gaus Btal-Trino’s much-touted (and heavily-spun) successes in the Thundercloud have been made public in the Republik, making her a hero to the Golgan populace, many in the Argosy and even the Assemblage are resentful of the high officer. As battles go against the Republik in the Anvil Galaxy, and reserves are draining away ahead of the ability of core industry to replace ships and war material, many Argosy officers have asked the Assemblage to recall capital units from the near-pristine Thundercloud Argosy for reassignment to the embattled Anvil fronts. So far, Gaus Btal-Trino has stubbornly refused a number of lesser requests, citing a need to ‘secure the new territories’ and support their allies. That includes sending back any surplus from the arms factories and handful of shipyards Btal-Trino has managed to establish in the Enklaves(with engineering talent, her critics claim, she lured away from Anvil-based positions).
Some of her old colleagues and associates in the Assemblage fear the Fifth Citizen may be running rogue, while a few (rightly) suspect she may have greater ambitions. While First Citizen Gaus Binjo has considered recalling Gaus Btal-Trino to Gologo Maxus on the strength of her successes in the Thundercloud for reassignment to an Anvil batteforce, he is afraid of jinxing the one consistant source of good news in the whole Kultural Revolution campaign. Besides, the Antitelephone communiqués say nothing about reassigning, dismissig, or arresting Btal-Trino.
Meanwhile, the threatened worlds in the Thundercloud Galaxy have been arming. Gaus Btal-Trino’s edge is dulling. The Bushi Federation, never fond of the Golgan ‘barbarians’ to begin with, has downgraded them to ‘thugs’ and upgraded their threat rating(to the point of reconsidering their relationship with the CCW and younger ‘gaijin’ cultures like the United Systems Alliance), and are stiffenig their defenses, as well as more openly selling armaments to clients opposing the Golgans . The CCW has dispatched extra ships to deal with the ‘pirate’ problem. The USA has been reinforcing its colonies and spreading defense packages to worlds along the Hollan Gulf. And the Shemarrian Nation, especially Clan Pantheron, has swung down in support of the Shing. It is unknown how Gaus Btal-Trino will react to her own successes being reversed on her by stiffer opposition, but few who know her believe she will suffer them quietly or in good grace.

[SolCannibal]

And there come the golgans again with another "blaze of old glories" expansionist grab to waste their reserves of resources, instead of investing on updating and consolidating their techbase, industry and economy to better withstand the pressures of any such conflicts. Different galaxy but things just as oh so usual....


At least make an alliance with the Denlech as excuse to "nationalize" any Naruni presence in their worlds as a preemptive move against their retribution ledgers, while letting the Denlech do the worse of the fighting for them. Leverage small polities grudges in your favor, froggies.

[taalismn]

Shattertec O.C.C.
(aka ‘Catastrophator’, ‘Geo-renewer’)
“I warned them about the consequences of damming off their polar oceans. They wanted massive freshwater reservoirs. Instead, all they did was cut off the circulating ocean currents and break the global cooling cycle. Now they’ve got a rising water temperature, equatorial droughts, spreading dustbowls, and out of control weather. Just blowing up the dams won’t be enough at this point; we’ll have to ease the planetary climate back into balance-”

“Runaway greenhouse effect? We can start laying down carbon-scrubbers today! Continental heatsinks will take a little longer, and we’ll want to establish some in-orbit industry to take advantage of heat energy beamed UP from the surface, but if we’re going to lay in a solar shade to moderate heat INfall, that’d won’t be a problem. The real hassle’s going to be training up your planetary population to fill the necessary jobs and avoid relapsing into environmentally unfriendly lifestyle habits, but our Education Department can help you out with that.”

“Look, I’m getting thermal blooms where there shouldn’t be any. Orbital scans can’t identify the source. If they continue to grow, they present an unwelcome variable in the planetary cool-down program, and you know as well as I do, the next eight days are critical window time. If I go through channels, I’ll waste three days easy just waiting to get permission and resource allotment from High Nimbus. So I’m just going to take a shuttle down and check the anomalies out. I should be back in six hours with hard data on what they are! Back before the commander knows it. Really, what can go wrong?”

Exploiting the Rifts has brought Paladin Steel and Greater New England great prosperity in access to new resources and allies. The ability to open, close, and navigate Rift-space/time has paid unexpected dividends to the intrepid explorers and merchants of the GNE Alliance.
It has also brought them into contact with shatterworlds---worlds, alternate Earths and alien planets,--- that have suffered planetary catastrophes, such as global wars, pandemics, environmental collapse, cosmic catastrophes, and the like. The GNE Outstep Corps have learned to avoid and quarantine the worst of these worlds from coming into contact with viable and vulnerable worlds closer to home, but when it can, the Corps will open escape routes for refugees, provide transport, shelter, and assistance to survivors, and do what they can to alleviate suffering. This assistance is not (as critics of the Alliance are quick to point out) entirely altruistic; Paladin Steel has learned that many refugees, needing something to keep occupied after losing their old lives, can be recruited into the company’s labor pool and the refugee cultures often bring fresh ideas and technologies that can be utilized to the benefit of the GNE.
New colonies are often settled with refugees, and their resources developed to the profit of both Company and the Displaced. A substantial portion of the Greater New England/United Systems Alliance armed forces is recruited from wreckworlds, the recruits wanting a fast-track to full Citizenship or wanting to defend their new benefactors.
However, for all those fleeing wrecked worlds, there are those who, with the outside perspective of dimensional travellers, and the benefit of advanced technologies, see other opportunities in the shatterworlds. These people aren’t ready to give up on the hellworlds. These people are the shattertecs, part salvage expert, part scientist, part planetary engineer. These people dream and plan big, seeing planetary catastrophe as an opportunity to reshape entire planetary environments. As long as a planet is in the ‘goldilocks zone’ where liquid water can exist, it is argued, a world isn’t dead yet, or it can be revived.
Arguably, Rifts Earth is considered a shatterworld by the more stable planets, but shattertecs don’t consider it to be one; it remains stably habitable without outside interference, and is, in fact, outright fecund with extradimensional transplants. REAL shatterworlds are those already over the edge, mass-extinction-wise, with little ability to sustain habitable conditions without outside help.
Shattertecs have extensive education in the earth sciences, have good computer programming skills for running simulations, and a range of field skills for observing(and surviving) planetary conditions firsthand. Though most rely on other professionals, such as planet scouts, to gather samples and lay sensors, it’s a rare shattertec who doesn’t want to see a planet up close, for that vital insight as to how it might work.
Being a shattertec may seem a boring, frustrating, or futile profession, what with, once one gets beyond grappling with the enormity of the task, most recovery efforts being designed around hundred-year-plus plans and slow, incremental climatic changes for the most part, but shattertecs lead surprisingly exciting lives. Deadly environments, massive projects involving megatonnes of material and gigatons of energy, mutated local lifeforms, still live warzone weapons, pirates out to strip shatterworlds of anything of value, nihilist sects opposing re-terraforming efforts; all these can make a shattertec’s life more exciting(and shorter) than one would like. Investigating known deadworlds to determine the sequence of events that killed them is another job that puts shattertechs in the front ranks of explorers. Positioning multi-megaton nuclear charges down the throats of volcanoes, repositioning giant solar shades, overseeing terminal guidance on targeted comet-drops, and warship laser drilling stress-relieving seismic channels in fault zones can provide more than a little excitment for a shattertec.
Occasionally, shattertechs are consulted by the military about the vulnerabilities of planetary ecosystems and tectonics, and how and where to best defend them. On rare occasions, shattertechs may be consulted on how best to DESTROY a planetary ecosystem(especially if it is particularly antithetical to life on other planets and poses a danger if allowed to spread offworld). In this latter capacity, a shattertech’s ethics may be sorely tried.
Interestingly, a growing number of shattertecs have also studied geomancy and the effect that ley lines have on planetary conditions(and vice versa), so it is not unusual to encounter scientists of this profession who have a solid education and knowledge of ley lines and Elemental influences.
The United Systems Alliance employs a good number of shattertecs to help terraform promising planets, revive ailing ecosystems, and repair damaged worlds. Planets like Harrisar, Tenlen and Valkos are works in progress for the USA’s shattertecs, while recovered worlds like Manticus are sources of experienced shattertecs and inspiration. Global health organizations often consult shattertecs with regards to possible pandemic or blight spreads, and possible countermeasures.

Prerequisites: IQ and M.E. of 12 or greater. A high P.S. and P.E. for field work is also recommended, but not necessary.

Special Skills:
*Gaiaistic Intuition---Shattertecs tend to see the big picture and the interconnectedness of multiple factors. This gives them a better idea of the likely outcomes of a given action, especially with regards to WMD area effect weapons or large/mega-scale construction projects. +10% to NBC Warfare. They can also predict long term(2 years or more) weather/climate trends with 35%+5% per level of experience accuracy.

*Mental Resilience----Observing and experiencing living worlds at their worst(berserk global climate changes, the aftermath of global thermonuclear war, ecological collapse, the effects of out of control scientific experiments, etc.) has inculcated into Shattertecs a certain hardened mindset; +1 to save versus Horror Factor at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 of experience.

O.C.C. Skills:
Math: Basic & Advanced (+20%)
Language/Literacy: (Native) 98%/98%
Language/Literacy: One of choice (+10%)
Computer Operation(+15%)
Computer Programming(+15%)
Read Sensory Instruments(+15%)
Botany(+20%)
Biology(+20%)
Geology(+20%)
Hydrology(+20%)
Climatology(+20%)
Vacsuit Operation
Other Skills: Select 7 ‘other skills at Level One, plus an additional 2 at levels 3, 6, 9 and 12.
Communications: Any(+5%)
Domestic: Any
Electrical: Basic only.
Espionage: None
Mechanical: Automobile and Basic only.
Medical: First Aid and Paramedic only
Military: Demolitions(+5%), Demolitions Disposal, NBC Warfare(+10%)
Physical: Any
Pilot: Any
Pilot Related: Any
Rogue: None
Science: Any(+10%)
Technical: Any(+5%)(+10% to Geomancy and Lore: Magic)
Wilderness: Any
Weapons Profficiencies(W.P.): Any
Secondary Skills: Select 4 at first level, plus an additional +1 at levels 2, 5, 8, and 13
Experience Tables: Use the Rogue Scientist tables
Standard Equipment:
Suit of heavy-duty environmental body armor with radiation shielding and extended life support. Environmental scanner, laser distancer, handheld computer, long range radio. Sampling tools(coring tubes, geology hammer, coring drills, animal and microorganism traps, etc.).
Starting Money: 1D6x1000 in savings, base salary is 2,000 credits per month, plus housing and medical is provided when working a planetary site.
Cybernetics: None to begin with, but many shattertechs spring for headjacks and environmental/medical gear such as lung filters, oxygen cells, and enhanced senses.
Bio-Modification:
The new field of bio-modification has opened up new possibilities for Shattertecs, especially those mod-packages that grant environmental protection or adaptation.

[taalismn]

Cyanatope(United Systems Alliance member)(Thundercloud Galaxy)
“I have to admit; the whole Cyanatopan affair’s left a bitter taste in the TVIA’s mouths. We were supposed to protect people from exploitation like what the League was doing, but there was nothing explicitly spelled out in the charter about such. The Hedelsburgers lawyered this past us and kept us at arm’s length from the situation until the Cyanatopans had enough and obviously felt they had to go find outside lawyers to extricate them from an increasingly bad deal. Now they’re in the Usan camp and they’re duking it out in the courts with the Eye-Tee-Cee backing them, with the TVIA sidelined and looking like the referees who couldn’t see the chump-cheating plays.
Well, the good thing is, now that we know what to look for, we’re reviewing the other complaints made against the Hedelsburgers with fresh eyes, so we can maybe actually DO something about any other chicanery they’ve pulled. And we can offer some nice economic and technological upgrade assistance packages to the other worlds of the League. So, yes, the Hedelsburgers are on notice. Oh, I don’t doubt that the energy-barons on Hensti will try to use their contra-matter contracts with us to get us to pull our investigations and maybe grant them outright immunity, but they’ll still be on notice and on our watch list against them pulling this sort of thing again.”
---Malcos Tretphan, Assistant Commissioner, Treaty Violation Investigation Agency, Oswoe-Catlin Over-Sector, Consortium of Civilized Worlds.

“There’s been some speculation that the Hedelshergers were extorting the Cyanatopans into alternate deals for their contramatter, like the ‘topans offering up their armed forces as mercenaries or enforcers for the League. Having heavyworlder Seljuk as guns-on-speeddial would be a major plus for the League if they could wing it, but the Cyanatopans weren’t biting, at least not for the energy merchants.”

Cyanatope is a former member of the Hedelsburg League(a trade association built around a natural antimatter supply), but dropped out when the senior worlds of the League passed trade regulations that proved too restrictive and expensive for Cyanatope’s struggling economy. Cyanatope subsequently joined the United Systems Alliance because the terms of mutual trade were much better.
Cyanatope’s economy is based around manufacturing; energy-hungry processing of the planet’s high-purity tungsten in particular. Cyanatope’s admittedly large reserves of low-quality samarskite provide them with fissionable uranium fuel, but at the cost of having to dispose of radioactive waste. Antimatter offered an alternative, but the Cyanatopans soon realized that their suppliers in the Hedelsburg League were steadily jacking up the price to leverage growing and increasingly one-sided trade agreements.
Cyanatope was also being gouged on its access to Galactic technologies by the Hedelsburg League, whose trade fleets effectively monopolized trade to the less advanced worlds in their region. The USA’s business terms were far more lenient and lower-priced, and were more attractive to developing Cyanatope.
Cyanatope’s disengagement from the Hedelsburg League was not entirely clean; there was some friction beween the two polities, especially with regards to long-term contracts and obligations. The USA’s InterworldTrade Commission has agreed to assist Cyanatope’s legal defense to those challenges. Meanwhile, though not expecting more aggressive trouble from the HL, the USA Joint Command has begun sending patrol warships to protect Cyanatopan space from pirates and other hazards, and the Cyanatopans have begun hosting their new allies’ security forces.


Solar System(Sylen)
Number of Stars: 2
Types of Stars:
-Yellow Dwarf(Sylen-A)
-Yellow Dwarf(Sylen-B)
Number of Planets: 8
-Gas Giant (Opru) ---Jupiter-sized Opru displays a visible corona of ionized plasma that is streamed off the planet by the combined solar winds of Sylen-A and -B.

-Gas Giant (Htrew) ---Huge Htrew possesses two small moons, Pectal and Sokan, both of which possess scant biospheres of lichen-like exolife. These are of interest because both moons lie within Htrew’s dense radiation belt, and yet the lichens seem to not only survive, but thrive, possibly somehow feeding off the intense radiation. USA scientists are interested in the extremophiles and have set up(well-shielded) study stations to examine the lichens. One Vrusk guest researcher alledgedly declared a sample of the lichens ‘delicious’.

-Terrestrial (Bigdel) ---Small and hot, Bigdel has an atmosphere that is self-fueling open combustion; firestorms erupt spontaneously and sweep across the planet seemingly at random. The Cyanatopan considered researching ways of harnessing this phenomena as an energy source, but lacked the technology to pull it off. USA scientists have now joined the local researchers in studying Bigdel’s firestorms. There is some thought that Bigdel may have a strong connection to the Elemental Plane of Fire, and the planet certainly has strong ambient PPE, but efforts to identify the signs of Fire have so far proven inconclusive.

-Terrestrial (Cyanatope) ---System Lifeworld

-Gas Giant (Mynak) ---Enormous gas giant
Klemo Lodge----Orbiting Mynak is a derelict Warshield cruiser that has been converted into a private space station. Formerly a CAF warship, the cruiser was sold to a rim-navy and converted into a transport, then acquired third-hand by a shipping concern servicing the then-nascent Cyanatope colony. When poor maintenance led to a refueling accident that destroyed the cruiser’s FTL drive and main propulsion systems, the cruiser was abandoned in place, it being deemed too expensive to repair or salvage the ship. However, a Seljuk ex-CAF naval officer, Commander Brude Klemo, bought the wreck and used her expertise as a starship engineer to convert the derelict into an orbital habitat. With the rear third of the ship cut away and replaced with storage modules, hydroponics modules bolted to the sides, and the forward weapons bays turned into storage and residency space, Klemo Lodge went into operation. Station systems are powered by the original ship’s overhauled auxiliary fusion powerplants, the station-keeping thrusters have been retained, and four point defense turrets are still operational, but the rest of the ship has been converted into housing for the extended Klemo clan and their trading post business. The station can hard-dock up to four other ships, and has pole-anchorages for another six.

-Terrestrial (Dyvela) ---Enormous cold world covered mainly with bare rock and a dense ammonia atmosphere. Despite the plane’s huge size, the planet possesses only average gravity, and thus it is fairly easy to visit the planet’s surface. Several small outposts have been established to prospect the planet.

-Gas Giant (Judrab) ---Enormous gas giant. Judrab exhibits periodic bursts of intense electromagnetic activity. Though initially studied to see if there was any organized pattern suggestive of intelligent activity, it is now believed that Judrab’s ‘belches’ are an entirely natural phenomenon. However, it’s complicated the exploration of the planet’s multiple small moons, as the largely random EM bursts interfere with radio communications.

-Terrestrial (Kodran) ---Earth-sized and covered in ice, lonely Kodran is known locally as the ‘Scholars’ Dungeon’; a scientific outpost on the planet has been expanded to include quarters for visitors seeking solitude for various reasons. Most visitors are scholars and academics on sabbatical looking for peace and quiet to focus on their studies, or priests wanting a place to meditate, but it’s been joked that many such visitors have been, for whatever reason, pointedly asked/volunteered to take an enforced sabbatical to get them out of the public eye for a while.

Planet(Cyanatope)
Type:Terrestrial
Diameter: 22,000 km
Gravity: 1.8 g
Temperature:
Temperate, but on the cool side; rouggly equal to Alaskan or Siberian averages(range from -50 degrees F to 55 degrees F) .
Unusual/Special Features:
-Strange Orbit---Cyanatope’s solar orbit progressively tilts 30 degrees abovr/below the average mean equatorial plane, before reversing its progression and going in the other ditection. This progression follows a 120-year cycle.
-Rings---Cyanatope possesses thin rings of dust and small gravel; all that remains of a small moonlet that disintegrated.
Atmosphere:
Breathable terrestrial nitrox mixture, but through a curious interaction with soalr wind particles from the planet’s twin suns, Cyanatope’s atmosphere concentrates exotic particles caled locally zwytan particles. Sufficiently large concentrations of zwytan particles cause areas of optical distortion, backgrounds viewed behind them apprearing blurred, magnificied, or diminished. These areas can appear at any altitude and cover from a few yards to several miles, and can persist for up to most of a Cyanatopan 34-hour day before dissipating. Zwytan ‘bubbles’ occur most frequently during periods of increased solar storm activity. The real danger of zwytan bubble incurions is the potential to miss with optical range finding(off by as much as 25%), targeting(-1 to strike), and messing with proper depth and distance perception in travellers(people have been known to walk off cliffs while moving through zwytan ‘storms’.
Terrain:
Varied, but with regions of Hostile Terrain; the ‘Silt Lands’ where unusual siesmology ceates bands of land where earthquakes cause the mass liquification of the ground. Soil flows like water, and massive ‘rock bergs’ rise from the ground and roll over with the flow of the ground over a period of up to a half hour. These areas are very dangerous when active, and generally churn up any established greenery, but there are organisms that have adapted to and even thrive in this violantly-changing landscape. There si also ‘slop-over’ of soils into adjacent more stable land, like the overflow from mudflows, and some of the lands bordering the Silt Lands boost some impressively fertile soils.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Aluminum
- Salt
- Gold/Silver
- Calcite
- Molybdenite
- Samarskite
- Scheelite
- Quartz
Hydrosphere:
72% of Cyanatope’s surface is covered in open water.
Biosphere:
Dense; roughly equivalent to Earth’s Triassic period,. Large evergreen-like plants predominate, and well-developed warm-blooded pseudo-sauroids roam the labd.
Civilization:
Settled
Population:
2.8 billion Seljuk. Cyanatope was settled by one of the Geminin diasporas.
Technology:
Effectively Information Age for the most part, with space travel capabilities reliant on imported Galactic technologies. It is hoped that USA membership will bootstrap the local tech level into more advanced venues of industry.
Economy:
Industrial. Cyanatope produces a good deal of refined stock metal, especially tungsten and aluminum. Gold and silver are regarded as indusrial metals on Cyanatope, rather than monetary materials. As Cyanatope’s participation in the USA increases, the industrialists of the planet hope that technology exchanges will lead to a diversification of product offerings.
Wealth:
Average, but in need of a boost. The Cyanatopans hope membership in the USA will give them that boost.
Government:
Pedocracy----Academicians run the government; and campaigning for office is as much about publishing academic papers as it is stumping and shaking hands with the voters. Fortuately, the Cyanatopan populace is intellectual and patient enough to actually read the stuff; more than a few office-seekers on Cyanatope have had political careers cut short by the discovery of poor arguments, sloppy editing, bad grammar, or outright plagiarism in their dissertations.
Law Level:
Lawful; Cyanatope possesses enough academics versed in law to have drawn up a quite comprehensive code of law.
Popularity:
Popular, but people are expecting the government to pull a hat trick and guide the planet to greater prosperity.
Stability:
Unrest; there’s some factionalism in the populace, with several groups wanting a more aggressive stance towards the energy barons of the Hedelsburg League for their past gouging.

[taalismn]

*Amaros-Tres Spada/Spada Station----( Amaro system, Thundercloud Galaxy)
“Amaro is one of those systems that most travellers see and experience from the concourse of a transit station; few bother looking past the holo-boards and eyecatchers for the franchises, especially after they read the gazetteer entries listing Amaro as lacking in any living planets. But there’s a whole lot more going on outside the transfer docks and the overnighter motels. Amaros could support itself off its mineral production even without the revenue from being a hyperlane conjunction eddy.”

Spada Station is a WZT-manufactured, but PS/ASI-operated Pacifica Space City platform established in the Amaro system, Zelas Sector, of the Thundercloud Galaxy, in the same star system as Espees Station, known as the 'Gateway to the Tsunami Nebula', allowing PS/ASI to benefit from the commercial traffic going through the region. Spada Station deals mainly in commercial spacecraft sales and starship supplies(fuel, life support equipment, furnishings, spare parts).

Amaro system lies at the conjunction point of several important hyperlanes. Though the system contains no habitable planets, it lies in close proximity/equidistant between two important wormholes, the Tsade Connector(2 light years away) from the Corkscrew, and the Juniper Gate(also 2 light years distant), which provides a shortcut to the numerous rich Human and Catyr colonies of the Tsunami Nebula. The Consortium of Civilized Worlds claims the system(especially after making some significant mineral finds in it) as its territory and patrols it, but allows PS/ASI to conduct business here, and the USA to conduct extraterritorial affairs on its station.
Though the full extent of Amaro system’s mineral wealth has not been made public, it’s also no great secret that there’s a brisk and busy production of exotic minerals going on. The CCW is concerned that eventually word will get out and that pirate elements, already drawn by the traffic in the sector, may try something more daring in grabbing some of the material flow.

Solar System (Amaro system,)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars:
-Red Dwarf
Number of Planets: 6
-Terrestrial(Edus) ----Small Edus sits tidelocked in very close proximity to its sun Amaro. Scalding hot winds of cooked-off gas circulate around the planet, making even the shadow-side inhospitable to life. So why is there any interest in the sun-grazing planet? Because of the discovery of deposits of Kihvite crystals. Heavily-shielded mining craft approach in the safety of Edus’s shadow, land, and deploy heavily insulated and automated equipment to prospect for and harvest the sapphire-like crystalline mineral with applications in the manufacture of superconductors.

-Terrestrial(Jodephus) ----Enormous Jodephus, despite its brutal gravity, is rich in a new mineral Thorium-Thazite, a form of thorium that seems to pack more energy per given unit of it than more common thorium. Physicists have yet to explain the reason why, but the conditions on Jodephus have somehow conspired to transform common thorium into a stable element far more akin to manmade hessium. While fission systems are regarded as archaic technology compared to safer fusion power, CCW scientists are looking at how to best exploit this new element, and that means building a stockpile for experiments. Mining is conducted by heavily grav-shielded bathyscape-like craft and armored robots. Anlis Minerals co-operates a space station with the CCW Science Council/Energy Department studying Jodephus and Thorium-Thazite.

-Terrestrial(Kalden) ----Earth-sized Kalden is one of the few worlds in the CCW’s territory that has exploitable amounts of Kisenite ore. It is also the only planet in the Amaro system with surface settlements, though the colonsists have to live under domes. Some 55,000 colonists live and work on Kalden.
Kalden orbit supports no less than eight significant space stations, however, making it the effective ‘hub’ of the Amaro system.

-Gas Giant (Olen) ----This miniscule puff-wisp of a gas ‘giant’ hasn’t garnered much attention aside from the occasional gas-skimming run.

-Terrestrial (Rodh) ----Luck would not strike a fourth time for this enormous rocky world, after the mineral strikes on Edus, Jodephus, and Kalden. Despite unusual seismological readings that some prospectors hoped would lead to the discovery of something exotic(and valuable) on Rodh, the planet has refused to yield up anything worth the effort of digging up. Its heavy gravity, scant atmosphere, and heavily contaminated water-ice make it a poor prospect for even Belter colonization.

-Gas Giant (Nyur) ----Small Nyur orbits at the far edge of the Amaro system. Becauseof the Amaros system’s position, the CCW CAF felt obliged to secure even this remote world; a series of surveillance platforms orbits the planet, monitoring interstelalr traffic in the region.

Planet(Kalden)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 11,000 km
Gravity: 0.92 g
Temperature:
Frigid; average temperature is -325 degrees F.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Rings--Kalden sports several dust rings. These occasionally cause problems for orbital craft and smaller space platforms orbiting too close to the rings.
Atmosphere:
Scant, mainly argon
Terrain:
Varied, plus Unusual Mineralogy; huge deposits of Kisenite.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Copper
- Molybdenite
- Pitchblende
- Gold/Silver
- Graphite
- Asbestos
- Talc
- Thorium
- Kisenite---The discovery of rich deposits of this valuable exotic metal has brought delegations of the species to the Amaro system to negotiate how best to dispose of it. The Kisent would like to buy the ore cheap and stockpile it against future demand, while the CCW is hedging that it is only a matter of time before somebody else, ideally a CCW member, figures out how to work the metal, and would like the Kisent to purchase Kalden’s output at going rate for the worked metal, discounted if the Kisent produce Kisenite products for the CCW. Negotiations are ongoing.
Hydrosphere:
Badlands; most water-ice for consumption is brought in from Amaros’ cometary cloud.
Biosphere: None
Civilization:
Colonial
Population:
55,000(70% Humans, 30% others)
(There’s actually more people living in space stations in the Amaro system than there are on any planet)
Technology:
Galactic
Economy:
Industrial/Mining
Wealth:
Could be considered Wealthy by the value of material being mined and exported. In general, the settlers on Kalden do not want for equipment, supplies, or entertainment.
Government:
Colonial-Corporate: Kalden is run by Anlis Minerals and overseen by a CCW-appointed TVIA lieutenant-governor. Though one of the past AM managers resented that subordinates could ‘go around’ him and appeal policy decisions to the TVIA inspector/lieutenant-governor, the arrangement has worked out well.
Law Level:
Overbearing----Tight security is considered necessary on Kalden and the CCW stations due to concerns about piracy and the mineral strikes. The colonist-miners and station workers generally go along with the tight laws, as long as their labor contract terns are honored.
Popularity:
Popular---Kalden is considered one of the better-run Anlis properties(some argue it’s because the CCW government is constantly looking over their shoulder, but most people dismiss this as unwarranted corporate-dissing).
Stability:
Stable---Kladen enjoys stable management and good labor relations.

SpaceStations:
-Espees Station(CCW)---Massive transit hub station(current population of 2.1 million, has a capacity for 20 million), handling thousands of passengers and millions of tons of cargo on a weekly basis.The CCW government maintains the station, but subcontracts services and leases commercial space to others.

-Espee-Dow Station(CCW)---Smaller facility(300,000 staffers, capacity for 600,000) serving CCW government business. A section of this station has been set aside for hosting a Kisent delegation.

-Amaros Base(CAF)---The CAF maintains an orbital base for sector patrol craft, including three Warshield cruisers.

-Antler-Port(Anlis Minerals)---Ore transhippment facility and base facility for mining expeditions to Edus. Backup for the Jodephus operations.

-Sunak Station(AnniDyn LTD)---Antimatter refueling depot. It is well-protected by both ADyn security and a detachment of CAF military.

- Rubi Station (Cheapstar Interspace Moving)---Formerly a large interstellar communications platform built by Gheni TeleComm Industries in a bid to extend services into the Thundercloud. When the company collapsed, Rubi Station was abandoned, but was later claimed by Cheapstar Interspace Moving, who are using it as a shipping hub. Though not optimally designed as a spaceport facility, Rubi Station required some work to be modified for the role of stabling freighters and holding cargo-in-transit. Cheapstar commissioned PS/ASI/WZT to do the work, as well as rennovate the legacy comunications array left behind by GTCI. Often called ‘Ruby Ring Station’ because of the large crimson-colored FTL radio array asymmetrically mounted on the ring structure of the station. Cheapstar’s business in the sector is actually better coordinated than most of its operations, thanks to Rubi’s largely legacy communications system.

-Fleetfoot Station(Andisivon Interstellar Messenger)---AIM decided, for security reasons, to build a separate servicing/relay station for its fleet of fast couriers. AIM has good relations with PS/ASI/WZT, and what can’t be fixed on Fleetfoot Station is often towed over to Spada Station for repairs.

-Spada Station(PS/ASI/WZT)---Pacifica Space City platform(current population of 1.2 million, has a capacity for 18 million). Deals mainly in commercial spacecraft sales and starship supplies(fuel, life support equipment, furnishings, spare parts). Spada Station also handles travellers from the United Systems Alliance territories who don’t want to be processed through the CCW ports, and also accommodates the occasional visit by USAJC military vessels(extraterritoriality clause gives USA authority on the station and permits basing of military vessels, but the USA does not have any authority in the Amaros star system).

[taalismn]

The Dream Trade in the Three Galaxies
*“Mattress is set to maximum comfort, soft restraints are set, IVs in, sens-dep pads in place, contacts are sited and reading mental engrams loud and clear, and the subject s already semi-conscious and on her way down to dreamstate. The crystal is cool and waiting to be ‘pressed.”*
((“Good, inject the t-y-c-m and Solution Twenty-Seven when she starts producing waves. The client wants a long session so we need to stretch this one out; no compound recordings or editing.”))
*”That might strain the dreamer-”*
((“That’s why we have three somatisicians on the job for this one. She signed the contract and is getting paid for sleeping on the job; so she has to work for it, and this is a big commission specifically asked of us. Sleeping beauty better come through for us.”))

“Hello, I am Skia Dwy, your Dream-Mistress for tonight. Now that we’re all settled in and comfortable, let’s get a little more intimate and we’ll share a dream together!”

“Yeah, our client made a dream-tape a while ago. Now he wants it back but his ex isn’t cooperating. I just had a whole lot of money waved under my nose to get this accomplished and absolutely no questions asked. Yep, it’s going to be one of THOSE jobs.”

“Treat dream-mems like suspect computer software; some of it could be contaminated with viruses. You don’t want to download a virus into your brain, do you? Well, this can infect your SOUL.”

Technological and magical means of recording dream states has long been used as a therapeutic tool in the more sophisticated civilizations of the Three Galaxies. However, once out of the labs and doctors’ offices, it also opened up a whole new market; people were willing to pay, and pay lots, to view and experience the dreams of others, the more fantastic the better.
This has led to the rise of professional dreamers, gifted lucid dreamers who can create amazing works of art of their dream-stuff, or unconsciously talented imagineers whose true potential only comes out when sleep loosens their inhibitions. ‘Sleepwork’ and ‘Sleepdance’ are terms common in the trade to describe the practice.

The Kuron Dream-Bots carry on a private trade in recorded dream states(and sometimes the dreamers themselves), but they aren’t the only ones. Dream-trafficking is rife in the Paradise Federation, the United Worlds of Warlock and in the Splugorth worlds. Among those in the know, reactions vary; some cultures regard it as another (if especially intimate) art form, while others condemn and ban dream-selling and buying. There are dream-salons in Center on Phaseworld where one can doze off and experience somebody else’s dream; one can also buy private dream readers and the recordings. The Arzac consider dreamstate streaming as akin to a narcotic and have banned it from their space. The Deralytes, for whom dream ing is a vital part of their culture, absolutely REFUSE to let any dream recordings leave their planet, considerimg trafficking in dreams to be the equivalent of industrial espionage.
The United Systems Alliance deals in shared-dream/VR equipment, but considers dream recordings to be a combination of copyrighted media amd controlled substances, with multiple copyright permissions protecting creators, and restrictions on what can be sold and to who. The Central Alliance is looser in its regulations, though it can vary from planet to planet. Besides shared direct-interface VR and direct pleasure-stim, many cyborgs develop recorded dream-dance addictions as a way of experiencing lost pleasures and sensations. General Noldek is personally of a puritanical mindset on the subject; he fires anybody on his personal staff who indulges in dream-recordings.
The Golgan Republik dismisses dream’cordings as a vice of ‘lesser beings’, the Golgans’ own enhanced senses providing them with more than enough stimulation. Dream-trafficking is illegal in the Republik and those caught engaging in the trade subject to stiff punishments, including expulsion from Golgan territories. Privately, however, more than a few upper-class Golgans engage in the ‘vice’, using backdoor connections to acquire the materials.
The Altess are said to enjoy dream’cordings, but keep their own under some of the tightest lock and key in the Dynasty. Attempts to record an Altess’s dream-state are regarded as rape, and the perpetrators are usually efficiently killed(those that aren’t share fates that are diplomatically described as ‘warning messages’).
Dream-trade is strictly illegal in the TransGalactic Empire; both the equipment and dream’cordings are the property of the State and used by the Imperial Security Bureau and associated ‘mental hygiene’ organizations to interrogate persons of interest and to imprint them with appropriate mental behaviors(such as a paralyzing fear of the Empire). Still, there’s a black market trade in dreams, especially ‘warm and fuzzy’ dreams of freedom and happiness, conducted at great risk in the TGE.

Dream’cordings are typically made on high-density structured nodules of psychoactive crystal, such as psylite, and can carry not only visual data, but also other sensory impressions and even thoughts of the dreamer. Typically, the recording is locked, but the more advanced ‘cordings allow the viewer to spin off their own guided lucid variant on the dream. Of course, the higher the fidelity, more open and dense the sensory experience, the higher the price of the subsequent dream’cording.
A typical marketed dreamstate memory can last anywhere from 15 minutes to 6 hours, and cost 500 to 5,000 credits a pop. A dream-player headset can cost 75,000 credits or more.

‘Secondhand Dreamers’ or dream addicts can be as divided and opinionated on what makes a good dream as any art critic or drug addict. Some feel that dreams recorded under the influence of drugs cheapen the experience, while others feel that extra means to intensify and prolong dream states means more to be experienced.

The Dark Side
The Dream Trade is a good example how any trade can be corrupted; the dark angles of dealing in dreams are many.
There’s a black market in dreams, especially those acquired by illegal means; a corrupt psychiatrist can learn all sorts of blackmail-worthy things from a subject’s dreams, and dream’cordings from important personages command high prices in the criminal underworld, especially from celebrity-stalkers.
And talented dreamers aren’t safe from the truly depraved marketeers. Rumors are rife of kidnapped dreamers, sometimes stripped down to their brains and kept in life support to become psychotic dream-machines. Indeed, the Splugorth are known to maintain ‘dream farms’, where slaves, some of them bred to the role, are kept in forced states of drugged dream-state. It’s rumored that there are dream ‘sweatshops’ on some worlds(such as in the Central Alliance) where workers forego personal privacy to sell their dreamstates for pittances,
Finally, there are the dreams themselves. Aside from the sheer embarrassment afctor for dream-donors who have had, either involuntarily or ill-informed, their dreams recorded(“Hey, Phil! I feelied your nude in school nightmare last night Outrageous! Especially when you took dump on the-””-wha?! What the HELL?!”). More disturbing is the interest in especially violent dreams. There’s a brisk trade in the dreams of the insane, normal and criminal, and there’s rumors that the worst of these can damage the viewer’s psyche, even lead to malevolent possession. Rumor of ‘black dreams’ circulating in the market draw as much morbid curiosity as they do panicked avoidance.

[taalismn]

Nuegarten-------(United Systems Alliance Colony)(Extradimensional)

“A few million dropped here, a few million sent there....might not seem much compared to the billions back home, but send out enough, it adds up and we start seeing a difference. There’s already reports of ‘ghost ‘burbs’ back on Harrisar whre there’s hardly anybody left. Those areas don’t stay abandoned for long, of course, but what goes in are farm towers or materials reclamation teams to recycle the buildings and land.., and out among the stars we’re building a civilization worthy of the name.”
--Anonymous Harrisonian Relocation Bureau official.

“The two suns in the sky are a constant reminder that Nuegarten isn’t ol’Harrisar, and that the colonists aren’t going to treat their new home the same way they did their old one.”

“In the Shirl-lans they wear outfits made of seaweed fabric and not much of it...back on Harrisar, that would have constituted a meal for a family of four.”

“They could have shipped us off to a second- or third-rate system and we couldn’t have done a thing about it. Instead they gave us a resource-rich star system with plenty of room and lots of different environments. A good chunk, maybe almost all, of our future population is going to learn to be belters and domers. ”

“It’s a damn sight better than living in a can, and especially better than living in a hive-slum on old Harrisar. The arcos are spacious, clean, and well-lit, especially at night with the cooling lasers beaming heat energy to the orbital fac-complexes. It’s overall better. Even with the restrictions. If you want clean blue skies and open vistas, it’s worth fighting for a spread on Nuegarten. If you want unrestricted procreation, you’re better off working for extra air and cubic on a space-hab where they build to order, but only if you put in the labor. Me, I want to spread out my arms wide. ”

“Nuegarteners have a glow of health that’s lacking in old world Harrisonians. They come off the ships pale and undernourished, used to grubbing and breathing filth, and after a year or so of good real food, hard but paced work, undisturbed rest in proper quarters, and recreation under clean open skies, they start looking like different people. The ones out on the island settlements especially look like old world pre-collapse media models . ”

“ There’s to be no overfishing or polluting like what killed the oceans back on Harrisar...it will be centuries before the shattertechs can resurrect the old home waters, so here on Nuegarten we have to learn to be right proper caretakers of the seas.”

Nuegarten is an extradimensional colony established by the United Systems Alliance as the first dedicated ‘overflow’ colony to ease the overpopulation and resource depletion of Harrisar. Depending on how one looks at it, Nuegarten is either a fresh start or a massive displaced persons’ camp. The planet is meant to educate its new inhabitants in proper care and custodianship of a planet. Nuegarten is considered one of the more successful worlds of the ‘Harrisar Diaspora’ and is projected to only grow in importance for both Harrisar and the United Systems Alliance.
The NuSol system is not located anywhere near the Three Galaxies or the Milky Way Galaxy of Rifts Earth; it is assumed to be in another dimension, and exploring the local neighborhood is part of the USA Exploration Command’s remit in the NuSol system. Indications that the system may have been seeded with terraforming organisms or panspermia life, unless brought through Reynolds’ Hole in the past, has the USAEC looking at the nearby globular cluster with great interest.
Nuegarten orbits its binary primaries out farther than Earth does Sol, but the twin suns shed roughly the same amount of energy on the planet at the distance, so it enjoys a fairly temperate climate. The Nuegarten year is roughly a third longer than the Harrisonian orbital period(itself roughly analogous to baseline Earth’s).
Nuegarten’s massive size(yet comfortable gravity and generally compatible resources) had some on Harrisar wanting to transplant pretty much all of their population to the new planet, but under the terms of the USA and United Systems Planetary Protection Council(USPPC) assistance treaties, Harrisar immigration offworld had to be dispersed, so as not to overburden any one resettlement world with transhipped migrants.
Nuegarten is by no means a free lunch for the Harissonians; the planet is far from being a paradise and making it comfortably livable requires hard work from everybody. Despite the massive amounts of open land on Nuegarten, development proceeds at a controlled, planned pace. Agriculture is based around sustainable, resource-efficient algae domes, carniculture factories, and farm-towers. Farm spreads on the surface and larger accommodations in the space-habitats are offered as incentives for government service, including military service in the USA, so many of the farm plots and station-residences belong to ex-servicemen or the families of servicemen. Because of the growing number of retired Harrisonian military immigrating to Nuegarten after serving hitches with the GNE’s ‘foreign legions’ and the USAJC, and Nuegartener native sons and daughters joining the armed services for GI Bill benefits, combined with the growing availability of life-extension treatments, Nuegarten and the NuSol system are being considered as a headquarters for a USAJC Military Reserve Legion.

Of some concern to the powerblocs back on Harrisar is that attempts to establish nationalist enclaves on the new world have largely failed. Part of this is because of statutes written into the colonial charter arranged by the USA. A larger part is that once away from overcrowded Harrisar, the colonists just have more important things on their minds than listening to old geopolitics.


Solar System(NuSol)
Number of Stars: 2
Types of Stars:
-Yellow Dwarf(NuSol-a)
-Orange Dwarf(NuSol-b)
Number of Planets: 10
-Terrestrial(Linten)---- Linten is an Earth-sized world with low gravity and a hot toxic atmosphere. With some way of cooling the planet and modifying its atmosphere, it might be a good candidate, long-view, for terraforming, but there are currently so many better prospects in the NuSol system that any such project is not likely to be considered for a long time to come.

-Terrestrial(Nuegarten)----System lifeworld

-Asteroid(Slodan’s Stone)----Part of the Lessard Belt, Slodan is the site of a growing Belter community feeding materials to the industries in orbit of Nuegarten.

-Exotic(Reynolds’ Hole/’The Garten-Gate’)---- Interdimensional transit point, and branch of the Kaxxion-Hassisar Link that made the discovery of Harrisar possible. The convenient proximity of Reynolds’ Hole in both the NuSol system and its being part of the Hassisar Link has greatly facilitated immigration to Nuegarten.

-Terrestrial(Vernon)---- Ironically, paradoxically, in comparison to Nuegarten, Vernon is Earth-sized, but possesses a crushing 7.3 gee gravity field. Yet it also has a breathable atmosphere, thanks to a thin biosphere of chemotropic algae(possibly the result of some ancient terraforming attempt) living in the green ice and the ice-buried global ocean covering much of the planet. Vernon is cold, but the planet is heated by crustal thermal activity and the planet is wracked by earthquakes. Because of its intense gravity, Vernon is ill-suited for Human colonization, but it has been suggested that the planet may be just right for more extreme heavy gravity-adapted species like the Botwhin Char’chuga (such a mov would be another feather in the cap for the emerging Harrisonian galactic diplomatic corps and place an ally close by).

-Terrestrial(Amis)----Described as a ‘wet Mars’, albeit one covered with a lot more ice, small Amis is being developed as another colony site. The planet’s thin atmosphere means that any such future colonization will be under domes, at least until future terraforming technologies are developed to heat up the planet and build a thicker more compatible atmosphere.

-Gas Giant(Pascal)----Small gas giant. It is being used as a gas source with a spacestation set up in orbit by the USA to collect and store gases skimmed from the upper atmosphere.

-Terrestrial(DiGriz)----Miniscule rocky body, thought to originally have been a dwarf planet component of the Hammond Belt, but now describing an eccentric orbit bringing it inside the orbit of Pascal and out near the orbit of Tomsk at its extremes.

-Asteroid(Rayten)----Largest body in the outer Hammond Belt. It serves as the site for a USAJC defense base hosting several cruisers.

-Gas Giant(Tomsk)----Enormous gas giant on the edge of the NuSol system. Its four large moons make it attractive for prospecting. The USAEChas set up several deep space sensor nets around Tomsk and has proposed establishing a larger base on one of the moons(Coypu).

Planet(Nuegarten)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 32,000 km
Gravity: 1.1 g
Temperature:
Temperate, shaded towards the cooler end of the span.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Moons(8)----Nuegarten possesses eight moons of note. The larger(Thorn, Roth, Inskipp, Bishop) of these are being developed as lunar colonies and industrial sites, while the smaller(Bolivar, Kerrick, Armun, Enge) are being used as sensor platforms and spacedocks.
Atmosphere:
Breathable terrestrial nitrox mix. The large stretches of open water, twin suns, and multiple moons make for complex tides and some impressive oceanic storms brewing up.
Terrain:
Varied Terrain, including regions of visibly and slowly rising ‘extrudozions’; massive columns of rock that appear to be squeezed out of the crust like toothpaste, rising hundreds, sometimes thousands, of feet in the air, and then collapsing, forming massive unstable mountains of loose rock. Sometimes these ‘super-pipes’ bring up valuable minerals, so prospecting the mounds can be quite profitable, but hundreds of tons of falling rock and massive landslides are a constant danger at any given time.
Unusual Geology---Standard models for mineral distribution in planets say that in a large planet such as Nuegarten, the gravity should be higher and the heavier metals should have sunk to inaccessible levels deep beneath the crust. Instead, Nuegarten has substantial ‘upwellings’ near the surface that are rich in minerals and heavy metals.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Pitchblende
- Sapphire
- Cobalt
- Mercury
- Platinum
- Ruby
- Samarskite
- Calcite
Hydrosphere:
70% of Nuegarten’s surface is covered in open water
Biosphere:
Verdant, but most of the life is at a late Silurian Period-equivalent. The oceans are rife with life, but the land belongs mainly to plant life and a few arthropods. As most of Nuegarten’s natives species are laced with toxins antithetical to human consumption, wholesale exploitation of the native life is not possible without extensive processing.
Civilization:
Colonial---Despite having a population already larger than some full members of the USA, Nuegarten is still considered a colony in progress.
Population:
38 million Humans(Harrisonians)---Nuegarten has been set aside by the USPPC for Harrisonian immigration almost exclusively; others may apply for settlement visas, but these must be approved by both the Harrisar home government authorities and the local Nuegarten colonial administration. So far, there’s only been a handful of non-Harrisonians and non-Humans seeking immigration permissions.
Most of the population is concentrated in arcology cities near the coast, with satellite communities and farmsteads sprawling out around them. Several island chains have also been settled to support aquaculture efforts, notably the Mediterranean-climated Shirl-lan Isles.
Technology:
Stellar Age/Low Galactic---Harrisonians were an Information Age culture when discovered by the USA, and they are making the transition to higher levels of technology. The emphasis is on sustainable, low- footprint technologies. Nuegarten cannot produce its own starships as yet, but does have servicing facilities and some parts fabrication capacity for spacecraft in its orbitals.
Economy:
Agriculture---Currently Nuegarten’s economy is focused on providing enough food to feed themselves with surpluses sent back to Harrisar. There is some light manufacturing and mining, using ‘green’ technologies, but heavy industry is to be conducted offworld, especially on the moons.
Wealth:
Can be considered to be Average by virtue of the fact that all surplus resources go towards improving infrastructure and supporting Harrisar, but the reality is probably closer to Prosperous. Most Nuegartens live austere lives with little in the way of large personal possessions, and most commodities such as furniture tend to be of rather basic mass-production design. However, there are emerging enough small craftsmen that there’s an increasing trade in ‘new traditional’ wares using Harrisar-legacy patterns and locally-sourced Nuegarten materials...but with added twists inspired by local conditions. And as the Nuegarteners, who have food enough in their bellies and good jobs with an increasing amount of extra discretionary income to spend, are looking for things to spend that money on, the local economy is ramping up.
Government:
Colonial---There are appointed regional governors under an overall ‘Colony Czar’, but there is a growing local democratic movement.
Law Level:
Authoritarian----The colonial authority isn’t about to repeat the despoilage that was Harrisar. Development is strictly controlled, and extensive ‘green’ laws are in place, including education in sustainable living, responsible resource management, and recycling. Violating the law by over-exploiting a resource, polluting, or abusing a common resource incurs stiff punishments. The USPPC maintains a close regulatory presence on Nuegarten; though sometimes seen as an adversarial meddling outside agency by some of the less-reformed Harrisonians, the USPPC, especially since it’s recruited and trained up a new generation of naturalized Nuegarteners into its ranks, is more generally positively regarded as responsible wardens of the environment.
Popularity:
Popular, while some Harrisonian immigrants chafe at the many restrictions and mandatory social education on planetary managment and population control, feeling it denies them ‘the rights of destiny’, most of the new Nuegarteners LIKE the way things are going and support their government. Even those involuntarily relocated from Harrisar can’t complain that they aren’t being given at least the necessities and opportunities to train for jobs to afford more.
Stability:
Stable. Even with daily shiploads of new immigrants, the system on the ground(and in space) seems to be working well at absorbing the newcomers and keeping the established settlers busy and satisfied.
That worries some of the Harrisar authorities back home that the Nuegarteners may eventually become too absorbed in their own new identities and declare independence, but United Systems Alliance sociologists believe that by the time that becomes a real concern, Harrisar will have been rehabilitated enough that it will no longer be dependent on Nuegarten exports.

[taalismn]

Krava-dov-Anthlykrth IV(Thundercloud Galaxy)(United Systems Alliance Protectorate)

“The fighting for Krav-Dov was some of the fiercest I’ve seen yet in the service...not so much the overall campaign...that was fairly easy...but when we got to the diehard minions holed up in some of the old ruins? That’s when it got really intense. We were under orders not to damage the old structures if we could to avoid annoying the locals, but short of using orbital bombardment, those old buildings were a ***** to storm. Got down to hand to hand and eyeball to eyeball in more than a few spots.
Of course, what we found inside had the natives howling in rage. Meat processing lines, breeding machines for when simply forcing slaves to have sex at shockprod-point wasn’t enough, melting cauldons for turning sacred relics into ingots, all manner of industralized profit-maker atrocities. After all the trouble we had getting into those places, once we secured them, the local priests couldn’t get us back out fast enough so they could commence some serious purification rituals. ”

“This enormous planet raises more questions than answers; for such a large planet, it should have a thick atmosphere and crushing gravitty. Instead, it’s near-terretrial perfect. The Ancients who once lived here had advanced tech clearly, but could they build a planet or were they already standing on the shoulders of giants even more removed in time?
Oh, we are mere insects, even the Splugorth, playing our petty power games in the shadow of vastly greater glories!”

A former slave world liberated from the Splugorth Anthlykrth, Krava-dov is also home to a ‘native’ species, the Cleb.
The Splugorth seem to have been initially drawn to Krava-dov by the presence of Ancient ruins on the planet. In the course of their explorations, they found much to exploit on the planet, including the native Cleb, and also found the planet’s location convenient as a gathering area for slaves harvested from other regions of the Thundercloud Galaxy.
Besides whatever knowledge the Splugorth learned from studying the ruins, the invaders profited from the material ruins themselves. Using slave labor, the Splugorth began mining the ancient structures for such materials as gazestone, waterite and ferroplex, valued in construction elsewhere. The demolition and carting away of things regarded as sacred, outraged the native Cleb into several uprisings, all bloodily put down by the more powerful Splugorth and their minions. Afterwards, it became a regular Splugorth practice to regularly send out large hunting parties to cull the local population, harvest slaves, and generally terrorize the locals. This was only partially successful and only served to further enflame local resistance, to the point that the Splugorth began bringing in Metzla and Horune amphibious enforcers to drive the point home that Krava-dov was now Krava-dov-ANTHLYKRTH.
The Krava-dov slave plantations have been in operation long enough that at least one generation of slaves has been born in captivity on the planet, and there is a population of non-Cleb natives who know the planet as their only homeworld. Though initially violently opposed to ANY offworlders and non-Cleb, killing any slaves who wandered into range, the Cleb, to their credit, eventually came to regard the slaves more sympathetically, and several resistance cells of cooperatve slaves and Cleb came into being.
The liberation of the Anthlykrth-Garva system came about after the planet was identified as a link in the slaver routes through the Annach Gulf. At first thought to be an outpost of the Desslyth kingdom, it was later properly identified as an extension of a more minor Splugorth Intelligence, Anthlykrth, possibly an offspring or former hanger-on of the older Splugorth. The generally perceived weaker status of the Splugorth in charge, as well as a desire not to allow the discovered slaver route to grow any larger, moved the United Systems Allianc e to take action, especially as activities in the region threatened refugee movements from further down the Gaelra Arm(the Sqaada fronts).
The Splugorth Minions on Krava-dov were distracted by a native uprising, backed with OPO-smuggled weaponry. A battleship-heavy taskforce of the Expeditionary Force Reserve swept into the system to deal with any Splugorth space assets and reinforce it from summoned Minion relief counterattacks. The attack caught the Splugorth by relative surprise; they had enough psychic warning that something was up, but not enough to realize that the latest native insurrection had deep space support. Overwhelming Alliance firepower got all but a few Splugorth spacecraft, and the USAJC fleet took up orbit to lend ortillery and land marine support to the locals on the ground.
The liberated slave plantations have been recognized as free enclaves by the Cleb, except those in culturally-sensitive areas, in which case the Cleb have reclaimed them and forced the relocation of the inhabitants(with the exception of a few of the locally-born slave stock).
The Cleb are generally accepting of the USA presence, but are wary of being dominated by offworlders again. While negotiations continue, there is some trade going on between the two groups, mainly in gemstones mined more humanely in the enclaves and in seafoods caught or farmed by the locals.

Solar System(Anthlykrth-Garva/Garva)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars: Blue Giant
Number of Planets: 5
-Terrestrial(Krava-dov)----System Lifeworld

-Gas Giant(Prokov-son)----Small gas giant with two moons of any significance. Voyikos is ice-covered, while Balmoyos is virtually bare rock. Voyikos is slated for development as a USAJC naval base.

-Terrestrial(Heva-don)----Dwarf planet, barely discernable from Krava-dov. It has a thin argon atmosphere and little else of interest.

-Gas Giant(Chekdar/Edzu-rob)----Though initially known by offworlders by the Kittani name for it, and not visible from Krava-dov, Saturn-sized Edzu-rob was known by the Cleb from inscriptions in the sacred ruins. There are indications that in the distant past, Edzu-rob may have possessed ley lines and nexi and the Ancients may have used them for dimensional travel, emerging from Edzu-rob’s atmosphere. The USAJC fleet caught a Splugorth cruiser overseeing the excavation of a small structure, possibly a navigational beacon or small station, on one of Edzu-rob’s six moons. The Minions attempted to destroy the site before it could be captured, but were only partially successful; the site was buried by the cruiser’s suicide-blast, and the USA has subsequently organized a decon- and excavation taskforce to reclaim the site for study.

-Gas Giant(Drub-Cocus)---- Another planet known by the Cleb from their sacred ruins. Drub-Cocus is slightly larger than Jupiter, has four large moons. The Splugorth had found a deposit of Regium( Rifter #0-1) on one of the moons and were just beginning to extract it when the USAJC did a sweep of all Splugorth space assetsin the system. The mining site was just starting, using robots, but was abandoned when the supervision crew attempted to flee(their transport was captured). The USA has pulled the Splugorth machinery from the site(on account of the Kittani of late boobytrapping their hardware) and brought in their own equipment.

Planet(Krava-dov)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 88,000 km
Gravity: 1.4 g
Temperature: Temperate, on the tropical warm side. The equatorial regions are downright torrid and steamy.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Moons(4)---- Krava-dov sports four small moons, named by the locals Zaleb, Modtz, Yeyty, and Iygyn. Each has its place in Cleb folklore. The Kittani landed ptospecting probes in each of them, but found little to be excited about. The USA later established sensor arrays and small base-outposts with an eye towards expanding them into defensive works.
Atmosphere:
Thin, but breathable. It is best at sea level.
Interestingly, there are several high atmospheric layers of fine particles that shade the worst of blue giant sun Garva’s radiation, giving the planet an abnormally high albedo but cooling the surface. These layers are renewed(maintained?) by ejecta from a number of active volcanos, but the concentration of Ancient ruins around many of them suggest that the particle layers are not natural, but deliberately engineered.
Terrain:
Exotic----Some of Krava-dov’s islands seem engineered, and there are a number of curiously stable and extensive underwater tunnel systems linking island chains that seem to be used to divert oceanic currents(including nutrient-rich waters into apparent fish-farms) and modify water temperatures. Some of these tunnels provided shelter for the Cleb until the Splugth Minions began investigating them.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Gold/Silver
- Aluminum
- Colombite
- Copper
- Graphite
- Thorium
- Salt
- Diamond
Hydrosphere:
77% of Krava-dov’s surface is covered in open water.
Biosphere:
Verdant---- Krava-dov’s oceans are rich in marine life and the land is overrun by various land-adapted sea creatures. Giant elephantine octopoid dromepi graze the jungles, while avoiding nests of swarming wasp-shrimp, chameloid seaslug-like sheet-banshoids lurk waiting for prey to stumble over them and be suffocated in their folds of flesh, and the long-legged trout-like punaperche gather in flocks on the shores. Some lifeforms show obvious signs of having been engineered, such as the solar energy-collecting sollenemone and the wire-excreting tripadong.
Civilization:
Homeworld of the Cleb
Population:
8.5 million ex-slaves(44% Human, 56% other) Roughly 56% were born on Krava-dov as part of the Splugorths’ slave breeding programmes.
4 billion Cleb(was closer to 5 billion when the Splugorth arrived)
Technology:
Low Galactic. Some of the Ancient ruins suggest a time when the planet possessed High Galactic or potentially Megaversal Age tech/magic.
Economy:
Agricultural for the Cleb, while the ex-slaves are making income from Mining(slave labor has been replaced with mechanized or robotic mining).
Wealth:
Surprisingly, can be considered Prosperous. The USA has gotten accustomed to dealing with planet-wide cases like this and has brought in plenty of supplies and support material, but the Splugorth left a surprising amount of swag behind(or the slaves and locals managed to steal and hide enough of it). There were large stocks of mined minerals ready to be exported and once the Minions quit raiding the locals, the native Cleb have restarted large scale aquaculture very rapidly. Once things settle down, Krava-dov stands to be rather well-off.
Government:
The liberated slave plantations are governed by a USA military governor with a represenattive assembly from the ex-slaves themselves.
The Cleb have a tribal society that originally ran almost like a pantheonic bureaucracy, with chieftains required to obtain the blessngs of dozens of different gods/goddesses through their priests before being able to execute decisions. Fortunately, during the Occupation, the Cleb priesthood saw fit to petition the deities to allow for a faster and more expedient process, allowing the tribal leadership to move quicker against the alien invaders.
Law Level:
Moderate---The post-liberation is still shaking out, with freeborn slaves clamoring to be returned home, slaveborn worried about what will happen to them, and a fair number of both wanting to settle scores with any surviving Minions still at large.
Popularity:
The liberated slaves are effectively in love with their USA saviors.
The Cleb are more reserved, waiting to see what the USA presence does.
Stability:
The liberated slaves of Krava-dov are grateful for their salvation and will do nothing to alienate their liberators.
The Cleb are pulling together their tribes, aware that there’s a ‘new normal’ and no going back to the way things were before the Occupation.


Indigenous Peoples:(Cleb)
“The Minions learned the hard way not to pursue escaped slaves into the shallows. Once the natives started working together with the slave stock, baiting the Minions with naked-helpless slaves into ambushes became a local recipe for weapons-scaveging parties unless the Minions had overwhelming numbers on the hunt.”

Size of Population: 4 billion Cleb(was closer to 5 billion when the Splugorth arrived)
Hostility Index:
The Cleb were OUTRAGED by the Splugorth presence, the desecration of their sacred sites, and the enslaving of their people. They are far more friendly towards the newcomer USA ...as long as the latter respect the boundaries set by the Cleb.
Tech Level:
Though initially at the Early Metal Age stage when found by the Splugorth, the Cleb have adapted well to using high technology, knowing it as simply very advanced tools(at least until they encounter technowizardry). Besides weapons they stole off their invaders, the Cleb received weaponry smuggled to them by Saphian and OPO sympathizers.
Origin of People:
It is suspected that the Cleb are the chimerical creations of some older species, using a form of biowizardry.
Sacred Technology(if any):
Mind-Whisper Stones---These appear to be basketball-sized mineral nodules with extrusions of crystal. However, in the hands of telepaths they act as psionic communicators with global range! Initially the Cleb used these ‘sacred stones’ to communicate with far distant tribes, later they coordinated global resistance actions.

Cleb---Chimeric Species
“Dealing with the Cleb, you’re wise to learn their body language, especially that of their crab-parts. The posture of the legs and claws can tell you a lot about the natives’ emotional states. And that clacking of their claws? It’s not random body movement; our scouts confirm there’s several different dialects of ‘klak-code’ the Cleb like to use to pass communications to each other when they think others can’t understand them.”

The Cleb are possible relatives of the Scorpion People(Rifts Pantheons of the Megaverse) in that they appear to be hybrids of humans and arthropods, likely the result of some ancient experiment. Instead of centauroid scorpions, however, the Cleb are torso-grafts of humans and giant crabs.
Cleb can breath air and water, but their gill-lungs must be kept moist, limiting the time they can spend on dry land. Fortunately, all that needs to be kept hydrated is their lungs, so they can get by with even crude irrigator breather devices.
Cleb can survive great depths, but only for limited periods of time; they have the same problems with compression and decompression as other organisms. Though they spend most of their time underwater, they are most comfortable in fairly shallow waters. However, during the Splugorth occupation, the Cleb often took temporary shelter in the deeper waters to avoid Splugorth hunting parties. This worked until the Splugorth began using better equipment and magic to extend the depths to which their hunters could operate.
The Cleb were regarded by the Splugorth occupiers as both useful amphibious labor and a food source; several monstrous species(such as the Metzla) serviced by Splugorth markets find Cleb-meat delectable. Thus the Cleb were openly resistant to the Splugorth presence.
The Cleb initially regarded ANY non-Cleb as invaders, and viciously killed any slaves that came within their reach. This simply added to the misery of the captives held by the Splugorth; escape meant falling into the hands and claws of the vicious natives that many thought were in cahoots with the Minions. In fact, the Splugorth would sometimes amuse themselves by feeding captives to captured and starved Cleb, in ‘crab baiting’ contests, watching the Cleb fight each other in hunger-fueled frenzies over the helpless food-slaves, and wagering on who would survive. Over time, though, the Cleb began to see the slaves as fellow victims, especially after their shamans and shamanesses began listening in psychically to the anguish of those held in the Splugorth laboratories and processing plants. The Cleb feel closest to those slaves concieved and born on Krava-dov and accept them as fellow ‘children of the land/ocean’.
The Cleb still seek the return of sacred artifacts looted from their world by the Splugorth.

Alignments: Any
Life Span: 80 years
Size: 6-7 ft tall, with the crab lower torso being some 5-6 ft wide, and legs able to stretch out an additional 2-3 ft. 300-500 lbs in weight.
Gender: Heterosexual and give birth to 1-2 live young at a time. Females suckle their young like regular mammals until weaning them onto diets of fish and plants. Offspring are ‘softshell’ until undergoing a series of molts in puberty, and achieve sexual maturity at 15 years.
Physical Description/Appearance:
Appear as the upper torso of a human grafted to the upper body of a giant crab. The human torsos have all the regular features of humans, and the lower crab body has six legs and two forelegs/pincers, while male crab bodies have two giant pincer claws, including one oversized ‘fighting claw’(can be either right or left, much as humans have right and left hand dexterity). Eyes are slightly protruding on short stalks, and the eyes themselves are black. They are typically green or tan on the back of their shells and the back of their humanoid torsos(patterns carry on up from the shells) and lighter colored/white/buff on the undersides/front.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Tend to be skittish, paranoid and ...well, crabby. They are quick to anger, take offense, and fall into a fighting frenzy, especially when under stress. They do not trust easily, and can jump to conclusions readily. Prior to the Splugorth invasion, the Cleb were prone to fight among themselves; the Occupation gave them something to unite against, and the Splugorth harvests tended to weed out the particularly weak-minded Cleb.
HATE HATE HATE the Splugorth and Metzla. They also despise the Horune and Kittani. They also tend to distrust non-Cleb psychics; once they discovered how weak-willed the locals were, the stronger psychic Splugorth MInions took to entertaining themselves by mentally manipulating the Cleb, causing great chaos and loss of life. Ironically, this ‘entertainment’ weeded out most of the more impulsive Cleb, and resulted in stronger-willed Cleb stepping up and gaining prominence.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME: 2d4(upgrade to 2d6 by the time of the liberation)
MA: 2d6+6
PS: 4d6+22
PP: 2d6+10
PB: 1d4+2
PE: 4d6+20
SPD: 4d6 on land, 5d6 swimming
(ISP): By possible psionic class
(PPE): 4d4
Hit Points:----
SDC:---
MDC: 2d4x10+PE +1d8 per level of experience
Horror Factor: 12
Natural Abilities:
-Natural Megadamage Beings-Regenerate 2d4 MDC every 24 hours. Can regrow lost limbs by initiating a full body molt, but this takes 2d days to accomplish, then leaves the Cleb soft-skinned and vulnerable(1/4 MDC, HALF strength and speed, but DOUBLE P.P.) for 24 hours until their skin hardens back up.

-Impervious to normal disease, poison, cold and heat(and magic cold and heat do HALF damage)

-Amphibious---Can breath air and water and can venture up onto dry land, but need to wet their lungs/gills after their P.E in hours or suffer dehydration and slow suffocation. Drop P.E. , P.S. , and Spd by HALF after reaching their limit without immersion in water. After half that period again, they are at HALF combat bonuses, and after TWICE that period without water, they lose ALL bonuses and HALF their SDC/MDC. They take DOUBLE damage from dehydration magic, including Desiccate the Supernatural.
Underwater, they are most comfortable in shallow waters, but can endure depths of 1 mile, plus an additional 100 ft per P.E. point. They can endure maximum depth for as many days as they have P.E. points before they must ascend to shallower waters.

-Underwater Vision---- Cleb eyes adjust to murky and dark waters. Effective nightvision of 500 ft, and can see underwater in murky conditions 150 ft.

-Claws---The sharp claws on the legs and foreclaws add a +2 to damage from kicks/punches.

-Spit Foam(females only)---Female Cleb can spit out a slightly toxic foam up to 20 ft and covering an area of 10 ft. This bubbling spit acts like a Cloud of Smoke spell, but also has an irritant factor in it; those getting the foam in their unprotected orifices must save versus non-lethal poison, or take 1d6 SDC and be -10 to strike, parry, and dodge for 3d6 minutes. Female Cleb can generate one shot of this stuff every 30 minutes. The foam itself persists for 1d4x10 minutes.

-Fighting Claw(males only)----Male Cleb possess an oversized claw on one of their front crab legs. It has 1d6x10 MDC(+1d8 per level of experience), is +1d4 to parry, and snips/claws for 4d6 MD+any physical P.S. damage bonus. (or holds with an equivalent P.S. of the Cleb’s, +1d8). Either right or left foreclaw can be a fighting claw; a rare few mutants(04% chance) have BOTH right and left fighting claws.

Psionics:
Limited; one in every 85,000 Cleb is a Minor Psychic, and one in every 740,000 is a Major Psychic. Psychics almost inevitably end up in the tribal priesthood.
Magic:
-Similarly, magic users are present, but thin in numbers, among the Cleb. One in 100,000 Cleb is a Mage; typically a Mystic(80%), followed by Sea Druid(10%), Ocean Mage(7%), and Warlock(3%).
Cybernetics/Bionics: None

RCC Skills:
Mathematics: Basic(+10%)
Language: Native Tongue 98%
Language: One of choice
Swimming 90%
Underwater Navigation(+10%)
Undersea Survival(+10%)
Advanced Fishing(+10%)
Track & Hunt Sea Animals(+10%)
Identify Sea Life(+15%)
W.P. Knife
W.P. Spear

RCC Related Skills: Select 8 ‘other’ skills at Level One, plus an additional 1 at levels 3, 6, 9 and 12.
Communications: Any
Domestic: Any
Electrical: None
Espionage: Any
Mechanical: Basic only
Medical: Any(+10% to Sea Holistic Medicine)
Military: Any
Physical: Any
Pilot: Limited to Boats(Sail, Motor, Ships), Water Scooters, Water Skiing & Surfing, Advanced Deep Sea Diving , and Hovercraft
Pilot Related: Any
Rogue: Any, except Computer Hacking
Science: Any (+10% to Marine Biology)
Technical: Any
Wilderness: Any
Weapons Proficiencies(W.P.): Any
Secondary Skills: The character also gets to select 3 secondary skills from those listed, plus 1 at levels 4, 7, and 9. These are additional areas of knowledge that do not get the advantage of the bonuses listed in parentheses. All secondary skills start at the base skill level.
Experience Tables: Use Full-Conversion Cyborg Tables

Culture:
Prior to the Splugorth invasion and occupation, the Cleb were divided into multiple warring tribes and clans, with only a reverence for the old ruins in common between them. During the occupation, the tribes formed a loose confederation to fight the invaders. Both males and females can be leaders of tribes.

[SolCannibal]

The Alliance seems to have really lucked out with this one. (Also expecting the locals to reverse the system name to either Garva, Krava-dov or GarvaKrava-dov - anything culturally relevant and without "Anthlykrth" in it, anytime soon)

The native population might be somewhat wary of offworld powers but sounds nowhere near as annoying the passive-agressiveness miserliness of the authorities of Mazah.

8,5 million ex-slaves will require some work, but for the USA that already deals with managing several shatterworls, that's kind of a loose change issue.

Going by the rough estimates, 3,74 million of those people are captured slaves, meaning that excepting special circunstances - like destroyed or conquered homeworlds (what could go from complications to opportunities to the OPO in the last case), having formed family with other slaves, being stranded with no idea of place of origin, among a number of other possibilities - the greater part of them will want to return to their homes, leaving only the 4,26 million people born in slavery to deal with. And that without counting that a part of those might have inherited stories about places of origin from their parents or ancestors, along with a desire to "return" or at least see them.

Overall pretty manageable once one of their services gets the interviews and logistics going and i can see that non-cleb population dropping to a somewhat stable core of about 3 million (or even a little less) in a few short years as long as there are no big surprises for good or for ill.

The funny thing about the overall success of local resistance is, if memory tricks me not, the Sploog Slavers are naturally aquatic or amphibious in the first place, so the moment you got a bunch of them out of their barges and supported with some seafaring minions/allies - or even properly tweaked "blind warrior mermaids" for that matter - a good chunk of the Clebs "terrain advantage" should have evaporated and them left in some serious hot water.

(Not to mention the Metzlain are aquatic and psychic both, what raises some addtional questions about their own lack of result on the subject - were they advancing some secret agenda of their own without Anthlykrth's awareness, or on the contrary, the Tentacled One's distrusting & paranoid nature resulted in passive-agressive sabotage of one's own allies?)

Meaning the main reason his forces were having problems with dominating the locals was their incapacity to properly revise the kit of their troops to the situation, even though one of their core units should be eminently suited for that task. That no such debacle ever happened exposes Anthlykrth's forces, if not the Splugorth intelligence itself, as incredibly staid, unimaginative, paint-by-dots types. Pretty much poster children for laziness, inexperience & incompetence.

But then considering we are speaking of a Splugorth intelligence that feels the need to plaster its name in conquered territories, one could say immaturity is a given.

All of that said, i can definitely see Anthlykrth's forces possibly having relocated and reared some of the lower ME Clebs from pre-liberation generation to other dominated worlds to properly raise them as workforce and high-quality seafood....

Another thing to consider is how the dozens of different gods/goddesses of the natives feel about the "allowances" given to the tribal chieftains decision-making and independence now that the crisis is mostly over. While the Cleb themselves seem to mostly accept there's no going back to the way things were before the Occupation, i ask myself if the whole of the priesthood and "pantheonic bureaucracy" feels the same way (not to mention a bunch of those "tribal deities" might be godlings, demigods or a bunch of other spirits instead of full-on gods - or i could be utterly wrong, since we are speaking of a potential faithful base of 4 billion, that's a lot of room for dozens or hundreds of beings with millions of worshippers each). Either way, gods or priests a little too attached to the "old ways" could turn into a potential major issue in the future if not watched out for and navigated through.

[taalismn]

Yah.....and while I have two more new member worlds with indigenous locals coming up, the USA is as yet not host to any real powerhouse species...who they have are limited in numbers or limited in some other way....

The fun of creating worlds is rising to the challenge of making do with the random rolls, though some fudging and creative editing is necessary, especially if I start out with a preconceived notion of a specific species or geopoltical situation...Starting looking for a homeworld for an aquatic species and rolling up nothing but a dozen desert worlds/systems ain't productive.

Though I have rolled up a slew of very large worlds with low gravity and red dwarf star systems....that can get challenging to explain, especially in the latter case why there's a lifeworld orbiting a dim star.....
Nearly as bad as creating new forms of exotic/dangerous terrain....or finding nice things to say about gas giants.


As regards (Anthlykrth-Garva/Garva...yep, a lot of the liberate4d slaves will want to return home, but home might not be easily reached....or may still be under threat by Splugorth and other nasties. That's going to be another stretch of the USAJC, but also a possible opportunity for the USA's industries to sell orbital defense gear and other equipment, or trade some favors with their allies("Hey, if you can extend your Warlock Marine patrols to guard this little system, we'll throw in a battlelite net, a space station, and a big discount on your next order of starfire-throwers. Oh, and we'll back your little trade deal with the Goolians.").

[taalismn]

Colhaven------Harrisar Refuge/Resettlement World(United Systems Alliance Colony)(Extradimensional)
(aka ’Coldchest”, ‘Big Cold’, ‘Sandbox’)
“ Even after all the transitory acclimatization and training time spent in the arcologies and the space-habs, when we started landing settlers on Colhaven, we started losing people, usually due to the heavy gravity and the cold, but there’s also what we started calling the ‘call of the wide’...there’s so much open space on the planet, the horizon’s much farther away and the people we were landing were so used to overcrowded conditions that suddenly finding themselves staring at wide open empty plains? It drove more than a few of them around the bend.
Overall, though, Harrisonians have gotten used to living on scant rations and rationed water, so most of them end up thriving on regular colonial fare, even if it does come from a hydroponics tank Wasn’t long before we had brave homesteaders signing up to take nomad-modules out into the wilderness and set up one, two, three-family little outposts with their own garden bubbles, air-makers, and water-crackers. ”

“The comet drops? They put them down in areas far from any settlements. We can still see and hear them coming in, though....rather spectacular, but you get used to the distant sonic booms and thunder after a while, especially as the shockwaves can go around the planet eight or nine times before petering out. Still there are people who watch the drop schedules, rush out to the edge fo town, and open up their breathers and cold suits to catch the first wet gusts of new atmosphere and water introduced to the planet. It’s become something of a tradition for some people.”

“Terraforming a planet the size of Colhaven is a major undertaking, and doing so SUCCESSFULLY is a major miracle. The fact that we’re already showing tangible results has many in the crews taking up Gaiasticism.”

“Good thing Harrisar’s got its own heavy orbital shipyards up and running, otherwise the terraforming of Colhaven would be tying up a good chunk of our deep space heavy-lift capacity. But now Harrisar-made Brunels and Bradfords can fly out from their homeworld, delivering colonists and equipment, and then go to work pushing ice down the gravity well. Hell, even a Class-A hyperdrive will get them out here in a day, so a lot of fresh-out-of-the-yards Harrisar-builts make their maiden shakedown cruises out to Colhaven. ”

“If they can adapt to being domers, even the Harrisonians are going to have trouble filling up Colhaven any time soon; it’s that big. ”

“The real breakthrough was engineering a sporalated fast-growing symbiotic bacteria and lichen that could neutralize the perchlorates in rocky soils. Once we had that in hand, we could start spraying it all over well ahead of settlement sprawl. On Colhaven we’re using nuclear-powered airships that can be out for weeks and even months laying down spores and generating soil precursors in territories we won’t be reaching for years, even decades. Of course, we might have to be a bit careful in the future using chlorine-based cleaning substances, or we might inadvertently fertilize an outbreak of rock-eating bacteria, but we can deal with that. ”

“It’s telling that we can terraform a virgin world more easily than we can fix a despoiled one.”

Colhaven is another of the Harrisar Diaspora relocation worlds; it fact, it’s the closest extrasolar one, being in an adjacent solar system only a couple of light years away in the same galaxy/universe. This makes it convenient for colony ships to make fast transits to and from the system. It was opened for settlement shortly after the establishment of the extradimensional Nuegarten colony.
Colhaven is not a very hospitable world’ effectively a ‘super-Mars’ with a generally dry surface atmosphere. It does, however, have an easily modified atmosphere, substantial amounts of surface water in the form of ice, and tolerable gravity(like Neugarten, Colhaven has a surprisingly low gravity for its mass), despite its size. Rapid terraforming has already raised Colhaven’s habitability index, but it is still a tough and testing world to live on.
Colhaven is still dangerous enough that thousands of colonists have died already, mainly due to personal negligence and health complications due to the heavier gravity. Some neglect to pay attention to the comet drop schedules and get caught in the ‘footprints’ of the ice drops. Others suffer belated psychological shock from being transplanted to a new world or don’t pay sufficient attention to all the technical details and safety procedures and die by accident. The list gos on, but most new arrivals settle in alright and survive.
Some Harrisonians decry the settlement of Colhaven as an effort to cull the homeworld’s population by sending forced colonists to a planet that will kill them in droves. Others see the planet as a lesson in resource management, after the near-debacle of their homeworld’s history.
Far from using Colhaven as a dumping ground, the United Systems Planetary Protection Council(USPPC) has been applying its experience in settling red dwarf system worlds in assisting the Harrisonian colonists. This includes genetically-engineered terraforming biota and commercially viable extremophiles. Despite the continuing problems with colonial attrition, Colhaven is being extolled as one of the USA’s ecological engineering successes, showing great results in a rather short timeframe.

Though the Cevetus system lies in the wrong direction relative to Harrisar and the Kaxxion-Hassisar Link, its close proximity to Harrisar makes it only a small detour(less than a n hour by Class-C FTL drive) via Three Galaxies CG-FTL drive, so that the system is often a first stop to topping off supplies and adjusting engines for starships leaving Harrisar on the 76-light year trip to the Kx-Hs-Link.

The most prominent emergent religious group in the colonists is the Redemption in Exile Faithkeepers(more commonly known as the Redeemers in Exile, or simply the ‘Redeemers’), a conglomeration of several monotheist faiths who see the colonization as a punishment for Harrisonian mistreatment of their cradle-world, a test of their faith, and an opportunity to show their maturity as humans in doing right by a new world. Only by showing patience and persistence can followers ultimately hope to gain forgiveness of their martyred homeworld ecology and Paradise for themselves and Humanity as a whole. The Redeemers have come to loggerheads with other religious groups, in part for their acceptance of the measured population growth promoted by their USA benefactors, which clashes with the uninhibited growth and zero birth control advocated by the Faith in Numbers group(who use the convincing argument of Colhaven’s massive size and available space to justify breeding up the population unrestricted). The Redeemers passionately study the terraforming operation and many have become local shatertecs and ecologists themselves. The Redeemers are also blamed by amny in the Harrisar homeworld governments for impeding the establishment of nationalist enclaves on Colhaven, as the RiEF has publicly rejected many of the ‘flawed and irresponsible institutions of ruin of the old world’. This includes militarization of Colhaven, though the Redeemers do not disapprove of Colhaveners volunteering for offworld military service with the USAJC, only nationalist military garrisons on Colhaven itself.

Colhaven is developing as an agricultural world with its wide open spaces and room to create a new ecology, though the other planets in the Cevetus system show promise for offworld industry. With skies busy with ships on a daily basis, Colhaven os considered another of the USA’s successes-in-progress.

Solar System(Cevetus)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars:
-Red Dwarf
Number of Planets: 8
-Terrestrial(Sutor)----Earth-sized Sutor is a ‘sun-scraper’, orbiting close enough to Cevetus that the planet is rotationally locked and lashed by solar flares from its primary, making it uninhabitable.

-Terrestrial(Colhaven)----System lifeworld(terraformed)

-Gas Giant (Rigg)----Huge Rigg represents a major source of offworld resources for Colhaven’s terraforming.
The nine moons of Rigg are the bases of a massive ice-mining operation. What isn’t cometary ice being herded in collision courses with Colhaven, is cut in glacier-sized chunks from one of Rigg’s moons and g-catapulted to make eventual landfall on Colhaven.

-Gas Giant (Jeschke)----Small Jeschke provides easier gas-skimming than the larger outer worlds, but its atmospheric composition is harder to refine.

-Gas Giant (Aldiss)----Gargantuan Aldiss is the site of increasing outer system industry in the Cevetus system.
The nine moons of Aldiss are becoming a popular stopover for starships traveling to and from Harrisar; the USA has set up a gas-skimming and refueling station in orbit, and several small mining operations have started on the moons.

-Gas Giant (Minsky)---- Small Minsky is largely overlooked save for a few probes surveying it for any anomalies.

-Gas Giant (Brant )---- Minuscule Brant remains a solitary world on the edge of the Cevetus system. The USAEC has set up several deep space sensor nets around Brant to listen to surrounding deep space.

Planet(Colhaven)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 149,000 km
Gravity: 1.47 g
Temperature: Cool; but the USPPC is constructing orbital mirrors to raise Colhaven’s average temperature.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Long Rotation----A day/night on Colhaven is 8 Terran days long

-Moons(8)----One large moon (Dinalt) and seven smaller ones(Kerk, Meta, Deleth, Mikah, Dempsey, Sigvarth, and Shef). Many of these moons have become the sites of spaceport and industrial facilities.
Dinalt is actually large enough(2,498 km diam.) to have its own thin atmosphere (mainly carbon dioxide and nitrogen)and there’s been some effort to terraform the moon as well, or at least plant it in useful exolife.

-Craters----Multiple large craters pockmark Colhaven’s surface. Some of them have been converted into large biopools, water-sealed, filled with water, and seeded with engineered biota to produce oxygen. Some of the smaller ones have been roofed over, filled with water, and have become agrocommunities cultivating waterlife for consumption.

-Energy Field-----Since the terraforming has begun, Colhaven has been developing a noticeable ambient PPE field...not enough to trigger magical or psionic abilities, but strong enough to be detected by sensitive TW instruments. Though some thought that the PPE field was being generated by the introduced terraforming biota, the field is too strong, and others have speculated that some form of dormant life native to Colhaven(and undetected by earlier surveys) may be responsible. However, no such life has been detected with more intense scanning. As the field strengths seems to be stabilizing, concern about it has cooled down, though the USPPC continues to monitor it and search for its source. One visible manifestation of it is aurora-like displays even in the equatorial regions of Colhaven. Some of the more spiritual USPPC workers claim that a planetary spirit is awakening and responding to the introduction of life.
There’s some concern that the Resetans(a Harrisar extremist group obsessed with triggering a Rifts-style event to genocidally cull the population and effectively ‘reset’ the planet for a select few by flooding the environment with mystic energies) may attempt to use the emergence of this field to put their theories to a test.

Atmosphere:
Breathable terrestrial nitrox mix. Atmosphere-towers and artificial seas seeded with engineered oxygen-producing plants have raised the oxygen levels, as other forms of plant life, including fast-growing grasses, are being raised and distributed for atmosphere modification. There are, however, still regions where the atmosphere is lacking in sufficient pressure or oxygen to be considered safe for unprotected humans.
Terrain:
Varied, though large flat plains(some larger than the total surface area of Earth) predominate.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Gold/Silver
- Zinc
- Iron
- Sapphire
- Talc
- Emerald
- Nickel
- Sulfur
Hydrosphere:
Roughly 39% of the planet is covered in open water, albeit locked in the form of ice. The USPPC has been using cometary bombardment to bring in extra water and has already created several growing seas that, artificially heated, serve as ‘lungs’ supporting oxygen-producing algae.
Biosphere:
Originally None, but the USPPC brought in quick-growing terraforming biota packages that have spread around the planet in record time. The level has risen to Sparse; there are still regions that have yet to be seeded by the rapidly spreading terraforming biota, and for the especially venturous settlers, being asked to help spread the life. Besides hydroponics and greenhouse-grown plants, farmsteaders are encouraged to plant terraforming flora and commercially viable (and edible) modified extremophiles like Jorgmundson kaver-taters, oxy-shrub, and Panmundan sand-root.
Civilization:
Colonial; though Colhaven has a population larger than many founding full United Systems Alliance members, the planet is still considered to be a colony and administered accordingly.
Population:
80 million Humans, though there are also small communities of nonhumans, mainly Streleg(who can easily handle the planet’s heavy gravity) and Apisori(who require gravity-insulation), who are among the USPPC’s shattertec-corps, overseeing the terraforming. Despite not having encountered nonhumans prior to the Intervention and the Harrisar Diaspora, the new Harrisonian-Colhaveners have quickly come to respect and admire the nonhumans who are helping create a better world for them.
Technology:
Stellar Age/Low Galactic---Harrisonians were an Information Age culture when discovered by the USA, and they are making the transition to higher levels of technology. The emphasis is on sustainable, low- footprint technologies. The colonization of Colhaven focuses on terraforming technologies, including advanced biotech. Colhaven cannot produce its own starships as yet, but does have servicing facilities and some parts fabrication capacity for spacecraft in its orbitals.
Economy:
Industrial, but providing equipment for the terraforming and colonization effort. The economy is expected to transit to Agriculture as the pioneers beging cultivating larger tracts of land. Given their literally growing successes on worlds such as Saveoresc and Khaldar, the USA is thinking of introducing increasing amounts of macro-biotech to the colonization effort.
Wealth:
Can be considered to be Average by virtue of the fact that all surplus resources go towards improving infrastructure and supporting Harrisar. The terraforming effort eats up most of the profits from mining and nascent agriculture. While colonists are provided with basic sustenance at no cost to themselves, they are encouraged to seek work in the development of the land and establish their own farmsteads and workings.
Government:
Colonial---There are appointed regional governors under an overall ‘Colony Czar’, but there is a growing local democratic movement.
Law Level:
Authoritarian----Virtually all of Harrisar’s offworld colonies are strictly run, especially with regards to enforcing laws protecting life support, food, and water. With so much space available on Colhaven, though, there’s less restrictions on birth control, as long as new families do not overdraw on the common food supplies, nor on pollution, as long as it doesn’t threaten public hygiene, life support resources, and the growing terraforming zones(however, one will still get reprimanded for throwing away recyclable resources).
Popularity:
Popular;
There is some resentment among new settlers, upon hearing of other, more pleasant colonies like Nuegarten, that they got shipped to cold, dry, Colhaven.
The homesteaders, on the other hand, are developing into a tough, self-reliant, folk that one dimensional traveller compared to ‘Aussie Outbackers’. When the Harrisar homeworld government powerblocs tried sending troops to enforce nationalist enclaves, the Colhaveners ignored them and marginalized them. Though the Colhaveners respect the United Systems Alliance Joint Command’s soldiery, it is because in the absence of any pressing need for security from offworld threats(no other alien cultures have been detected in the Harrisar universe), the USAJC(what few have been deployed around the Cevetus system) has remained mostly offworld and largely out of sight, while the Harrisar military had gotten in the colonists’ faces.
The military, for their part, is showing signs of internal conflict; though they’ve traditionally had access to marginally better food and quarters, in the colonies many are tempted to hare off and claim their part of the frontier. And those who trained and did a tour with the USAJC are more cosmopolitan than their nationalist homeworld colleagues.
Stability:
Stable, for now; everybody is too busy working to make a living to raise trouble.
As with Nuegarten and other Harrisonian colonies, while there is respect for the government and the homeworld, there is less respect for the planetary powerblocs. Either the colonists spread out or nationalist enclaves soon mingled, sharing resources and ideas. In regions of particularly heavy trade between enclaves, the colonists have even begun merging languages, developing informal common ‘trade speeches’ for convenience.

[taalismn]

Weaponsmiths of XXihan----(United Systems Alliance Member)---Homeworld of the XXihanese(Anvil Galaxy)

“XXhinese love embellishing their weapons. On the bigger guns, they limit it to a metal band or two covered in fancy scrollwork, but their personal arms tend to be heavily decorated with nickel-plating and gold and silver filigree and gilt to the point of adding a noticeable amount of extra heft. The innards may be thoroughly modern weapon, but the outside looks like something from a neobarb royal’s personal collection.”

“No wonder they’re short-lived; the Xxihans live on a pressure cooker of a world. “

“I was on a budget and not inclined to spend big bucks on big guns...and the salesgirl at the XXihan industries booth sensed it, when I made to go past...I have to admit, she knew her weaponry inside and out and how to use it; she skipped past casual and cute friendliness and brought out her big guns to promote her big guns. And in that skintight, damn-near TRANSPARENT thermal suit that should count as a weapons system in itself, she hooked me, line and sinker, and reeled me in. True, I got quality equipment, and an eyeful of HER equipment, but Accounting gave me a worse third degree than she did for overspending the brigade’s funds.
Was it worth it? -Oh yeah-.”

“Once the word got out that the Xxihan were manufacturing artillery for sale, there were pirates that thought they could just swoop down and raid the factories for their inventory. Problem was, the Xxihan figured, once they learned they weren’t alone in the cosmos, they better be prepared, and they played to their strengths. Xxihan low-orbit’s well-covered by orbital shooters and BIG surface to space guns. Last big raid attempts wound up looking like kitchen colanders.“

“For a time the Xxihan were knocking off our designs like the Astra-Omega, but after they joined us, they had to answer for that. It worked quite well for them in the end, though; after they agreed to give us a good cut of the profits with a full license, we showed them what they were doing wrong---they’re good cannoneers, but still have much to learn about gravitic small arms---- and now that they’re selling higher-quality and designer-approved, they’re making even more sales.”

Cloud-shrouded XXihan cloaks the civilization of the XXihanese, an industrious people. The XXihanese are near-humans/humanoids, but have evolved/adapted to living in a steamy hot atmosphere. There is considerable speculation that the XXihanese did not evolve naturally on XXihan, given disparities between the XXihanese and other local species. The XXihanese have no records or lore of living anywhere else, so there’s no help in answering the mystery there.
The XXihanese became expert cannoneers because their homeworld’s dense atmosphere hampers most energy weapons; ballistic/kinetic projectile weaponry seemed the best solution to ranged fighting, and the XXihanese adapted the gravitic technology they got from trade with offworlders to use their own advanced artillery techbase. With some refinements, they began producing advanced G-cannon for their own use and for export. Though the Xxihanese lacked the scale of production and distribution of the larger polities’ metroworld industries, to those on the Rim aware of them, ‘Xxihan-made’ came to be synonymous with quality in kinetic weaponry and the hotworlders began making a steady profit off commission and subcontracting work.
The XXihanese were considered THE experts in kinetic projectile weaponry for WZT, at least until PS/ASI showed up, and were subcontractors for many weapons, such as the OxHoof -series of G-cannon, and the Heaven-Sprout mini-satellite transatmospheric launch system.
For a time, XXihan continued to sell independently, but as the Three Galaxies’ economic environment changed, the XXihanese began to realize that their previous business practices of going it alone were putting them at a disadvantage, and their once opulent lifestyles were in steady decline as a result. Thus, by popular vote, XXihan joined the United Systems Alliance, which offered the possibility of providing solutions to a number of other XXihanese problems.

Solar System(KiChan)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars: Yellow Dwarf
Number of Planets: 6
-Terrestrial(Toldrec)----Large ‘super-Venus’. With its surprisingly low gravity, the heat tolerant Xxihanese can actually visit the planet’s surface. Toldrec is a good prospect for terraforming to Xxihanese spec.

-Terrestrial(XXihan)----System lifeworld

-Gas Giant(Mayaatzez)----Tiny Mayaatzez failed to capture any moons, but does have a very thin dust ring. The lack of a resident satellite has hampered development of large-scale gas mining operations; the USA is providing the XXihanese with one of their WZT space-hab city-stations to serve as a base and collection station.

-Gas Giant(Solbec)----Tiny Solbec, like Mayaatzez, is lacking in any significant satellites.

-Terrestrial(Hamadallesh)----Small, cold, and possessing a dense methane atmosphere, Hamadallesh is home to a test range for weapons under extreme conditions. Despite the advanced-tech habitat facilities, however, most of the XXihanese staff working here consider it a cold hell.

-Gas Giant(Chahuczhii)----Saturn-sized, with 13 satellites of note, Chahuczhii is named for a XXihanese goddess of darkness. Since ratification of USA membership, the XXihanese have allowed the AJC to construct a dedicated deep port military base on one of the moons, Sakath.

Planet(XXihan)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 10,020 km
Gravity: 0.8 g
Temperature: Warm; average temperature is 120 degrees F. Uncomfortably warm for most terrestrial species such as Humans.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Moons(4)----XXihan’s largest moon, Ceres-sized Trothan, has been settled(140,000 residents) and heavily industrialized. It is site of a major G-cannon factory and arsenal.
- Atmospheric Energy Weapon Degradation----XXihan’s dense atmosphere adversely affects the performance of most energy weapons; laser and ion weapon range and damage are reduced by HALF, particle beam weapons by 1/3, and plasma weapons by 75%(the plasma quickly fans out and cools too rapidly). This does NOT apply to natural or magical lightning or similar effects(such as the Particle Acceleration, Laser Blast, or Fireball spells).
Atmosphere:
Dense breathable nitrox mixture.
Earthlings would find XXihan’s surface air to be hazy, deepening to hot fogs in coastal, lowlands and equatorial areas. Powerful thunderstorms are common on XXihan.

Terrain:
Unusual Geology----XXihan’s geology and vulcanism forms pockets of stabilized plasma inside subterranean vaults similar to salt domes. Instead of petroleum, however, these formations contain various temperatures of plasma....from neon gas-hot to magma-hot, only vaporous. Sometimes the containing rock matrix cracks enough to let plasma vapors escape, forming eerie geysers of glowing gas. Other times the pockets may let out more violently, resulting to ‘fire lands’ or much-feared plasma explosions. The XXihanese have learned to safely(after many tragic failures earlier in the industry) tap some of these ‘plasma wells’ for energy, but accidents still occur.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Amethyst
- Colombite
- Mercury
- Gold/Silver
- Talc
- Fluorite
- Nickel
- Calcite
Hydrosphere:
72% surface coverage in open water---It’s argued that XXihan’s high atmospheric pressure keeps the oceans from boiling away. As it is, XXihan’s oceans tend to be shrouded in steamy fogs.
Biosphere:
Dense; at a stage roughly equivalent to Earth’s Triassic period, with emergent large sauroid species. Mammals are still at a primitive stage; this is evidence to offworld xenobiologists and local anthropologists that the XXihanese did not evolve on XXihan.
The level of evolution on XXihan could not have produced the humanoid XXihanese, and there is scant fossil evidence to show any evolutionary linkage of the XXihanese lineage to any of the local species any earlier than 130,000 years ago. Depending on what religious sect one asks, the XXihanese claim to be the flawed/chosen creations of their gods.
XXihan’s biology has a notable tolerance for high temperatures; many XXihanese species are especially heat-resistant, able to survive boiling temperatures and even resist thermal-energy-based attacks. Skin clothing from the hides of some XXihanese species has been sold offworld as fire-resistant/retardant garments.
Civilization:
Settled(Species homeworld--- XXihanese)
Population:
6 billion XXihanese(New  Species---Humanoid/Near-Human)
Technology:
High Interstellar---The XXihanese were at a High Information age when contacted by Galactic explorers. They’ve since bootstrapped themselves up through technological trade. It’s been said that the XXohanese being able to reach their pre-Contact level of technology was a miracle in itself, given their environment; being able to produce a refrigerator able to produce freezing temperatures was a major achievement arguably greater than taming fire.
Economy:
Industrial---While weaponry may be their best-known Galactic product, XXihan also produces, among other things, personal computers and business machines of quality. Heat- and fire-resistant natural fabrics and heat-tolerant utility systems are also well-selling exports.
Wealth:
Was Wealthy, fell to Depressed , and has since risen back to Average
Government:
Technocracy--- The military-industrial complex pretty much took over when it became apparent that weapons were what Galactics were willing to pay for. The military leadership aspect took a backseat when the depression hit, and civilian governance took on greater importance again.
Law Level:
Lawful---XXihan has enjoyed centuries of well-organized, well-thought-out laws and a comprehensive legal system.
Popularity:
Ambivalent; there are many XXihanese who feel resentment of how the USA sopped up much of the arms market the XXihanese relied on, and they feel the government should have held out for a better deal. These dissenters are reserving judgment to see if the economy recovers and what other benefits materialize with USA membership. Others are more enthusiastic about being part of a larger, proactive organization with greater market reach.
Stability:
Solid---The current XXihanese government seems to be handling the economic turmoil fairly well, and it would take something drastic, like a prolonged economic downturn or disaster to cause the people to want a more radical change in government. While there are critics of the alignment with the USA, their arguments are on economic details, rather than overall philosophies and policies.

XXihanese RCC
XXihanese appear perfectly human, but internally they are far different creatures. They are well- adapted to living on their hot homeworld of XXihan, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest that they originally were not native to the planet, but were created/adapted from some other humanoid/human species and settled on XXihan, by who and to what purpose remains unknown.
XXihanese consider themselves to be cursed with short life spans, they peak early, deteriorate fast, and few live beyond 60 T-years, yet they perceive time at a human rate. Adding to their burning out early, many XXihanese try to get in a maximum amount of living and accomplishment early in their lives; it’s argued that the stress to do so only contributes to their decline. Though many XXihanese poets and philosophers have waxed at length about the ‘brightest candles burning the shortest’, the fact is that most XXihanese envy other species their longer life spans and wish they had the time as well. It is hoped that the USA’s many medical techniques may offer the XXihanese longevity; even bionic conversion is attractive, though there are some conservative and fundamentalist elements of XXihan society who feel that such measures would adversely affect their culture.

Alignments: Any
Life Span: 65 T-years, though some have lived as long as 80 years and a legendary few to 100.
Size: 5-6 ft tall, 200-280 lbs
Gender: Heterosexual(Males and Females)
Physical Description/Appearance:
Humanoids, similar in appearance to humans in almost all respects, but for a few details; their skins have a dusky coppery cast, and their eyes have larger dark pupils and silvery irises.
By Human standards, XXihanese are devastatingly, almost divinely beautiful in appearance, with perfect physical proportions. XXihanese men are demigod handsome, and the women are exotically beautiful, so much so that jokes are rife about the ‘XXXihans’, ‘looking hot’, and ‘sizzlingly gorgeous’. This beauty tends to peak fast and fade just as quickly as the XXihanese reach the end of their life spans, deteriorating quickly.
In most human environs, XXihanese wear heatsuits to avoid hypothermia.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Similar to humans, but XXihanese have a harder and more aggressive drive to accomplish things of importance in their short life spans. They tend to be zealous overachievers, passionate taskmasters, and workaholics. They drive themselves hard, and take short frequent breathers and catnaps. ‘Work hard, live harder’ is a common sentiment. They’re not above using their good looks and wiles on others to get what they want, though sometimes their desperation shows through as low-mania and disturbing obsession.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME: 2d6+7
MA: 2d6+2
PS: 3d6+9
PP: 2d6+12
PB: 2d6+18
PE: 2d4+4
SPD: 2d6+2(generally slow and sluggish under regular 1.0 g gravity)
(ISP):----
(PPE): 2d6
Hit Points: 75+1d6 per level of experience
SDC: 150+1d6x10 + those gained from OCCs and physical skills.
MDC:-----
Horror Factor: (Awe Factor) 1d6+11
Natural Abilities:
-Heat Tolerance----Hot temperatures (up to 200 degrees F) do NO damage, and temperatures above 300 degrees F do HALF damage. SDC lasers and plasma weaponry do HALF damage.
Conversely, XXihanese become uncomfortable at temperatures below 90 degrees F and begin suffering hypothermia-like symptoms at 40 degrees F or less.

-Penetrating Vision--- Xxihanese have a near-twilighter ability to see in hazy, smokey, and low-light conditions. Their vision is unimpeded by smoke and their night vision is 400 ft. They also can see gradients of heat equivalent to a good thermal imaging optic.

-Sleeplessness---Not entirely; but XXihanese can go on as little as four hours of sleep/deep rest a night, and they can go a week without true sleep with few ill effects.

Psionics: None; XXihanese do not possess any psionic potential.
Magic: None; XXihanese have no knowledge or history of magic use, but if convinced of its existence, they COULD potentially learn limited magic(not any types requiring psionics, however). Life-extending magics would be very much sought after.
Cybernetics/Bionics: The XXihanese never developed cybernetic/bionic implants beyond medical prosthetics, and have only just now learned of them. Some are enthusiastic about such, but most would only get them for medical reasons.
Available OCCs: Any except Psychics. No XXihanese mages as yet exist. Given their technocratic leanings, however, Technowizardry is the most likely to interest them.
RCC Skills:
Skills of Note:
XXihan taking a firearms skill get a +1 to strike with projectile weapons, due to the prolific gun culture on XXihan.
Culture:
Technocrats: XXihanese solidly believe in science and technology. Though generally peaceful, they have a citizen-soldier tradition, and all able-bodied adults are encouraged to learn a weapons skill as part of the planetary militias. This is, of course, encouraged by their weapons industries.

[taalismn]

World Updates(GNEverse):

*Danager(Protectorate) --
“We’ll always find a few sophonts who don’t want to socialize with greater society, but who still feel a need for purpose. Overseeing an automated depot or factory-plex on standby seems to suit individuals of this type very well, and we’ve recruited accordingly. If and when they feel the need to reconnect with the rest of us, there’s plenty of easy ways to do so, and Paloii’s just a solar system over.”

Danager is mainly known as a failed corporate colony, a former pirate haven, and the use of its abandoned former capitol city as an urban warfare training ground.
PS/ASI has taken advantage of the reputation of this arid cold baclwater world to establish several large and heavily automated factory complexes deep inside what are listed as military reservations on the planet. Most outside observers, if they note the construction gear going in at all, assume the USAJC is constructing more training targets and simulation stages. What are REALLY being constructed are munitions, armor, engine, e-clip, power-cell, and spare parts factories for the most part.
While normally PS/ASI would try to build new plants where they could train and employ a local population, the complexes on Danager are meant as backups for wartime footing demands, reserve and emergency industrial capacity stashed away from the usual infrastructure centers.
Currently the factories are running at a fraction of their capacity to meet rush orders from the many customers the USA corporations are serving. As the USA controls Danager airspace, they can hide the heavier space traffic coming and going from the system.
While not an economic revival per se, the increased activity on Danager shows that the USA is going to make the most of its worlds.

Atium---USA Agro-Colony
“We offered to sell those monkers on Odefor the technology for producing biosystem organs, but they weren’t interested, even with at discounted cost. Then they leaked word that there was an entire class of Casserine kids who were slated for early harvest; it was a trap, or course, meant to lure us in and get our technology and hostages. Well, we came in at them from an angle they weren’t expecting, fouled the trap, and got the kids out anyway, and the whole incident gelled for alot of us that we were doing the right thing, being ‘alien space pirates’ and ‘slavers’ as they were calling us in what passed for their public media. The kids would disagree, especially after seeing that their new classroom had a positively GIGANTIC aquarium to look at.”

“The Casserines thought they were boarding a train taking them to reassignment at some nice resort community and were dressed accordingly. Their masters knew the train was taking them to be recycled into medical transplant spare parts, and the donors already being dressing-down prepped for surgery. The OPO saw the opportunity to transport some refugee colonists without encumhering baggage to some garden worlds in need of extra headcount. So it worked out pretty much like the Casserines expected; most of them ended up on a nice waterworld with great swimming.”

Interest in Atium’s seafood production(a wholly unexpected Altess-initiated PR rush has stirred up considerable attention) has jumped the planet’s economic index to a more than comfortable Kauffin Scale rating of 7(Wealthy). The population has boomed to some 2.3 million and growing, and the aquaculture farms are expanding.
Besides a spike in local births on Atium, the Office of Positive Outcomes has made several more raids on the Casserine-human’s homeworld, liberating many more of the gentle-demeanored genetically-engineered humans from caste-slavery and providing them with a sanctuary on Atium. Underwater communes made up of Casserines are now free to pursue their own cultural experiments, with the money to outfit their habitats quite comfortably and commission some vey interesting submarine architecture.
Interestingly enough, among the recent immigrants have been a number of Calians, the elven equivalent of the Casserines. This has piqued curiousity as to what sort of interaction will arise between the two servitor species. Other immigrants have included dolphins from Earth, several Phallux, QuimBek(settling the deeper waters) and Saphians.

-Amberjin---GNE Industrial Colony/USA Member
“Amberjin’s no longer a backwater except by the standards of the most Blaise metroworlders. The orbital habs around the planet look like jewels, more than a few shipping concerns and transport firms have offices in the system for purposes of buying new ships as they come off the lines, and the business chatter’s nearly dense enough to see in real space. If you were in on the original investment offerings when ASI started operations, you’re sitting pretty damn pretty nowadays.”

Once Paladin Steel’s foothold in the Three Galaxies and the site of its first shipyard, Amberjin has since lost pride of place shipyard-wise to larger facilities elsewhere, and as an admonistration hub to worlds like Eugenia. This is NOT to say that Amberjin has reverted back to backwater status, quite the opposite. The system is still growing in population, especially in habitat-living Belters, and the Amberjin ‘yards continue to pump out commercial spacecraft and military cruisers. As the GNE’s nearest major inhabited world to its Milky Way dimensional gate in the adjacent system, Amberjin is of strategic importance, though for security reasons the USA downplays it.
Population in and around Amberjin has balooned to some 44 million, not counting another 9 million or so transients at any given time. Most of the extra population is involved in the shipyards and support industries.
Nearby Deneros has also joined the United Systems Alliance in spirit, though it is still not yet a full member of the association. Part of the problem is that the violent economics of Deneros still continue to plague the colony, even with the incentive of work from Amberjin and PS/ASI to calm the situation down. Short of going in with force to stabilize the situation, the GNE cannot do anything, as Deneros’ ongoing problems are, under the USA’s charter, considered a ‘domestic issue’ that the Denerosians have to resolve on their own. Until the situation on Deneros is calmed, the USA is not going to instigate large-scale economic development, though Denerosians are free to trade with and work in the USA. More than a few Denosians have ‘jumped the wall’ to go to their neighbor and work at the ‘yards, sending their wages back home.

-Giland---Out-Dimension Agricultural Colony
WANTED: ROBOT PILOTS, HEAVY MACHINERY OPERATORS, AND DEMOLITIONS SPECIALISTS TO CLEAR AND HARVEST PRIME AGRICULTURAL LAND. LIVING WAGES, SETTLEMENT LAND GRANTS AVAILABLE. BONUSES FOR COMBAT EXPERIENCE. WILL TRAIN. INQUIRE PSAG-GILAND-COLONYRECRUIT.

“Giland’s a good homesteading place of you don’t mind hard work and a giant landscape. You can make a good living if you keep your wits abut you, and mind where you walk, like near where they’re chopping down ‘trees’ with explosives. Mind you, dealing with giant insects is no laughing matter either, and the rodents of enormous size can pose a real threat...but at least they aren’t attacking you in any concerted way, and a lot of the beasties will run away with some flash-bangs or shock-zaps thrown at them. ”

The Giland colony is expanding, with active promotion for and recruitment for new colonists; the current settlement has ballooned to 98,000 people, with division into several separate communities exploiting different regions and resources. There is still no evidence of higher/intelligent life on the oversized planet, so Paladin Steel Agriculture has gone ahead with plans to start deliberate cultivation of select local crops, rather than just wild harvest. Several areas are being prepared for refugee resettlement as well.
Life in the Giland colony is described as being on the easy side, though PSA does not shade the truth of the difficulties of dealing with the scale of things on Giland. Handling plants ten times normal size, plus the hazards of giant animals, are all in the colonial advisory handbook. Still, there’s a lot of applicants to emigrate to Giland to work the farms there, and a lot of settlers have taken up W.P. Ax as a useful skill in clearing undergrowth and dissuading local wildlife, to the point that the weapon has almost become a totem-symbol of the colony.


Update: Thidians and the United Systems Alliance
“Would you please take your handcuff chains off? I’ve signed you to a work contract where you’ll be paid for your labor, not an indentureship. You’re not my slave, you’re my employee-intern. Oh, you threw the key away? Where? Oh great, let me call somebody who can bring up some boltcutters.”

While the situation on Dejorah is being resolved one way or another, Thidians who have left their world for the sanctuary of the United Systems Alliance are finding niches in Usan society, starting with the two thousand-plus volunteers who offered themselves in slavery to the usans in return for protection. Of these, the majority have indeed found domestic and civilian positions, but paid ones, in service to a number of USA organizations and concerns. A number of the magically-potential’ed human sept are being schooled in magic, and the more aggressive ones are being trained in combat magic, with the goal of them returning to Dejorah to train more Thidians and form a core-cadre of magic-using militia against the resumption of the Reapings plaguing their homeworld.
The blue-skinned and cold-temp-resistant Thidians are often mistaken for assimilated Klia, Azhur, or their various hybrids. Cold-climate colonies and outposts on the USA are being considered as attractive sites for Thidian enclaves, and their ability to breath thin/tainted atmospheres has further opened up other possible environments for Thidian colonization.

[taalismn]

Abzubagonc------(United Systems Alliance Member)(Anvil Galaxy)
“Zolla-system’s one of those oddities that makes one wonder if the megaverse isn’t sapient and not above messing with us mere mortals.“

“If we ever get these people on board with us, our extradimensional security will have improved by a great bound. Do NOT jeopardize the negotiations with the Zolann by carelessness.”
---Instructions to the United Systems Alliance delegation to Abzubagonc.

Abzubagonc is home to the Zolann, a variant Human sept, distinguished by having faceted eyes and almost albino-pale skin shot through with patterns of thin purple streaks. They are sometimes confused with the Kellestans.
The Zolann of Abzubagonc applied to join the United Systems Alliance out of fear of their immediate neighbors; the Lucim-Ivoians(at least before the aggressive elf-ferrets got stomped by the Botwhin Char’chuga).
The Zolann regard their star system as ‘haunted’, but not in the usual sense. The Zolla system seems spotted with bizarre (meta)cosmic phenomena that appear to stretch the fabric of space/time, though GNE/USA researchers have discovered little or no magic related to them.
(On a related note, the Zolanns’ fear of the Lucim invading turned out to be unjustified; the Lucim, it has since been discovered, are TERRIFIED of the phenomena in the Zolla system and regard the region as more literally ‘haunted’, bordering on all-out ‘cursed’)
Zolla-system has become a convergence point of sorts between the United Systems Alliance, the Botwhin Union, and the Phaseworld Prometheans, as the latter have established a small enclave to ‘contemplate the layers of infinite space’, an apparent reference to the space/time phenomena of the star system.
Zolla-system has also been classed as a potential tourist attraction, but the USA has also cautiously amended the tentative classification with a ‘anomalous subspace phenomena, approach at own risk’ warning to casual visitors.

The Zolann claim to be the descendants of ancient human colonsts, though they cannot tell where(or WHEN) they came from originally. Nor can they tell when they assumed their distinctive appearance, though they admit that some ‘mild genetic engineering’ might have been involved.
Zolann are characterized by their pale, almost albino-white, skins, shot through by ‘veins’ or purplish tint that do ot necessarily correspond to any uderlying blood vessels. Their eyes appear faceted, tinted in the same range of human eye colors. They tend towards thinner, wirey builds.
Zolann do not practice magic, owing to the low levels of ambient PPE on Abzubagonc. However, they do have the potential, and the Prometheans have hinted that the Zolann are promising potential Phase Mystics!
Zolann have the following attributes:
-Normal Human stats with the following exceptions/bonuses: +1d4 P.P., +1 P.E.
-Sense Subspace---Zolann can sense subspace phenomena, including dimensional pockets, dimensional rifts, and subspace FTL radio transmissions. Range is I.Q. x 300 in ft, + I.Q. x 100 in ft per level of experience.
-Dimensional Resistance----Zolann are attuned defensively to warped space/time, and are resistant to being affected by dimensional shifting/warping, including Phase and Temporal spells. Zolann get a +1, every three levels of experience, to save versus being involuntarily affected by space/time warping/manipulation spells with a saving throw, and a +1, every three levels of experience, to dodge those without saving rolls.
-Psionics(Lesser)----Zolann possess minor psionic abilities, SIX powers from ONE of the MINOR psionic categories.
-Supervision: Angular Vison(Powers Unlimited 3)----Zolann possess the ability to see around corners through some as-yet inexplicable ability to warp light(note that other Zolann can detect this ability in operation). 300 ft range+10 ft per level of experience, and can oeer around an additional corner every four levels of experience.

Solar System(Zolla)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars: Yellow Dwarf
Number of Planets: 4

- Exotic(Phason)----Phason appears to be a ringed gas giant, or rather a photonegative ghost of a ringed gas giant. It has all the observable features of a gas giant; changing weather, storm cells, magnetic aura, even lightning storms...but in optucal reverse. The planet appears as ‘glowing’ dark, with bright highlights in its clouds. Its rings glow where they should be shadowed.
Though Phason appears to be influenced by the gravity of Zolla and its planets, and appears to exert some gravity of its own, the planet otherwise does not interact with its surroundings at all. Normal matter can pass through Phason’s substance without ill effect. Several probes, in fact, have flown completely through the planet without encountering any resistance. This has allowed scientists the unique opportunity to investigate the planet throughout its entire diameter, including its core, without having to deal with the intense pressures , temperatures, and gravity associated with normal planets. Among other things, they’ve discovered the planet has its own gas giant ecology, though none of the lifeforms observed have shown any awareness of the otherworldly visitors observing them.
Current thinking is that Phason is a world out of phase with the material universe, it was somehow converted to a another set of physics by some means, drawn in from another universe, or that the planet is actually the ‘shadow’ of a world in another universe, playing out upon this one.
The sheer exotic beauty of Phason make it a tourist attraction, and in addition to scientific stations orbiting it, there is a deep space resort station that has just recently completed construction and has opened for business. The operators of the resort have asked permission to start ‘fly-thrus’ of Phason, but the scientific community studying the planet have refused, on the grounds that they still don’t know if the experience is completely without risk.

-Terrestrial(Abzubagonc)----System lifeworld

-Terrestrial(Blaydell)---- If Phason is a phantom planet, Blaydell is two planets, a solid one nested inside a phantom one. From space, Blaydell appears to be a cold rocky planet with a hazy atmosphere. However, upon approach, what appears to be the surface is revealed to be a mirage; the real solid Earth-sized planet is some 500 kms smaller in diameter(though it also seems to ‘oscillate’, such that portions of the larger planet’s surface occasionally seem to intersect the smaller inner one’s).
From the surface, all this apears to be a gray haze shrouding the planet, occasioned by bizarre mirages of mountains or continental shelves moving across the higher elevations of ‘true’ Blaydell.
The Office of Positive Outcmes has contemplated setting up a covert base-facility on the ‘inner’world of Blaydell, screened from casual observation by the ‘outer’ phantom.

-Terrestrial(Twycal)----Smallish Twycal seems odd by its apparent mundanity; it manifests NO strange phenomena, either by dint of it being the farthest out of the system’s planets and somehow outside whatever is responsible for the subspace anomalies, or by some megacosmic caprice. Because of this, Twycal seemed a good place to establish a research center where the common physical laws of the Three Galaxies’ universe hold away. It’s also joked that the planet offers a relatively nearby(by high speed starship) refuge for scientists studying the inner worlds and needing some stability.


Planet(Abzubagonc)
If Rifts Earth is dotted with dimensional rifts, then Abzubagonc is a patchwork of dimensional layers at different depths, coming to the fore, or retreating to the back. Unlike Rifts Earth, though, Abzubagonc’s ‘fade zones’ seem to connect to the same planet, though different universes or periods of the planrt’s evolution.
Type:Terrestrial
Diameter: 9,800 km
Gravity: 0.78 g
Temperature: Temperate, but on the cool side. Complicating the climate/temperature issue/average is the patchwork of phase-regions that seek to leak heat from other regions of subspace, or leach it away.
Unusual/Special Features:
- Moons (10)----Abzubagonc possesses ten moons of various sizes. The three largest have been visited and manned outposts established; the others have been visited and automated instrument packages left behind on them.
*Dwagha, the largest moon, has the spectacle of being surrounded by a cluster of ‘phantom asteroids’ that fade in and out of view depending on the angle of light. These irregular-shaped large chunks of material seemingly float above the moon’s surface, translucent to light, and intangible to regular matter. There is speculation that they really exist as part of a belt of debris orbiting a planet Abzubagonc in another universe. Efforts to sample the asteroids using phase-tech have been only partially successful, and the recovered material is proving difficult to analyze using conventional methods. What has been gleaned from the samples has scientists both enthusiastic and frustrated.
*Udall is a smallish moon that has been acquired, through negotiation, by the Prometheans, who have established what amounts to a lunar monastery to complement the facilities they have built on the planet. Here a small enclave of the PhaseWorld natives reside. It’s also rumored that the Prometheans are teaching a small number of Zolann the art of Phase Mysticism.
*Nycel is a tiny moonlet whose orbit intersects that of a larger moon. Only when it’s just about to collide with that moon, Nycel disappears and appears again on the other side! The Zolann have attempted to leave instruments to discern how the effect is accomplished, but so far even advanced Galactic instruments only record a blank when Nycel apparently teleports.

- ‘Phase Zones’---Entire regions of Abzubagonc can fade in and out of ‘reality’, similar to the phase zones of Rifts Earth. These areas can be as small as a city block to as large as several hundred square miles. Entire islands and peninsulas have been known to up and vanish, only to return later. So far, the Zolann appear immune to being transposed in similar fashion, having learned to anticipate such phase-in/outs, avoid the areas altogether, or, through various means, ‘anchor’ tthemselves to the common reality.
Interestingly, normal magic, leyline activity, and ‘normal’ dimensional rifting is absent from Abzubagonc. The planet seems to be ‘locked in’ to a specific set of extradimensional coordinates and no others can ‘dial in’ as it were. Thus normal Shifting magic(or magic at all) never developed as a practice on Abzubagonc .

Atmosphere:
Breathable terrestrial nitrox mixture
Terrain:
Three terrains; low mountains, hills, coastal plains.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Colombite
- Mercury
- Cobalt
- Aluminum
- Quartz
- Gypsum
- Graphite
- Salt
Hydrosphere:
74-84% of Abzubagonc’s surface is covered in open water(the variation is due to the phasing in/out of islands and other landmasses).
Biosphere:
Moderate---Life on Abzubagonc has its share of challenges, not the least of which is that there is not one single specific ecology permanently existing. Entire regional ecosystems and species, with the exception of domesticated crops and animals, can vanish into thin air for weeks, months or years, replaced in the same spots with anything from empty wasteland to verdant biome, only to return again later. Some areas go through regular cycles of such, going through up to ten different environs in sequence, while others have only two or three. or jump randomly. Oddly enough, the animals species of Abzubagonc have somehow adapted to this.
While Abzubagonc doesn’t have the sort of rifted megafauna that other worlds with dimensional shifting often suffer, the range of native Abzubagonc fauna shifting in from alternate ‘shades’ of the same world can be just as dangerous in their own way. The native Abzubagoncan shade-bear, for example, can phase through walls and fences meant to keep animals out, simply by shifting to an alternate reality where the obstacle doesn’t exist, then walks in and phases back into reality(fortunately, this seems possible only in certain regions of the planet). The flickurwulf can spawn several shadowy doppelgangers of itself, creating the impression of a strobing pack of animals advancing on prey.
An especially dangerous local predator is the aura-eater, a giant wolverine-like beast that is attracted to high levels of PPE and attacks using immaterial claws that do virtual damage....if the target’s vrtual SDC and Hit Points are depleted to zero, the target loses all but 1d4 points of PPE, permanently. Aura-eaters are thus especially dangerous to mages and creatures of magic, as the aura-eater seems to prefer such PPE sources when avaiable over its usual diet of meat. Fortunately, the species is rare and none are known to have been successfully transported alive off their home planet.

Civilization:
Settled
Population:
1.8 billion Zolann
Technology:
Information Age, with limited local space travel ability(the Zolann have sent chemical rocket-boosted manned missions to their planet’s moons and unmanned probes to other planets in the Zolla system. They have computer apps that can keep track of fade zone ‘rotations’.
Economy:
Industrial, followed by Agriculture. The Zolann have learned to anticipate when some particularly productive fade-zones have reached peak harvestibility(timber, wild plants, animal migrations, etc.) in ther fade cycles, and can have harvesting teams ready to jump in and harvest the resources the next time the particular landscpe fades back in.
Wealth:
Prosperous----The Zolann have done very well for themselves, in spite of their odd environment, or perhaps because of it.
Government:
Confederation---The Zolann live in a number of planetary regional states that run their own affars as they see fit, but have a common representative congress that meets on matters of common interest. Zolann feel free to move to other states if they disagree with the local laws and regulations, Historically, this has led to certain regions becoming known for their liberal or conservative laws attracting a lion’s share of immigrants, at least until imposed regulations meant to curb such floods leads to the region becoming UNattractive to immigrants.
Law Level:
Overbearing. The above seesawing of immigration across Abzubagonc, combined with security concerns from both the strange environment and from offworld has led to most geopolitical regions having fairly strict laws and regulations.
Popularity:
Ambivalent. There’s some movement to streamline the welter of regional polities and attendant regulations into a more common federal ssytem. This is just as vehemently opposed by those who fear what a strong central government might do.
Stability:
Solid. Despite the aforementioned divisions, the Zolann system of government is regarded as a good thing and nobody’s proposing doing away with it without due process of law.

[SolCannibal]

Abzubagonc is home to the Zolann, a variant Human sept, distinguished by having faceted eyes and almost albino-pale skin shot through with patterns of thin purple streaks. They are sometimes confused with the Kellestans.
The Zolann of Abzubagonc applied to join the United Systems Alliance out of fear of their immediate neighbors; the Lucim-Ivoians(at least before the aggressive elf-ferrets got stomped by the Botwhin Char’chuga).
The Zolann regard their star system as ‘haunted’, but not in the usual sense. The Zolla system seems spotted with bizarre (meta)cosmic phenomena that appear to stretch the fabric of space/time, though GNE/USA researchers have discovered little or no magic related to them.
(On a related note, the Zolanns’ fear of the Lucim invading turned out to be unjustified; the Lucim, it has since been discovered, are TERRIFIED of the phenomena in the Zolla system and regard the region as more literally ‘haunted’, bordering on all-out ‘cursed’)
Zolla-system has become a convergence point of sorts between the United Systems Alliance, the Botwhin Union, and the Phaseworld Prometheans, as the latter have established a small enclave to ‘contemplate the layers of infinite space’, an apparent reference to the space/time phenomena of the star system.
Zolla-system has also been classed as a potential tourist attraction, but the USA has also cautiously amended the tentative classification with a ‘anomalous subspace phenomena, approach at own risk’ warning to casual visitors.

The Zolann claim to be the descendants of ancient human colonsts, though they cannot tell where(or WHEN) they came from originally. Nor can they tell when they assumed their distinctive appearance, though they admit that some ‘mild genetic engineering’ might have been involved.
Zolann are characterized by their pale, almost albino-white, skins, shot through by ‘veins’ or purplish tint that do ot necessarily correspond to any uderlying blood vessels. Their eyes appear faceted, tinted in the same range of human eye colors. They tend towards thinner, wirey builds.
Zolann do not practice magic, owing to the low levels of ambient PPE on Abzubagonc. However, they do have the potential, and the Prometheans have hinted that the Zolann are promising potential Phase Mystics!

Sounds like a good place for the Ceklestrani or one of their 'space lighthouses', in operation or lost, to make an appearance.
Or maybe some much more contemporary group that has been repurposing a few of them.

[taalismn]

[
Sounds like a good place for the Ceklestrani or one of their 'space lighthouses', in operation or lost, to make an appearance.
Or maybe some much more contemporary group that has been repurposing a few of them.

Ewww....If the CCC really isn't up to any good, trying to sneak a base in under the noses(figuratively) of the OPO and the Prometheans? Very audacious if they succeed...very bad if they fail, given that the CCC would be likely to have PHAZE WARRIORS coming after them.....

[SolCannibal]

[
Sounds like a good place for the Ceklestrani or one of their 'space lighthouses', in operation or lost, to make an appearance.
Or maybe some much more contemporary group that has been repurposing a few of them.

Ewww....If the CCC really isn't up to any good, trying to sneak a base in under the noses(figuratively) of the OPO and the Prometheans? Very audacious if they succeed...very bad if they fail, given that the CCC would be likely to have PHAZE WARRIORS coming after them.....

Well, even "just" one star system can be a lot of space to patrol for the presence of one potentially sketchy group of beings eavesdropping while laying low. It all depends on their level of discretion, agenda and/or scale of intervention, i guess. Not to mention some sophonts might see an opportunity to glimpse into the affairs and interests of the powerful but mysterious Prometheans as reason aplenty.

Not to mention the Zollan natural peculiarities might make them as promising for recruitment by the CCC as by the Prometheans for pupils.

[taalismn]

(Update) Alebia and the Zygan-Golgan Great War
“Oh, little Avren’s so quiet and polite and so good with the silverware! You’d hardly know she was there but for the sparkle on the table service and glassware! And she asks for so little...we have to prompt her to get a word out of her about anything! Really, hiring from the Alebia Agency really was a good decision on our part!”

“Yeah, I was with the Army decon units that went into the old factory warrens on the Cursed Planet. I’ve seen action on the Contested Zone against the Golgans, and busted heads of pro-Golg symps on Zoestes, so I’m hardly squeamish, but going into those abandoned underground plexes was a whole new level of hell for us. To think, the Chukta actually kept PEOPLE in places like that? I’ve seen cleaner and more civilized greos-slaughterpens back on Hoobnoy; and these pits have just become worse. Besides still functioning security booby-traps and hazardous waste sumps, in particular the sewage systems have become home to an imported breed of carnivorous squilnoid that have mutated with the industrial pollution lousy in the sites. We had to drain the whole system and lower levels and go room to room with acid-guns and flamers to clean out the vermin, since we didn’t feel like losing personnel, like the Chukta evidentally did regularly. And command wants to set up shop down there? I don’t envy anybody working there; even after we clean up the place and bring in new construction, the high-ups better keep exorcists on the permanent staff, because those old sites must have a mllion ghosts crawling around them. Well, maybe some good old-fashioned Zyganian firepower and determination will keep ‘em in their place, but I’d rather be facing As-than artillery than be stationed in an Alebian factory-silo!”

The Zyganian protectorate of Alebia went largely untouched by military actions of the Golgan Great War, the Argosy having determined that the system contained no strategic targets meriting a full fleet strike. However, they seem to have considered that the ex-Chukta conquest and planetary basketcase served a better purpose as a drain on Zyganian resources, and so have periodically launched enough aggressor probes near the sysem to cause the Zyganian Imperial StarForce ro scramble units to the region to repel any possible follow-up advance in force.
That’s the problem, Alebia continues to drain assets and resources and contributes little to the Zyganian effort. And though some in the Zyganian Empire would love to hand the prpblem that is Alebia off to somebody else, if the Golgans were to roll back in the Alebians would inarguably have it worse at the hands of the paranoid amphibians. At best, Alebia would be turned into a slave world again, and at worst would be cut loose and abandoned to its own fate, vulnerable to pirates and other vultures ;urking around the war zones.
The protectorate oversight committees overseeing Alebia have made a few allowances in their policies concerning the ‘walking dead’ of Alebia. Citing wartime needs, the oversight board has allowed a limited number of Alebians to be transported off their world and shipped to the Empire to work as labor in areas that have seen native Zyganians drawn off to serve in the military. Mainly semi-skilled work in agriculture and factories. A trend among a good number of aristocratic and upper-class Zyganian households is to employ Alebian domestics; they may need intially more training, but they come with little in the way of biases and prejudices. For those Zyganians who want to assimilate the Alebians into Zyganian culture, this is seen as a minor victory, but other Zyganians see it as simply the start of a slippery slope with the Empire doing to the Alebians what the Chukta did to them. However, the argument is in favor of the Alebians freeing up eligble Zyganians to work on other wartime projects and to join the armed forces.
The Empire has also taken advantage of the Republik’s lack of interest in the Alebia system to quietly re-open some of the underground Chukta-era factories on Alebia. The Zyganian military went into several of the ‘forbidden zones’ now treated asa memorial/hazmat regions, cleaned out the worst of the pollution, feral Chukta-introduced lifeforms, and the bodies, updated some of the factory equipment, brought in Zyganian technicians and have (re)started production of war material for the ZISF. The reputation and pollution surrounding the sites has thus camouflaged the renewed activity and the flow of munitions and other newly maufactured equipment from the concealed factories. Thus, Alebia is making a limited contribution to the Zyganian war effort.

[taalismn]

Trycos----(United Systems Alliance Colony)(Thundercloud Galaxy)
(aka ‘Stormfeld’, ‘New Yukon’)
“Trycos may be beautiful in its own special way, but remember that it’s also dangerous. You can still get killed on a paradise world if you’re negligent, no matter how good the local rescue services are, and Trycos is still a colonial world, without yet all the services more developed worlds have to save lives.”

“Say what you will about them, the Usans are doing a very good job of sponging up a good portion of the sophonts displaced by the recent spate of wars and colony failures and putting them in better circumstances. Of course, most of them have to take usan public jobs in return, but that’s a small price to pay for safety and security.
The valleys of Trycos are just beginning to see settlements taking shape. Once they identify which valleys are migration zones o flashflood hazards, infrastructure set-up is fairly simple and standard. Cultural shaping comes later, once the colonists shake out and setting down attachments and start doing what people do in a new place. Explore, exploit, make, sell, argue over land boudaries and personal issues, and getting ready to tell the next generation how hard the founders had it breaking ground and laying foundations. ”

“The US Marshals’ Service could do with sending a few more Justicars and Rangers to Trycos to keep the peace. We’ve had wildcatters shooting each other up over disputed claims, and there’s rumors that a few gunslingers have come out from the metro-zones as freelance hire-ons for some of the more factional groups here. I don’t want to invoke planetary emergency powers and bring up the planetary militia or ask for Frontier Guard for help if I can avoid doing so, but I’d welcome any free hands the Service can send this way.”
---Weslen Snyfer, Colonial Governor, Trycos.

Trycos is a new USA-sponsored colony in the Thundercloud Galaxy. It was initially claimed and settled tp protect the flank of other USA colonies in the region and establish links along a nearby hyperlane to those other colonies. The discovery of rich gemstone deposits provided an economic incentive for development.
Though originally started as a mining site, Trycos has been opened increasingly to general colonization, with the USA looking to resettle a number of refugee populations on the planet.
Trycos has, to many, the true feel of a rough and tumble frontier world, which it is; hospitable enough to be colonized without special measures, tough enough to maim or kill the incautious, and scenic enough to attract adventure tourism(especially in the unexplored regions).

Solar System(Hadleston-47)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars:
-Yellow Dwarf
Number of Planets: 8
-Gas Giant(Dalon)----Tiny Dalon is slowly eroding away in the solar winds of Hadleston. Dalon’s atmosphere is very turbulent, solar heat churning the gases into massive storms and upwellings. And yet, life has been discovered in the form of aeroplankton and solar-heated floaters in the gas giant’’s atmosphere.

-Asteroid(Iodos)----The planetissimal Iodos is notable mainly for the vivid chemical staining of its surface. the result of evaporation deposits from a distant past when the asteroid was much wetter.

-Asteroid(Laiden, aka ‘Laiden’s Ladders’)----Laiden plays hub to a small cluster of asteroids that are tethered by thousand-mile-long cables of a form of stable collapsed matter. The tethered asteroids are configured in a roughly polygonal formation and there are the remains of what may have once been solar or microwave sails attached to the cables. The reasoning is that Laiden, whose geochemistry shows it to be of extraterrestrial origin(relative to the Hadleston system), may have once been some sort of STL starship. However, aside from a few plates of similar collapsed material set into the asteroids and some clearly artificial excavations in their surfaces, there is little in the way of information suggesting who built the configuration or where it originated from(there are no habitable systems within reasonable slowboat range of Hadleston-47). It has been suggested that an FTL species visiting the star system captured the extraterrestrial Laiden and used it as a space platform(the tether-sails being for station-keeping, not star travel), or else Laiden was an ancient starship that was stripped of its equipment and allowed to drift aimlessly through space before finally being captured by Hadleston-47. The USU has established a research station on Laiden to study the ancient structure and its materials.

-Terrestrial(Trycos)---- System Lifeworld

-Terrestrial(Yalden)----Earth-sized Yalden is considered to be Trycos’ sister-world; it has light gravity and a cool, Mars-like temperature, but has a very dense, almost liquid, water-rich atmosphere. The planet is being considered as a candidate for terraforming, but a decision to do so is years, if not decades, away as there is already enough to do o Trycos. Currently, Yalden plays host to a floating research station that sends out floating and ‘swimming’ probes and aerosubmersibles to study the planet.

-Gas Giant(Ustinev)----Another tiny gas giant, Ustinev is calmer, and gas scoop operations have an easier time of it.

-Terrestrial(Hsyren)----Another Earth-sized world, but much colder and covered almost entirely in ice. Again, like Yalden, Hsyren might be nicely habitable if it were warmed up. Another long-term project for planetary engineering.

-Terrestrial(Fahon)----Small icy Fahon demarks the outer limit of Hadleston-47’s planetary zones. The USA has planted an autimaed communicatiosn relay and life station on Fahon.


Planet(Trycos)
Trycos is broadly regarded as a rough and tumble world in the process of development, though one attractive to general colonization. Though apparently lacking in the more immediately exotic minerals found in other systems, mineralogists on Trycos claim that the planet’s geochemistry produces its own variants on rubies and emeralds(there’s talk of ‘Trycos Chromium Trioxide’), and there’s prospectors’ claims of exotic crystals hinted at, but yet to be found, in the wilds of the planet.

Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 20,000 km
Gravity:
1.1 g
Temperature: Temperate, shading towards the cool side in most upland regions.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Pronounced Elliptical Orbit---Trycos has a notably elliptical orbit that results in an eighteen-month’ year and particularly long cold winters, cool springs and falls, and tprrid summers.
Atmosphere:
Exotic----Breathable terrestrial nitrox mix, but Trycos’ atmosphere is known for particularly vicious and spectacular ‘cryo-cyclones’ which can brew up without much warning and freeze just about everything in their path...what isn’t torn apart by near-supersonic sandblasting by stone-hard ice particles. Fortunately, these storms are limited to the high plateaus and do not endanger the deep valleys.
Terrain:
Varied, but with some examples of exotic geology.
Trycos possesses several particularly high plateaus, sporting majestic ‘starscraper’ mountains peaking into the high atmosphere. However, this makes them insanely difficult for even contragravity-spacecraft to approach, requiring great skill and/or a certain foolhardiness on the part of the pilots.
It’s rumored that some of Trycos’ starscraper mountains are actually cored with massive crystal formations, the result of hyper-pressurized liquid magma flows being ejected fromthe mantle at high seed under great force, and supercooling as the ‘super spurs’ of material reached high atmosphere. This has led to anecdotes of prospectors stumbling into crystalline caves or finding gemstone cliffs under skinnings of granite and igneous rock, especially in the higher elevation mountains, though official conformation of these accounts has never been made(public, at least).
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Manganese
- Antimony
- Magnesium
- Sapphire
- Talc
- Emerald
- Graphite
- Ruby
Hydrosphere:
Moist---67% of Trycos’ surface is covered in open water
Biosphere:
Dense; roughly equivalent to Earth’s Late Tertiary period. Warmblooded mammal-analogues have squeezed out earlier reptileans as the dominant lifeforms. The lowlands see large-sca;e migrations of elephantine polmas and equine nafsu, stalked by feline cheevan. The skies see flocks of condoroid myverns with 25 ft wide wingspans; they have been known to attack mountain hikers and climbers.
Civilization:
Colonial
Population:
125,000(40% human)
Technology:
Galactic
Economy:
Mining, but tourism is considered a growing part of the economy
Wealth:
Average; just up from Depressed. Trycos is still establishing itself and has just gotten to the break-even point where exports have begun to pay off the investment/assistance funding and the colonists can start to accumulate a surplus for their own special projects.
Government:
Colonial; Trycos is governed by a general USA-appointed governor who oversees the various subcontractng corporate enclaves.
Law Level:
Moderate; though there’s USA general law set down in the colonial charter, there’s a sense of ‘wild frontier’ on Trycos, and there’s outbreaks of trouble between the various groups(miners, developers, genral colonists and a growing number of opportunistic drifters/transients. The opening of tourism has also added problems. General roughhousing and disorderliness are constant problems spilling out over from the mining rec-camps and there are, despite the best efforts of immigration authorities, small ‘vice colonies’ starting up catering to the miners and tourists. There have been reports of professional gunfighteres and gamblers causing trouble on Trycos.
The sutuation has been described as historically similar to Earth’s Yukon Goldrush period.
Popularity:
Ambivalent; not everybody is happy with corporate sub-rule or, conversely, with open colonization. The miners and permanent colonists feel that they are often forced to cater to the tourists, and some question the speed with which Trycos has been opened up. Others believe more should be done to establish the colonies, while some excursion groups feel that the general roughness of the situation is attractive to jaded adventure-seekers.
Stability:
Stable; despite the aforementioned problems, the situation on Trycos is not unsolvable in the eyes of most, and few advocate more radical action to change things.

[taalismn]

Excerpt from Network Omni Newsfeed:
<<<TransGalElectris Announces Mass Circuit Recall; 'Catastrophic Failure in Thousands of Systems Possible!' >>>
----Amundis Cycor, Helior Sector, Consortium of Civilized Worlds, Corkscrew Galaxy. One of the biggest producers of advanced nanocircuitry and electronics components, TransGalactric Electronica, today announced a major recall and warning concerning one of its hottest-selling products in the last decade, the GLX-07 Circuitboard, citing minute, but significant flaws that could, in the corporation's own words, result in 'catastrophic failure' of any systems the circuit component may have been installed in. This comes as a serious blow to the corporation, as the circuit in question has already sold over 80 billion units.
Hailed as the 'fastest and most versatile multi-tasking micro-comp chip-board ever' from TransGalElectris' long line of quality electronics, when it was introduced, has now been revealed to have serious flaws. TransGalElectris admitted that the high-compression layered nano-deposition galnite circuit matrix has proven, under long-term use, to suffer significant atomic erosion, resulting in cross connections of electron flow and even eventually flash energy discharges that would completely destroy the functionality of the circuit-chip. TransGalElectris is still investigating the cause of the problem, but insider sources claim the likely culprits are inadequate calibration of the manufacturing nanites and a cut-back testing program that failed to study wear and tear over several decades of use. Compounding the problem is that the compromised chips, once the growth of short-circuit connections has begun, is accelerated by high radiation and tunneling particles...as might be encountered in space-based applications.
While TransGalElectris has offered to pay full replacement of the recalled GLX-07, market analysts are predicting that the estimated 80 billion credit cost of this recall and reimbursement may not be sufficient to restore TransGalElectris' fortunes, and that a full recall may take YEARS to accomplish, as the circuits were sold far and wide...so much so that a full recall may prove impossible.
Another angle to the recall is that only eight years ago, TransGalElectris was involved in bitter litigation with two other chip manufacturers; ZizzorSan, and KimberTech, the latter a known supplier to Naruni Enterprises, over their piracy and illegal manufacture of an unlicensed copy of the GLX-07, with an estimated additional fifty billion units of the bootlegged chip design sold between the two companies. It is not known how faithully the new companies duplicated the TransGalElectris design, or whether the cheaper copies share the same problem, but it has already raised concerns in a number of sectors.
Given that the GLX-07 series is used extensively in starship and advanced space-based hardware systems, including fire control systems, a number of government agencies are already issuing warnings to space-based organizations and military units who may be using the compromised chip. Insiders in several branches of the CCW have also reportedly begun drafting possible litigation against TransGalElectris, adding to the company's future woes.

Amundis Cycor, Helior Sector, Consortium of Civilized Worlds, Corkscrew Galaxy

“The chip farms of Amundis Cycor are distinctive and impressive; the crystal growth works and nanoforges clue one in immediately that this is a world at the bleeding edge of computechnology. And TransGalElectris sharpened that edge.”

“TransGalElectris staked its future on the ‘revolutionary’ GLX-07 series chip. We staked the system’s prosperity on TransGalElectris. It’s looking more and more like we were stupid, getting so close to one megacorp, because we’re looking to get burned..”

Amundis Cycor is a prosperous world of the CCW, with an economy built on high-tech manufacturing, specifically computer components. That’s the problem; while most planetary economies try to be diverse, easy FTL travel has sometimes led to short-sighted banking on booming economic trends, and planets investing in, and becoming too dependent on, what are effectively economic monocultures.
Once considered to be an economic powerhouse even beyond the booming Helio Sector thanks to high tech manufacturing, Amundis Cycor is now facing the very real possibility of an economic collapse. This is because the system’s largest employer, computronics component and software manufacturer TransGalElectris, has recently had a series of massive product recalls and patch issuances. A spate of defective chips and compromised programs have resulted in several high-profile failures and accidents traced back to defective TransGalElectris products. The recalls, and the subsequent cancellation of several large contracts, caused a sharp drop in the corporation’s stock rating.
To add insult to injury, the Minion War’s attacks on Terra Prime and Goldilocks, the loss of much of TransGalElectris’s lobbying representatives, and the follow-up Shaw Reformation shakeups in the CCW government, have led to even more revised or dropped government orders, casting doubt on the corporation’s ability to quickly recoup its losses. While the corporation may have gotten a temporary reprieve from litigation as the CCW central authority pulls itself back together, the fact that GLX-07s are STILL failing out in the Three Galaxies means that TransGalElectris is still in the bullseye of a growing number of dissatisfied customers.
To try to fend off the looming economic crisis, the civil government of Amundis Cycor is desperately looking to shore up and expand other businesses in the system, hoping they can absorb the unemployment fallout from what seems inevitable mass layoffs.

(Adventurers/travellers wanting to acquire repairs or upgrades to their computer systems might consider stopping up at Amundis Cycor, since it’s quite likely that TransGalElectris will be holding fire sales of electronics to try to stay afloat. On the other hand, given the reported problems with TransGalElectris chips and circuits, do the PCs really want to take a chance that they’ll be getting safe and reliable systems?)

Solar System (Cycern)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars: Blue Dwarf
Number of Planets: 9
-Terrestrial(Davas Un) ---Miniscule arid rocky body. Site of a solar energy collection facility and beam transmission system. TransGalElectris helped design and build the system and gets the lion’s share of the harvested power.

-Gas Giant(Yaldon Fhinn) ---Tiny Yaldon’s heated atmosphere is a constant roil of storms. Some daredevil pilots have flown shuttles into the clouds in the name of science to launch probes hunting after tantalizing hints of organic molecules, possibly formed with the assistance of the constant lightning.

-Terrestrial(Henen Byalb) ---Huge ‘Super Venus’ world with a hot toxic atmosphere. Too hostile to be colonized.

-Terrestrial(Vetal Kyan) ---Gargantuan ‘Super Venus’ world with a cooler but still toxic atmosphere. Similarly to Henen Byalb, Vetal cannot be easily colonized, though the idea of aerostat communities skimming the clouds in the upper atmosphere has been floated, and a few private organizations have already built small platforms.

-Terrestrial(Amundis Cycor) ---System Lifeworld

-Exotic(Comet Um-Bopp)--An unusually large comet that is headed deep into the inner system. Though not on a collison course with Amundis Cycor, it is predicted to make a very close pass to Vetal Kyan.
Some of the more superstitious Amundians claim that the recent woes began when Um-Bopp appeared, and even some of the more scientific-minded have checked to see if the comet is radiating anything unusual. They did discover the presence of exotic matter in Um-Bopp’s nucleus, but nothing that could radiate out and affect microchips. Still, rumors persist among the more impressionable, and there have been calls for the Cycoran Navy to destroy Um-Bopp as a hazard to navigation, if nothing else.

-Terrestrial(Kassen Huef) ---Small Kassen and its almost as large moon Gyrand
In headier days, TransGalElectris set up a research outpost on Kassen. Little is known of what TransGal was doing at the facility, but presumably they were taking advantage of the cryogenic temperatures so far out from Cycern. Rumors are floating that activity at Kassen has recently increased, and TGE has more than doubled their security around the outpost.

-Gas Giant(Fudaled Dras) ---Small Fudaled sports a small moon, Dwava, that is used as a base for gas mining operations in Fudaled Dras’s atmosphere.

-Exotic(Qualda Point)---Qualda Point is the terminus point of the wormhole that brought Amundis’ original colonists from the United Worlds of Warlock. The wormhole point is actually situated in a small icey nebula on the very edge of the Cycern system, and constitutes a ‘halo’ laced with strange matter. It’s postulated that Comet Um-Bopp may be a portion of exotic matter and ice that ‘flaked’ from the Qualda Point halo. It has been suggested that the loss of this extra mass adversely affected the behavior of the Qualda Point wormhole.
Qualda Point’s slow rate of opening and conditional travel direction keep it from being used more frequently as a profitable means to travel to and from its other endpoint deep in the UWW. Still, ships, travelers, and customers line up use it when it is open, nd FTL-radio’ed orders for goods, especially microchips, are shipped in bulk at this time, much faster than the longer and circuitous 900 light-year journey to the nearest UWW borderworld.
The government of Amundis Cycor maintains a modest-sized spacestation at Qualda Point. It only really sees much activity during the wormhole opennings when it acts as a traffic control and emergency aide station for transiting ships. The rest of the time it acts as a communications relay and scientific outpost for scientists studying the wormhole, though it also plays host to a few hardluck transients waiting around for months in hopes of booking passage on an outbound flight the next time the stargate opens.

A.) Location:
Very edge of the Cycern system, just short of the heliopause.
B.) Size:
Modest----Frigate and large freighter-sized vessels can pass through it.
C.) Frequency:
Annual---Roughly every six T-months, the wormhole opens, for about 10 hours. Generally half that time is reserved for one-way traffic comig in, and the other five hours for outgoing traffic.
D.) Direction:
Conditionally Two-Way---Travel can go back and forth, but limited to one direction at a time; so vessels cannot be traveling in opposite directions at the same time.
E.) Range:
IntraGalactic---Connects to a UWW-held system some 1.200 light years away
F.) Transit Initiation
FTL Drive---The starship has to have an existing FTL drive or specific type, usually contragaivity, which must be adjusted to special settings, and engaged as the ship enters the wormhole.
G.) Duration
Instantaneous
H.) Special
Parallels---Though passage is instantaneous, passengers report feeling deja vu-like symptoms and flashes of having seen near-mirror images of themselves in the moment of transit.

Planet(Amundis Cycor)
Type: Terrestial
Diameter: 11,800 km
Gravity: 0.9 g
Temperature: Temperate, leaming towards tropical over much of the planet. Amundis Cycor’s ice caps are small
Unusual/Special Features:
-Moons(6)---Euned, Bwasos, Charly, Jaydamos, Rovos, and Heighleb have all been developed to a degree. TransGalElectris has large facilities on two, including a corporate spaceport and an electronics factory complex.
Atmosphere:
Dense, but breathable, nitrox mix.
Terrain:
Varied, but Amundis Cycor possesses natural regions of intense mineral concentrations, especially chromium and arsenic, in levels like those of toxic waste dumps. Even breathing the dust in these areas risks one’s health.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Scheelite
- Gold/Silver
- Copper
- Chromium
- Barite
- Ruby
- Graphite
- Arsenic
Hydrosphere:
Balanced; about 59% of Amundis Cycor’s surface is covered in open water.
Biosphere:
Verdant; Amundis Cycor supports rich ecologies, even with the planet’s extensive industrialization. Reptile analogues are the dominant lifeforms, the planet’s warm ambient climate discouraging the evolution of mammals.
Civilization:
Settled
Population:
3.5 billion elves
Technology:
Galactic
Economy:
High-Tech Manufacturing
Wealth:
Imperiled; TransGalElectri has turned out to be a lynchpin in the Cycoran economy, beyond the worst concerns of the planet’s economists. TGE’s business woes have started a domino effect, and even otherwise healthy Cycoran companies are getting affected by the hysteria.
Government:
Nominally, Amundis Cycor is ruled by a monarchy, dating back to the founding of the colony by Makanasti elves out of Warlock space. However, as corporate power grew with industrialization, the original monarchy and attendant aristocracy became less important compared to the power of the corporate boardrooms.
The current king, His Majesty Amundar Makatan VII, is a political player who wouldn’t be above taking advantage of the current situation, even if he had nothing to do with its instigation. He has long resented the control of the big tech firms over civic affairs on Amundis Cycor and believes that the current looming crisis is the result of corporate greed trumping commonsense. He sees a possible opportunity to steer things back to a more conservative course...with the old system and his family leading things.
Law Level:
Lawful, but there’s been an uptick in crime as anxiety grows.
Popularity:
Normally would be Beloved, with much attention lavished on the money-making corporations, but recent events have strained public sentiment, and the rating has dropped to Ambivalent. There’s a sense that the megacorps, specially TGE, aren’t being entirely forthcoming with what’s happening, and that there’s more going on than the PR people are letting on, despite their reassurances.
Stability:
Unstable; there are rumbles of discontent; TransGalElectris isn’t being transparent enough about the extent of the damage, the government isn’t doing enough to stave off a possible economic collapse, there are rumors of other corporations preparing to bail out, the CAF is coming to audit or seize the chipworks, the King is planning to nationalize the high-tech firms; the rumors are flying and people are getting anxious.

Rumor Mill:
*Conspiracy----A rumor making the rounds is that TransGalElectris’s defective chips are not the result of poor quality control but deliberate design; the corporation is a long-run front, hidding in plain sight, for TransGalactic Empire corporate espionage and sabotage of the CCW economy.

*Sabotage----TransGalElectris’s woes have supposedly been traced to a T’Zee delegation that visited the main works, soon after the GLX-07 was introduced. It’s not certain what business transpired between the T’Zee, reknowned for their nanotech, and TransGalElectris officials, but the T’Zee reportedly left in a fury. Rumor has it the T’Zee tainted the TransGalElectris nanofac cultures with malnano.

*War!----TransGalElectris’s GLX-07 is known to have been knocked off by several rival chip-manufactures such as ZizzorSan, and KimberTech, the latter having Naruni connections. Either because their knockoffs copied the flaws or because they’ve been tainted by association, neither firm is happy with the turn of events, and want their pound of flesh by whatever means. TGE corporate officials are being targeted for kidnapping or assassination, and shiploads of TransGalElectris’s other products are being hijacked. Death and bomb threats are mounting, and TGE’s corporate security is being stretched thin, maybe the PCs could get hired to deal with the threats?

*Secret Revolution---Not all the Cycorans are pleased with the direction that the Amundi society and economy has taken. Arch-conservative elements of the old Makanasti order want to return power to the monarchy by discrediting the technocorps, many of which are owned or effectively controlled by non-elves and outsider concerns. It’s rumored some of these ultra-conservatives know magic, or have enlisted a Black Coven, and have managed to infiltrate the chip manufacturers and cursed the production lines with Bad Luck and Misfortune spells, or something more insideous.

*Forbidden Technology---Rumor: TransGalElectris was experimenting with forbidden A.I. and actually had a secret ‘pet’ alpha-level AI designing chips for them before the GLX-07 debacle. The A.I was either glitching when the GLX-07s were produced or else the artificial mind was beginning to run rampant when a panicked TGE pulled the plug after discovering it was programming the chips without permission. TransGalElectris’s administrators are hushing up the A.I. angle.
Alternatively, desperate to regain their top place in the galactic computronics market, TGE has reopened a secret A.I. project to develop new business strategies and products to steer the corporation out of its nosedive. Already the A.I. have been making radical suggestions/demands.

*Opportunity Knocks/Firearm Safety Unlocks----TGE clawed its way to the top of the Cycoran tech-industry through innovation, inspiration, and, it is rumored, no small amount of dirty tricks to muscle aside its competitors, And it maintained a virtual monopoly using the same tactics. Now that TGE is faltering, others in its shadow are seeing opportunities to topple the corporation, settle old scores, and take over top spot in the industry. Not everybody means to do it by fair and honest competition and quality product, either.

*Big Plan----The chip-makers of Amundis Cycor are desperate to save their reputations and their planet’s economy, so they’ve banded together to find a way to produce something truly revolutionary to seize the leading edge of computer tech again. Several of the companies(or just TransGalElectris ) have put down a massive amount of money to secure an expensive supply of Datatorium, from which they will produce a new chip design to replace the GLX-07s and effectively erase, from the marketplace’s memory, the debacle of the GLX-07s.
The first of several secret shipments of the datatorium is expected in soon, but there are concerns that word of the shipments has leaked out, and elements hostile to Amundis Cycor or just looking for a big score may attempt to sabotage or hijack the shipment.

[taalismn]

Insulars----Ban Starflight!
(aka “Protectors of the Void’, ‘Pure Spacers’, ‘Star-Sancters’)

“Yeah, there’s various Insular reasons for believing the way they do; fear of bigger faster cultures rolling over them, desire for peace and quiet without rambunctious neighbors zipping all over their starry yards, belief that star travel strains the integrity of space-time, or the attitude that only truly enlightened beings should be allowed to travel between the stars.
Means-wise, most insulars operate pretty much like pirates, setting gravity-well trap ambushes to pull starships out of FTL mode and hitting shipyards and star-drive assembly plants. A lot of them experiment with automated warships, hunter-killers, and warp-missiles. There’s even a few who have looked into creating or summoning subspace monsters that will come and eat ships in hyperspace.
Of course, a lot of Insulars miss the fact that there are OTHER ways around the light speed barrier; all the Insular tricks wouldn’t stop, for example, the Splugorth from simply dimensionally rifting to new worlds to conquer them. So much for only the ‘enlightened’ being able to travel between solar systems.”

“The really dangerous Void-Proteks’ are the smart ones that study warp mechanics and hyperspace dynamics, though we have had some exotic plots like the one with the lethal virus that only affected people exposed to a certain amount of FTL travel...fortunately that one turned out to be a scare tactic hoax...but we’ve also seen prototype automated FTL warships and phase demon attractants planted on ships. The void-fanatics also claim they ‘regret the necessity’, but that doesn’t stop them from going all out when it comes to their plots.”

Insulars are less a single organization and more a philosophy helf by a number of species and groups. The central goal of Insulars is to ban starflight; they regard cheap and easy FTL travel as leading to the woes of the cosmos, encouraging wars, spread of alien pathogens, and development of technological monocultures. We’d all be better off, the Insulars claim, if we were all confined to our own solar systems and forced to deal with our problems at home, rather than go zipping off into the cosmos to escape them or export them to other worlds. Some magic-using cultures hate the fact that mere mundanes can travel faster than mages, using ‘obscene’ technology.
On the light end, Insulars want to ban FTL travel; only mature cultures with the proper wherewithal and attitudes should be allowed to travel interstellar, and at speeds that mean that only GOOD ideas will be sent on expensive and time-consuming journeys to other stars. To enforce this, Insulars research ways to make FTL travel less possible, researching ways to generate gravity traps to pull starships out of FTL flight, weapons to destroy starships in FTL transit, and means to destabilize the various subspace realms used in FTL travel modes, making starflight technology and physics inoperable.
The more extreme Insulars feel that ANY spaceflight, let alone starflight, should be banned, and that sophont species belong (happiest) confined to their homeworlds at ideally lower levels of technology that discourage large populations. These groups want to set up mechanisms that effectively kill or cull cultures that attain certain technological levels that threaten to destroy their ecosystems and spread the disease of their cultures into pristine space.
Of course, to achieve these goals, the Insulars must have FTL capability to enforce their bans and blockades, but as Insulars already feel that they have a superior outlook on cosmic matters, they willingly take on the burden of being the cosmos’ policemen with the fast cars, though some Insular groups hope to set up automated mechanisms that will do the job for them, after which they will retire to their own closed paradises.
In the Three Galaxies, because of the common popularity of FTL drives, Insularism is difficult to enforce, given the scope of the problem, but every now and then some species or organization pops up and tries to start a process in motion to cut down space travel.
Most Three Galaxies cultures regard Insular movements as crackpots, akin to flat-planeters, ban-the-wheel-and-fire cranks, and backwards-looking neo-primitives. A few law enforcement groups, however, track known and active Insular group cells as terrorists and Insular cultures as potential serious threats, especially after revelations that in other universes, powerful Insular cultures HAVE risen to dominance over their neighbors.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Insulars----Ban Starflight!
(aka “Protectors of the Void’, ‘Pure Spacers’, ‘Star-Sancters’)

hyperspace....aahhh...Contra-G drives (along with the star-drives in HU and MiO) are real space drives.

The only "hyperspace drives" in the PB gamebooks are Fold Drives. Which for the most part are in a Game setting PB no longer has the license to.

And I don't know if I sold off my 3G book one off or it's in storage so I'm working off memory...*shrugs*

[taalismn]

Insulars----Ban Starflight!
(aka “Protectors of the Void’, ‘Pure Spacers’, ‘Star-Sancters’)

hyperspace....aahhh...Contra-G drives (along with the star-drives in HU and MiO) are real space drives.

The only "hyperspace drives" in the PB gamebooks are Fold Drives. Which for the most part are in a Game setting PB no longer has the license to.

And I don't know if I sold off my 3G book one off or it's in storage so I'm working off memory...*shrugs*

Doesn't matter....hyperspace, subspace, real space...the Insulars take the speed of light as an absolute boundary. If it means altering the laws of physics in a region or an entire universe to prevent(others from) FTL travel, they'll do it.
Hyperfast FTL missiles linked to real-time FTL sensors? Sure.
Gravity traps? Old hat.
Warp closure fields that collapse a speeding CG starship's Alcubierre field and turn the ship into a few speeding particles of neutronium? Working on it.
The really dangerous Insulars are the mad scientist types, ideally with a paranoid-zealous culture's resources backing them..

[taalismn]

Moodgoas----Home of the Human Su-jori(Thundercloud Galaxy)(United Systems Alliance member)
“The Su-jori practiced rather strict birth control during their terraforming period, whic is fairly unusual for most colonies that want to grow their numbers fast. However, when dealing with terraforming, colonists don’t want to strain their artificial life support until the environment they’re creating on-world becomes self-sustaining. Then, a lot of new worlds see a boom in births, but just as many decide that after all the trouble they put into creating a new ecology, they don’t want to go and spoil it all. So while Moodgoas may be a relatively OLD colony, they aren’t necessarily a BIG colony for their age. They still practice restraint when it comes to population growth and it’s only fairly recently, with the Day-Doi and Day-Enai frontiers opening up, that big families are finally becoming a thing on Moodgoas. ”

“The Dalesrogen may be composed of a lot of regional blue-bloods who don’t mind taking the occasional potshot at each other politically, and it can devolve into outright petty squabbling just short of open rioting, but the terraforming effort, the Oath of Upkeep, is a sacred thing to them. Nobody shirks their duty to or sabotages anybody else’s contribution to the Great Project and the Green Goal, and anybody caught doing so gets the hard chop. It’s virtually a religion with them and not keeping it ‘s seen as tantamount to open treason.”

Moodgoas is a Human-colonized world in the Thundercloud Galaxy. Despite having two suns in its sky, Moodgoas is a cool world, being farther out from its binary primaries than Earth is from its one, Day-Chai A and -B having swept a large area around themselves clear of inner worlds. Most of the terraforming of Moodgoas has been aimed at creating an atmosphere capable of holding warm(water in a liquid state warm) temperatures.
The Su-jori are variant humans that have been out of contact with the rest of Human Alliance-spawned humanity for many centuries. They enjoy a high-tech culture and have colonized several bodies in their solar system and in two close neighboring systems as well. The Day-Chai 34 system was actually settled very early in the Thundercloud Rush, and the Su-joris’ colonial ancestors elected to stay and undertake the laborious effort of terraforming Moodgoas rather than keep on going and try to find a more hospitable virgin world. This has taken up much of their time and effort and their technological development has lagged in many fields as a result. They have just fairly recently begun to build up to a peer level with other colonized worlds of comparable age.
Though a high-tech civilization, the Su-jori are still behind the average of the mainstream polities of the Three Galaxies. This has made their prosperity attractive to pirates. Though the Su-jori are well-aware of threats in space and have taken pains to maintain an armed security force, individually their ships are often outclassed by better-equipped, opposition forces supplied from Corkscrew and Anvil galaxies sources.
The Su-jori were at first reluctant to have strong relations with any outside parties, but the growing piracy problem in their sector raised doubts as to the wisdom of this policy. A large scale abduction of several government officials and the children of many prominent society members by the Maldri pirates, which was undone by the intervention of the USAJC, clinched the matter. The Su-jori applied for United Systems Alliance membership and have begun several programs to update their defenses(including the acquisition of several destroyers and frigates from the ASI/WZT catalogues) and tech-base.

Su-jori are distinguished in having large conical ears with the ability to turn and position them at will. Their hearing is 10% better on average that Human baseline. They are sometimes mistaken for an elven sub-sept or catadapt bio-mods.

Besides the Day-Chai 34 system, the Su-jori have claimed/colonized the following systems:
* Day-Doi 35---Red dwarf star system w/4 small planets. It is 0.5 light years away. -Doi IV, Polnek, supports a mining colony of 46,000. Mars-like and virtually airless, Polnek is a ‘dome world’, colonists requiring enclosed-envirohabs to survive.

* Day-Enai 36---A binary orange and red dwarf star system 3 light years away. It possesses 2 planets; a hot Venus-style terrestrial world, and an Earth-sized, but considerably colder, terrestrial world(Plykeen). Newly discovered large deposits of Zilderite on Plykeen have made the system a growing money-maker for the Su-jori, but also an attractive target for pirates.

Solar System(Day-Chai 34)
Number of Stars: 2
Types of Stars:
-Blue Giant(Day-Chai A/Daifa)
-Orange Dwarf(Day-Chai B/Balyan)
Number of Planets: 6
- Terrestrial(Moodgoas)----System Lifeworld(terraformed)

-Gas Giant(Ohif)----Saturn-sized Ohif supports nine moons of any importance; 4 of them support colonies. Some 86 million Su-jori live under domes and in caves while mining and harvesting terraforming materials.

-Asteroid(Trepan)----Trepan is the largest asteroid in the dense Trogan Belt, and site of Vanten’s Lode, a Belter community some 52,000 strong.

-Terrestrial(Yareega)----Tiny, cold, and icy Yareega serves as a starship-servicing base. Some 1.4 million Su-jori live and work on Yareega, handling traffic coming in from the offworld colonies and outsiders.

-Asteroid(Reight)---- Reight’s main claim to fame is that it was the site of the ill-fated Rolten-Koit expedition; when the two-person asteroid prospector’s sensors registered a strike of extremely valuable Teelium 231, Kytes Rolten murdered her partner Alvor Koit and attempted to alter the ship’s records to make it look like an accident, then registered the find in her name. However, when a second survey vessel arrived on the scene, follow-up mineral assays found no trace of the valuable Teelium, and instead found that the Rolten-Koit ship’s instruments were defective and producing false readings. Rolten committed suicide soon after, and an investigation into her death unraveled the true story of what happened. Reight became known as ‘Murderer’s Rock’ and the subject of many lurid rumors of what really drove the homicide, including long-shimmering tensions between the two prospectors. Though Reight turned out to be nothing exceptional, the asteroid is stlll avoided to the modern day by the Su-jori Belter community. Some claim that long range scans in passing of Reight still occasionally register anomalous mineral readings, while other crews claim that they’ve heard the ghost of Alvor Koit talking over EVA suit frequencies, demanding to know where her partner is.

-Gas Giant(Datrin)----Small Datrin is the outermost outpost world of the Day-Chai system. It plays host to a scientific research station and gas-skimming/refueling facility that mainly serves to support ort-cloud prospecting operations, as Yareega is considered the better choice of a base for longer interstellar jumps, despite being deeper in the gravity well.

Planet(Moodgoas)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 9,700 km
Gravity: 0.6 g
Temperature: Cool, with an average global temperature of 42 degrees F. Large polar ice caps and ice fields. There is a narrow equatorial band that enjoys warmer temperatures and year-round open water.
Most Su-jori still live in climate-controlled dome-communities.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Moons(8)---Moodgoas has captured eight small moons. These were colonized early on to serve as orbital workshops supporting the terraforming effort. Some 23 million Su-jori live in colony habs on the moons, that continue to serve as weather-control stations for the planet below. Moodgoas also has an orbital ring of cometary nuclei that have been shepherded into orbit and used for terraforming materials and to build solettes to raise the planetary temperature.
Atmosphere:
Breathable terrestrial nitrox mix. The atmosphere is still on the thin and cold side, but the Su-jori are still pumping in greenhouse gases to raise pressure and temperature. Moodgoas is NOT a world where carbon emissions are an issue, except there isn’t enough of them.
Terrain:
Unusual Seismology-----Moodgoas’s surface is crisscrossed with regions or ‘lanes’ of less-dense crustal material that move in visibly-moving ‘ripples’ across the planet. These ripples or ‘geo-waves’ are generally 3d6x10 ft tall/deep and 3-4 times that wide in cross-section, and move at rates of 3d6-2d4x10 ft per year. During Moodgoas’s terraforming, when the planet was being bombarded with ice asteroids to raise atmospheric gases and pressure, some of the globe-spanning geowave lanes registered ripple speeds of 3-4 times their normal rate. While the waves are not normally dangerous in most parts(a person can easily walk up their slopes and down the other side), in some areas where the ground drops sharply or runs into denser stationary rock, the ‘waves’ can be much more dangerously unstable.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Iron
- Pitchblende
- Tin
- Colombite
- Thorium
- Graphite
- Gypsum
- Quartz
Hydrosphere:
Moist; roughly 67% of the planet’s surface is covered in open water.
Biosphere:
Was originally Lifeless prior to colonization, but terraforming and introduced species have raised it to Sparse. Large fields of atmosphere-altering plants are a common sight on Moodgoas, sprinkled with patches of thicker and more lush plant life, especially around the wetlands and coastal areas.
Civilization:
Settled
Population:
2.9 billion humans(variant sept)
Technology:
Mid- Interstellar. The Su-jori have advanced space travel and the ability to produce FTL drives, but of the larger and less efficient sorts.
Economy:
Agricultural---As a byproduct of the terraforming, large tracts of Moodgoas have been made into fertile landscape. A number of the fast-growth terraforming plant species also produce commercially-viable botanicals and phytochemicals, some of which have been harvested as surplus and shipped offworld.
Wealth:
Wealthy---With the majority of difficult terraforming work done, and resources from the outer planets and satellite colonies coming in, Moodgoas has accumulated quite a backlog of profit. Now that it’s opening up to the rest of the galaxy, albeit through the filter of the USA network, they’re putting that accumulated wealth to work, spending some of it on upgrading their space and defense capabilities.
Government:
Aristocracy----The Su-jori have had several changes in government over the centuries, with a technocracy becoming a monarchy, then after several wars of royal succession ending in the spacing of particularly nasty would-be emperor and his family, a parliament(the Dalesrogen) of aristocrats took over. One thing remains unchanged, however; the Oath of Upkeep, a pledge that the terraforming effort remain first and foremost.
Law Level:
Lawful, but there is some factionalism and outlawry now that the terraforming is entering its final phases, and people feel more leeway in acting up.
Popularity:
Ambivalent---While the move to join the USA is well-regarded and popular, there are many who feel that the government didn’t do enough to prevent the incidents that led up to it becoming a necessity, and that the same sort of people are still in power and likely to leave the planet vulnerable to other problems.
Stability:
Stable, despite mutterings about the Dalesrogen being composed of the same family lines for the past century. The aristos see trade with the outside galactic civilizations as both a potential danger(new ideas and influences coming in) and as opportunity(a chance to show they’re still relevant by managing galactic trade).



Vybrant-----(Probationary United Systems Alliance Member)(Anvil Galaxy)

“It’s like New Verona Colony, only more ‘civilized’....i.e. no nukes. But with more Named Houses, the relations get even gnarlier. Even at the best of times, the locals try to outdo each other in sheer pageantry rather than open warfare, which is a good thing, but discussing politics on Vybrant is like a cat with nine tails walking into the testing room at a rocking chair factory.”

“Some Alliance members have a harder time adjusting to being part of a greater stellar polity than others. Places like Eugenia and Lakye just dovetailed in nicely, while places like Vybrant can expect some big societal ripples.”

“Hmmm....only two thrown folders, two duel challenges and one poisoning attempt. Pretty quiet Council of Chairs session.”

“Even if and when we get those cadets back, fitting the Toscanti into the Alliance is going to take some work; their internal politics are a convoluted mess, with one of the few bright spots being that they don’t seem inclined to rabid xenophobia and shooting outsiders out of hand. There’s at least a central legal system we can work with, and few of the eligible Council members seem inclined to miss Chair meetings, so there’s some respect for the central government, which is a good sign. Still, it will be interesting to see what shakes out as their society acclimatizes to membership.”

“Whatever fault you may find with their pursuit of petty rivalries, love of all-too-clever political shenanigans, and obsession with backstabbing scheming, the Vybrantans are united on at least one good thing; they want their kids back.”

Vybrant is a high-tech human society in the Tolscant system, in the Anvil Galaxy. It is an offshoot of the Human Alliance, spawned just before the Automaton Wars. Vybrant never adopted Network, and rode out the war relatively unscathed, and in fact benefitted in the aftermath by attracting a number of disenchanted refugees seeking sanctuary from bitter reminders of the Network-initiated holocausts. This resulted in a general moratorium on technological development, especially AI, in the colonial society, a pattern that persisted for centuries.
Early on its development, Vybrant adopted a neo-feudal aristocratic societal model; multiple Houses vie for economic control, and compete to provide services and patronize arts.
Though the House-system has had its benefits, it’s also devolved into a constant bickering and feuding between rival Houses and their associated guilds. This rose to particularly violent levels that threatened to erupt into straight-out civil war, until cooler heads prevailed and forced the creation of the Tremsen-Galan Accords(named for the Vybrantan district where rivalries DID boil over into open warfare, leaving several hundred thousand dead before neighboring districts and Houses sent in peacekeepers to impose order).

For the most part, the Vybrantans disdained much contact with the outside galaxy, aside from some trade, particularly in luxury goods. The Lydathean Church discouraged the import of foreign technology and even foreign scientific data, encouraging the local guilds to engage in protectionism of local industry. These policies went largely unchallenged for several centuries.

As with the Su-jori of Moodgoas, the tipping point for the Vybrantan-Tolscanti seems to have been increasing piracy in their sector. Though a certain degree of outlawry was actually tolerated by the Vybrantans, and some Houses were suspected of/known for their participation in interstellar banditry, it all became too much to bear when several prominent targets were blatantly attacked. The worst of them was the hijacking and abduction of an entire space cadet- sorority class ship of the daughters of many of the higher-ranked Houses. Subsequent revelations that the young women were specifically targeted as high-value slave merchandise...after ‘adjustment’....shocked and enraged the Vybrantans. However, being aloof from galactic affairs for so long, the Vybrantans had little idea of where are how to start looking for their lost children. After hearing of how the United Systems Alliance’s anti-piracy forces had rescued a similar shipload of high-value hostages several sectors over, the Council of Chairs petitioned the USA for help.
This has led to the current tentative partnership with the United Systems Alliance, Vybrant being effectively a probationary member of that body. Vybrant is hardly what one might consider an ideal USA member, given their divided politics and dispersed nature, but as one USA negotiator privately observed, ‘We’ve worked with worse’. The prospect of greater participation in a greater Galactic polity has incited a number of reform movements and social reorganizations. Early arrival USA recruiters for their ‘foreign legion’ and volunteer galactic aid organizations have reported unexpected interest and high sign-up applicant numbers of Tolscanti wanting to become engaged in the Galactic scene .

Note:
The Tolscanti, especially the Vybranti born on the homeplanet, have an especially prevalent ‘Beauty and Vigor’ culture. Through various means, but especially a strong public health mentality(yoga- and pilate-style exercise, especially in public spaces, is commonly practiced), most Vybranti have a bonus of +1d4 P.B. and P.E.

Notable Organizations in Vybrant Society
-Planetary Militia(Miltar)----The Tolscanti maintain a common planetary/aerospace militia for self-defense, supported by what amounts to public subscription by the Houses. The Militar, though, are fairly small and equipped with a combination of locally produced weaponry and imported wargear, directed by a central cadre of professional soldiers(a number who have outsystem mercenary backgrounds) under Council command. In addition, they can draw upon the various House security forces for manpower(the Houses cannot possess or field heavy weapons--- the Tremsen-Galan Accords enforce this).
Aerospace-wise, the Militar-Celesta has many light combatants, but little in the way of heavy warcraft, and few, if any, that have force projection capabilities beyond the Tolscanti system. The M-C maintains a network of sensor- and arsenal battle-stations, but the eight older Warshield-class ships are the heaviest active mobile units in their fleet, and those vessels act as little more than monitors. Military reform is on the agenda as part of USA membership considerations, and many of the core professional Militar look forward to meeting their USAJC counterparts and comparing notes.

-Balanci---The central public courts. Though supposedly neutral, a reasonable amount of bribery and favoritism is expected in House-appointees, and balanced in part by the true ‘up from the street’ attorneys and public defenders. The competition between Houses also helps keep the court system honest, as the biased decision of a House-favoring judge may be overthrown on appeal by a council of un/less-biased judges. Still, some court cases can drag on for months, if not years, owing to the to-and-tho’ing.

- Spacer Academy(Brising)--- Though not particularly interested in extrasolar matters, the Tolscanti keep the knowledge of interstellar flight alive through the Spacer Academy, though the primary goal is to train Tolscanti in local space power and teach teamwork to young House members. However, the cadet classes are often shot through with social intrigues and petty power-plays, many Academy instructors have been accused of favoritism, and demerits can be bought off with political favors to the right Brising officers. The recent abduction of an entire cadet cruise has become a black eye to the Academy; many are calling for a deep review and overhaul of the institution, if not its outright abolishment. Already, there have been calls to invite in the USAJC to do an unbiased evaluation and reformation of the Academy, a move that is being strenously protested and resisted by some of the established Brising faculty.

-Order of Theopolis(Healers Guild)---As close to a thoroughly neutral agency as one can find among the Tolscanti, the Theopolitan Order attends to public health matters. While some Houses specialize in medical research and pharmacology production, the Theopolitans train and maintain in the best available medical technology and do charity work. Notably, many Theopolitans are fallen Lydathean clergy who disagreed with the more conservative positions of the Church on matters of technology, though the two organizations are by no means at loggerheads with each other.

-Vincians(Engineers Hall)---Civil engineering and public infrastructure are the province of this guild. Though not all sewers are dug, canals excavated, or wire strung by the Vincians , they do set the standards, carry out inspections, and keep the paperwork on any and all construction.

- The Lydathean Church---Though many recognizable Human Alliance religions are practiced on Vybrant, the monotheistic Lydathean Church is the most-subscribed to and the most affluent and influential. Supposed neutral, the Lydatheans also have the ears and patronage of some of the most powerful movers and shakers on Vybrant, and this has led to accusations of influence-peddling and corruption in the Church’s ranks. Strictly governed internally by its religious strictures, the conservative Lydathean Church is responsible for maintaining anti-AI sentiment, a thinly-veiled distrust of magic(they are notable opponents of HouseTethan) and a cool attitude towards bionics, psionics and genetics research. The Lydatheans have sponsored many civil works projects and societal reform initiatives, but they have also been one of the voices raised against involvement with outsystem political organizations, such as the United Systems Alliance.

-Didoclians---The Didoclians can be thought of as a detectives’ guild or private security firm. They are named after a famous local gumshoe who plied a favor owed him by one of the more affluent Houses into his own private organization. Most of the Didoclians’ work is domestic spying between the Houses(it’s actually considered an honor of sorts if somebody hires them to spy on you, and good sport to try to spot their agents), but they also consult for the regular constabulary and do some market research, checking on financials for investors. Their offworld experience, however, is scant, and thus the mass kidnapping of the Brising cadets left the organization floundering, not knowing where to begin looking.

-The Kaptans---The Kaptans are the heads of the massive raft-barges(Arks), each a small community unto itself, that sail Vybrant’s wide oceans and provide the planet with the seafood that constitutes a major part of the Vybrantan diet. While the Houses own and operate private fleets, a significant number of Arks remain in the hands of independent Kaptans to constitute a power-bloc with voting privileges in the Council of Chairs.. The Kaptans often sell their support to Houses but will just as often pool their votes on issues of importance to them. In general, the Kaptans try to remain out of House squabbles and smart House-Heads both avoid entangling the free Arks in their politics and listen to the Kaptans on environmental matters.

Solar System(Tolscant)
Number of Stars: 2
Types of Stars:
-Blue SubGiant(Tolscant-a)
-Yellow Dwarf(Tolscant-b/Prevanger)
Number of Planets: 8
-Asteroid(Etfurg)----Etfurg describes an orbit that takes it between the two Tolscants. It is also known for the Two Suns Casino, a gambling establishment owned and operated by local rogue and disgraced ex-politician Lokanto Takkalen, a colorful character with a checkered past, who is regarded by many as little better than a pirate and smuggler(he’s banned from setting foot on Vybrant under pain of arrest and incarceration). Etfurg-hab is his own little fiefdom, kept supplied through the efforts of Lokanto’s agents throughout the rest of the system. Most of the time the gaming complex on Etfurg is open to all, but during the five week period when the asteroid loops between the two suns, attendance is by invitation only and the complex locks down both for security and radiation reasons. Meanwhile, some very intense marathon gambling takes place, with stakes reportedly in the millions, and sometimes billions, of credits while the gamers wait for Etfurg to leave the solar ‘danger zone’( admittedly, heavily shielded ships CAN safely approach and dock, but Lokanto likes the mystique of the ‘solar storm games’). The ‘lockdown’ also prevents anybody from skipping out without paying up. Despite Tolscant’s relative isolation, the Two Suns games are known and anticipated by outsystem high-stakes gamblers throughout several adjacent galactic sectors and even as far away as PhaseWorld.
A cheerfully corrupt man, Takkalen still has many contacts throughout the Tolscant system, and he also has just as many people wanting a piece of him. Lokanto was almost immediately blamed as having a hand in the kidnapping of the Brising cadets, despite the fact one of the man’s daughters was among those taken.

-Terrestrial(Vybrant)----System lifeworld

-Terrestrial(Drwen)----Enormous Drwen is shrouded in a dense high-pressure reducing atmosphere that would make it attractive to terraforming, but for the planet’s crushing gravity.

-Gas Giant(Halvat)----Large for a gas giant, Halvat supports seven moons of note, with colonies being established on the largest, Gwjen. Allegedly Gwjen was sponsored in part by a Vybrant assassins’ guid, the Tascadi, who hoped to established a refuge on the moon, but their private hab-dome suffered a catastrophic accident, killing everybody in residence, soon after they moved in. Officially, the cause of the accident was a structural failure, but the locals aren’t so sure of that. That the Tascadis’ part in bankrolling the Gwjen colony was quickly assumed by several groups who had showed little previous interest in the colony, but who all had axes to grind with the guild(part of the reason the Tascadi felt it prudent to move their headquarters off Vybrant), strikes many as more than a little suspicious. As a result of the catastrophe, the Tascadi are generally assumed to be extinct, aside from rumors of a few survivors who are now fearful fugitives gone into hiding.

-Asteroid(Nevyen)---- Nevyen is the prize possession of House Tharsen, which has gotten very rich mining the deposits of Colal Crystals( Rifter #0-1). ‘Rich as a Tharsen’ is a common saying in the Tolscant system, and the Tharsen Crystal Palace made almost entirely of locally-mined crystals, is one of the great wonders of the system. Tharsen House members have a reputation for being big and conspicuous spenders, to the point of arrogance(or preceived arrogance), and for having a big political war-chest for buying influence in the House Conferences and Council of Chairs. However, there’s a darker side to the story; the Tharsens see a day the colal deposits, and their wealth and influence, run out. Though anybody with half a brain could figure out that a dwarf planet is eventually going to run out of minerals, the Tharsens are going through hoops to maintain the illusion of infinite wealth and little concern. Behind the scenes, though, the Tharsens are desperately trying to diversify their portfolio and set up alternate revenue streams that will allow them to keep their current level of wealth(it’s even rumored in-house that some of the less-visited portions of the Crystal Palace have been secretly sold off and replaced with plastic replicas). Whether that desperation includes getting involved in criminal enterprises remains to be seen.
On the technology-side, Tharsen Crystal laser weapons are considered highly desirable and command high prices, especially the compact totally-not-an-assassin’s-weapon models.

-Gas Giant(Dider)----Jupiter-sized Dider has a single large moon, Comeri, which os Titan-like in having an ammonia-cycle atmosphere. It is occasionally tapped for chemicals.

-Gas Giant(Gattler)----Saturn-sized Gattler is distinguished in having a curiously high PPE field for a gas giant. This mystic energy field has helped sustain a number of exolife forms suspended in the atmosphere. It has also attracted the attention of mages(especially Air Elemental Warlocks), some of who have established ‘floater’ communities in the upper atmosphere, sustained and held aloft as much by magic as by technology. The Sky-Mages of Gattler generally do not have anything to do with the Vybrantan House politics and those attempting to get them involved have found themselves bluntly rebuffed(and in some cases violently so, to the point that several particularly aggressive overtures resulted in the Vybrantan parties being dropped into Gattler’s atmosphere). The only exception is HouseTethan, who moved their entire holdings into floater-habs alongside the Sky-Mages and become virtually indistinguishable from them. The Gatttler Sky-Mages rarely interact with the Vybrantans, but have proven more amenable to contact with the UWW, and from there to the United Systems Alliance.

-Asteroid(Udant)----The Spacer Academy maintains a campus facility here. It is supposedly neutral ground for the Houses, but the students are no strangers to junior power-plays and social jockeying.

Planet(Vybrant)
Type:Terrestrial
Diameter: 10,500 km
Gravity: 0.9 g
Temperature: Temperate, with a planetary average temperature of 47 degrees F.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Moon----Vybrant possesses a single large moon, Decibulus, that has been settled by several of the industrial Houses. Some 9.9 million Tolscanti call the moon home and provide the homeworld with finished goods from Decibulus’s mines. The moon also hosts a major public spaceport .
Atmosphere:
Exotic. Breathable nitrox mix, but the atmosphere is laced with high upper atmosphere layers of solar-reactive chemical compounds that produce aurora-like illumination even in broad daylight. Surface astronomy is nearly impossible with this phenomena going on. At night, the skyglow effect can reach full moon levels of illumination.
Terrain:
Varied, but some 40% of the land mass is in the form of wetlands. Vybranti cities and communities are distinguished by large built-up manmade islands and artificial canals.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Amethyst
- Pitchblende
- Mercury
- Tin
- Quartz
- Graphite
- Platinum
- Calcite
Hydrosphere:
84% of Vybrant’s surface is covered in open water. Several especially shallow seas, however, have allowed for the construction of large artificial islands.
Biosphere:
Moderate. Vybrant’s ecology has seen hard use since colonization. There have been a number of species extinctions. Conservation and restoration have become recent charity causes for the Houses to use to show off their prosperity, but galactic ecological engineering technologies are among desired things on the wishlist of environmentalists.
Civilization:
Settled
Population:
6 billion Humans
Technology:
Low-end Stellar Age. The Tolscanti can produce megadamage materials and weaponry, though of the common domain types. They are deficient in robotics and higher-end computer technologies. While they possess a space travel capability, their shipbuilding capability is limited to small- to medium-sized starships, and FTL drives are almost hand-built to commission. Only a few Houses and the most powerful/wealthy guilds have the means (and the reason) to build larger ships, and for the most part they copy others’ designs. The Spacer Academy training ship, for example, was based on a heavily-modified Stonewall frame.
Economy:
Agriculture and Light Manufacturing
Wealth:
Average; Vybrant’s relative isolationism isn’t done it any favors balance of trade-wise, and most domestic production is used locally.
Government:
Neo-Feudal Aristocracy; there are some 300 named aristocratic Houses of any significance jockeying for position. A congress of the heads of the Houses, the Council of Chairs, meets regularly to discuss matters of common interest, while House Conferences can be called to address lesser matters of commerce and law.
Law Level:
Moderate. Though things have calmed down considerably since the institution of the Accords, there’s still a good deal of squabbling among the lower tier Houses, though the Accords have kept such disagreements from escalating into another War of Assassins, or, gods forbid, open warfare.
Popularity:
Ambivalent---Old House loyalties die hard, but faced with the prospect that their society has laid them open to depredations by outsiders, many Vybrantans are willing to set their differences aside.
There is some considerable groundswell favoring USA membership and welcoming increased galactic trade, countered by minority, but stiff, objections to ‘outsider influences’ impacting Tolscanti society in ways more direct and insidious than they already have.
Stability:
Stable; up from Unrest. Adaptation to the Alliance has brought many former rivals together in uneasy, grudging, cooperation, but uniting in a common cause against common enemies seems to be providing a sort of social glue until more constructive cooperative ties can be formed. Still, there’s a lot of old obstacles yet to be hurdled as the Tolscanti acclimate to USAn membership.

[taalismn]

Percheyllus Nine(aka “Datran’s World’)-(United Systems Alliance Colony)((Thundercloud Galaxy)
(aka ‘Datran’)
“Perc-Nine’s already got a substantial wet navy for a colony of its size since the Golgans tried coming in over open water and invading the colony from the sea, expecting the residents to be surprised. They were rather surprised themselves when their submarine landing force found itself under torpedo attack. The colony’s only increased its number of armed sub-patrollers and seabed sensors since then.”

“Datran’s orbit STILL gives the astrophysicists fits; they can’t explain how the whole Prod-Dat-Bros-Rhon constellation formed and especially what keeps it going and stable.
Not that this matters any or much to the colonists, most of whom live underwater and rarely stargaze. They’re too busy digging up money; that they’re riding one strange anomaly doesn’t ping on their daily lives.”

Percheyllus Nine is a United Systems Alliance-sponsored colony world in the Thundercloud Galaxy. It is a ‘wet’ colony, owing to its surface being covered with significantly more water than land. The tainted atmosphere means that most of the colony’s settlements are under domes(including underwater) reliant on filtered air, while USPPC scientists work to devise ways of denaturing the toxins on a larger scale.
Despite its size, P9/Datran possesses a fairly low gravity, and for being so far out from its primary, it is surprisingly warm, both because of anomalous geological heat sourcing and the presence of two ‘brown dwarfs’ in the system radiating extra heat radiation.
The real treasure, some would claim, and the real reason the USA chose to grab Percheyllus 9 when it could, is the discovery, kept secret, of substantiial amounts of the ‘copy-crystal’Omnind. Affixing this ‘polycrystal’ to copy other more industrially-useful crystals, extending their available supplies, is a goal of the USA.
Like the water-world of Vivisanda, Percheyllus 9/Datran is close enough to the declared ‘expansion territory’ of the Golgan Republik in the Thundercloud that the system has been claimed by the Golgans, despite the USA having already established a claim to and a presence on it. The Golgans went so far as to, even before the current Kultural Revolution-initiated hostilities, attempt to seize the planet by force, but were repulsed by an unexpectedly strong and determined military presence put in by the USAJC.
Now that the Golgan Republik and the United Systems Alliance are openly at war with each other, colonial officials fear that that the Republik forces may again attempt to attack USAn properties in the Thundercloud, if only to divert attention away from the shellacking they’ve been taking in the Anvil Galaxy.

Solar System(Percheyllus435)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars:
-Yellow Dwarf
Number of Planets: 12
-Asteroid(Halen)----Small Halen is used as a solar observatory and weather station. An automated outpost keeps tabs on Percheyllus435’s activity.

-Gas Giant(Nyted)---Miniscule for a gas giant, Nyted is lacking in moons to support much in the way of orbital industry/activity, though it is sometimes skimmed for gases.

-Gas Giant(Talhel)----Saturn-like in size, Talhel supports several moons, convenient for inner system bases.
It was while scouting Talhel’s four moons for possible defense base sites that prospectors discovered Malda’s Tyridium deposits. Now Malda is becoming known as the ‘Silver Moon’ for the second major mining operation in the system.

-Terrestrial(Rocymel)----This planet skirts being a planetisimal by only a few kilometers’ worth of diameter. Rocymel’s main feature of interest is that it has retained a tremendous amount of subcrustal water, making it a good candidate for space-hab development.

-Terrestrial(Cjel)----Though Earth-like in size, Cjel’s thin toxic atmosphere and high level of tectonic activity make it a poor choice for colonization, even of the hab-dome type. The planet is noted for massive volcanos that spew gas fast and furiously enough that much of it escapes into orbit where it is stripped away by the solar winds. Cjel, as a result, resembles a massive comet from afar.

-Terrestrial(Hower)----Roughly Earth-sized and possessing a super-dense atmosphere, Hower is a possible candidate for terrraforming.

-Exotic(Brosch)---- Brown Dwarf. Brosch shares an unusual ‘mini-solar system’ orbit with Datran, Prodia, and Rhonarch that SHOULD be unstable, but which isn’t. Over a 9-year cycle, Broach and Rhonarch revolve around Prodia and Datran

-Gas Giant(Prodia)----Jupiter-scaled Prodia offers gas-mining opportunities. Though Prodia sits at the epicenter of a ‘mini-solar system’ of two much larger brown dwarves and a terrestrial planet, scientific probes and scans have not found anything special about Prodia to explain the exotic planetary arrangment. The favorite posyulation is that Prodia contains some as-yet undetecable form of ‘dark matter’ or ‘dark energy’ that affects the unusual orbits of the gas giant’s partners.

-Terrestrial(Percheyllus 9/Datran)----System Lifeworld

-Exotic(Rhonarch)---- Brown Dwarf and the other massive component of the ‘Prod-Dat-Bros-Rhon constellation’. It regularly changes places with Brosch.

-Terrestrial(Vigmann)----Huge, cold and covered by a super-dense toxic atmosphere, Vigmann has little to offer of interest.

-Terrestrial(Eyral)---- Cold and ice-locked, tiny Eyral sits on the edge of Percheyllus435’s ort cloud-zone. Of necessity, the USAJC has seeded the planet with elemenys of a long-range sensor net to monitor surrounding space for unwelcome visitors. The automated Eyral outpost also provides a backup emergency ‘deadman’ beacon in the event anybody should jam the colonial commuications.

Planet(Percheyllus 9/Datran)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 18,000 km
Gravity: 0.7 g
Temperature: Temperate, and on the tropical side. Average planetary temperature is 51 degrees F.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Odd Orbit----Datran shares an odd ‘mini-solar system’ orbit with Brosch, Prodia, and Rhonarch. The arrangement occasionally brings Datran inside the orbit of Prodia, making it technically Percheyllus-EIGHT.

Atmosphere: Tainted; Datran’s atmosphere has poisonous levels of ozone. Anybody venturing outdoors needs to wear light protection against inhaling the tainted air and getting the ozone in sensitive tissues like the eyes.

Terrain:
Four+ Terrains
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Iron
- Amethyst
- Sapphire
- Molybdenite
- Gypsum
- Arsenic
- Calcite
- Samarskite
Omnind( Rifter #0-1)---Assumes the qualities and appearance of any other gemstone it touches.
Hydrosphere:
Wet----87% of the planet’s surface is covered in open water
Biosphere:
Sparse-----Several hardy forms of algae and bacteria survive in the oceans, protected from the ozone-rich atmosphere.
Civilization:
Colonial
Population:
300,000 (54% humans, 29% QuimBek, 17% other)
Technology:
Galactic
Economy:
Mining
Wealth:
As a colonial outpost, can be considered to be Poor, but only because the mining operations do not immediately profit the settlement; the mining corp supplies the necessities, and an infomal black market caters to the less acceptable or more expensive vices of the miners.
Government:
State-sponsored corporate outpost.
Law Level:
Lawful----Dome and camp life is fairly well regulated and aside from the usual disputes and vices of a mining world, Datran’s pretty peaceful.
Popularity:
Beloved...Unusual for a mining colony, especially one on such an unpromising world, but the colonists have risen to the challenge and feel they are making a stand, especially after driving off the Golgans.
Stability:
The Golgan attempts to take Percheyllus 9 away from the USA have only set the determination of the colonists to hold onto it. Effectively Solid stability.

* Varo San-gar----(United Systems Alliance Colony)(Thundercloud Galaxy)
(aka ‘Wizards’ Bane’, ‘Null-World’)

“ Varo San-gar was discovered by the Noro, and at first they thought they had a goldilocks planet ripe for colonization. Then after they tried living there for awhile, they gave up....It just seemed to lack some secret ingredient for proper mental health.”

“ Varo San-gar is arguably spookier than a haunted world because of a LACK of ghosts.”

“Place is a planet-wide null chamber....we’ve already had several requests from various institutions wanting to set up isolation labs for performing scientific work in para-energy-free environments. “

“Even if you’re going to Varo-San to ‘cleanse’ yourself of any suspected evil eye curses or dark energies and thinking it would be a nice place to stay afterwards, be aware that many other people who say they’re going to do just that end up leaving after a year or so and coming back out into the rest of the universe. Like it or not, you’d be surprised how much people miss the subliminal background noise of the meta, especially when it’s no longer there. It’s a comforting backgound music filling the void; if there’s nothing but void, it becomes even more frightening.”

Varo San-gar can be considered the opposite of Aranis Secor; it has a breathable atmosphere, comfortably low gravity(especially for a planet of its size), hospitable clime,...and absolutely no ambient psychic energy. Magic and psionics fail to work on the planet, to the degree that even non-psychics find the planet eerie because of the feeling of something missing. Varo San-gar is one of a handful of planets where even psionics don’t work. The hows and whys alone make the planet worthy of study, and its hospitable environment make it attractive to people who fear and hate magic and psychic phenomena. Besides several fair-sized settlements (and a secret maximum-security prison ), the United Systems Alliance maintains a military training ground, Fort Nil, that sees a lot of mages and psychics(with the exception of psi-stalkers;Varo San-gar is VERY dangerous to psi-stalker health ) rotated through to expose them to an environment where their powers do NOT work. Sometimes referred to as a traumatizing experience for some magic users(and many of those scrub out of the military altogether), most mages regard it as a thoroughly unpleasant, but eye-opening, experience that has proved invaluable, so the programs continue.

Solar System(Varon-99 Atagus)
Number of Stars: 2
Types of Stars:
-Yellow Dwarf(Varon-a)
-Orange Dwarf(Varon-b)
Number of Planets: 9
-Terrestrial(Ulsra)----Tiny and well-irradiated by Varon-a and -b, Ulsra attracts little interest aside from several automated solar observatories monitoring the solar weather.

-Terrestrial(Varo San-gar)----System lifeworld

-Gas Giant(Falfow)----’Microscopic’-category gas giant that appears to have never captured any satellites. Its atmosphere is occasionally skimmed for gases.

-Gas Giant(Thados)----Jupiter-sized Thados and its moon system are often as close as most mages and psychics want to come to Varo San-Gar, so the station on the gas giant’s single moon Darmos is often as busy as the Varo San-gar stations with alternate travel bookings.
The USAJC also maintains a facility on Darmos, publically as a patrol base, but its secondary function is handling personnel, especially mages and psychics, who have health issues related to the Null on Varo San-Gar.

-Terrestrial(Kadrac-col)----Tiny Kadrac-col is atmosphered in methane fog and possesses shallow ammonia seas. It is occasionally tapped for chemicals.

-Terrestrial(Ovetti-ohn)----Large, rocky and dry, Ovetti-ohn does possess a thick atmosphere belched out by a still very active internal volcanism. The atmosphere resembles thick ashous smog more than anything else, and thunderstorms are common on the planet. Ovetti-ohn is being studied by exobiologists to see if the combination of thermal energy and chemical soup has generated any pre-life proto-molecules, especially with Null- Varo San-Gar being so close by in the same system(some scientists believe that some PPE is essential to kickstart life on a planet, while others contend that PPE is a BYproduct of existing life).

-Gas Giant(Tregdos)----Large Tregdos lost all its large moons to what appears to have been one massive orbital demolition derby. An impressively dense ring system surrounds the planet, grinding away at any substantial moonlets, and infalling material from the innermost rings makes approaching the planet proper hazardous. The constant rain of atmospheric impacts spawns impressive large and multiple storm cells, and passing starships often stop(at a safe distance) to observe the spectacle.

-Asteroid(Dalgos)----Smallish Dalgos describes a cometary orbit. It actually consists of two small bodies orbiting each other; apparently Dalgos-a and-b periodically join together before breaking apart and repeating the cycle with each orbit in and out of the inner solar system.

-Terrestrial(Renello)----Small and icy, Renello plays host to a small research station that uses long range mystech sensors to map the extent of ‘null’ activity in the Atagus system proper. Renello’s high inclination orbit that takes it well above and below the system’s eclliptic serves this very well, though its orbital period of 375 years means an all-angles comprehensive mapping will take awhile.


Planet(Varo San-gar)
Varo San-Gar would be a most attractive planet for colonization, but for its paranormal null field; even non-mages/non-psychics will detect that there’s just something ‘off’ about the planet. Many would claim the planet feels ‘dead’, despite vistas of blooming vegetation and thriving wildlife, and many religious people fear the planet destroys souls. However, there’s a good number of people, even in the open-minded United Systems Alliance, who are drawn to the planet; those who fear magic and psioncis, people with magic curses seeking relief, and a good number of atheists who don’t believe in magic.
Varo San-Gar is orbited by four spacestations; a commerce hub, an orbital drydock and manufacturing complex, a government research and services station, and a military platform. The military station, Port Zek, is quite large and services Fort Nil on the surface below. Besides having docking/servicing for the system’s garrison squadrons, Port Zek also has holding facilities for moving troops to and from the surface, Port Zek also has emergency medical facilities to treat any mages and psychics who have Null-related medical(especially psychiatric) emergencies on Varo San-Gar’s surface, high-speed medical shuttles getting them up to the station for stabilization and evaluation before moving them out to a sister facility on Darmos. Prisoner transfer to the surface is also through Port Zek.

Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 18,000 km
Gravity: 0.7 g; surprisingly low for a large planet.
Temperature: Temperate, similar to Earth’s variations.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Psychic Null----Varo San-Gar not only lacks any ambient PPE field, it effectively cancels out magic altogether. Mages and PPE generators will be UNABLE to recharge PPE until they leave the planet(and the system) altogether.
Even psionics are virtually impossible, and only passive(no telepathy)/sensitive psionic abilities will be possible, but at DOUBLE. the ISP cost.
Against this background of null, items with PPE concentrations show up like magnesium flares but cannot be drawn upon, nor recharged.
Those with magic curses will find them effectively suspended for the duration of their stays on Varo San-Gar. Supernatural possession is much more difficult; while external efforts at exorcism/banishment may not be possible, the possessing entity will be effectively locked inside its host, unable to use any of its powers, and growing steadily more anxious and agitated, increasingly stressed to the point of insanity. Worse yet, if the host’s consciousness still exists and has any remaining chance of saving versus continued possession, they get a cumulative +1 to save for every month they spend in residence on Varo San-Gar.
If successfully expelled, the possessing entity is now in trouble, being effectively at the mercy of the Null. The entity can attempt to find a new host and hide in it until the host leaves the Null, but will be at -6 to attempt to do so; though only at -3 to try to hide in a psychic with Sensitive powers in ‘open’ mode. If the entity cannot find a new host, it will eventually wither and die within a week, unable to absorb enough ISP or PPE to keep it alive..
If the possession is of a more remote kind, the connection is effectively broken and the distant possessor cannot re-establish the link. In the case of witch or shifter pacts where the supernatural possession/linkage is voluntary, upon leaving the Null region, the link can be renewed, but in the case of involuntary links, the link is effectively permanently broken. However, many who come to Varo San-Gar for such a cure often do not leave and take up permanent residence as new colonists, feaful of ever being possessed again if they leave the safety of the Null.
Needless to say, Varo San-Gar is a popular destination for people who suspect they are possessed or targeted by supernatural beings.
Atmosphere:
Breathable terrestrial nitrox mix.
Terrain: Varied, but with some exotic features:
-’Cold Holes’---These are caverns that not only nullify PPE, they actually DRAIN PPE from visitors at a rate of 1d4 PPE every 10 minutes. Even the para-blind will feel a chill in these caverns.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Wolframite
- Lead
- Copper
- Zinc
- Calcite
- Diamond
- Gypsum
- Titanium
Hydrosphere:
Roughly 68% of the planet’s surface is covered in open water.
Biosphere:
Moderate; roughly equal to Earth’s Silurian period. The most complex life is in the water; the land is mainly covered in ferns, grasses, and primitive trees. The largest water life is large crustaceans, some of which have begun to venture into dry land.
There are still large patches of sparsely vegetated inland terrain; these are being developed for plantings with introduced offworld agricultural crops.
It puzzles most xenobiologists and paranormalists how such an ecosystem can exist witout exhibiting any PPE, though there is some evidence suggesting that evolution and mutation is much slower on Varo San-Gar.
Civilization:
Colonial
Population:
65,000(80% Human, 20% other). There’s a growing number of transients and immigrants seeking to rid themselves of ‘taints’.
Technology:
Galactic ; the colonists are well-supplied with offworld tech to maintain a comfortably safe lifestsyle.
Economy:
Service Economy; being near a galactic trade route and hyperlane, Varo San-Gar provides communications support and a stopover location(at the spacestations) for repairs and resupply.
There’s also a growing trade in sanitoriums specializing in treating those with magic curses or supernatural possession. And, of course, there’s the rumored revenue from incarcerating magic prisoners. It’s further rumored that some of the ‘cold holes’ are being used as ‘witch holes’ to actively drain magic-users and keep them from using their powers...EVER.
Generally, though, psychics and magic-users on ships making stopovers at Varo San-Gar, tend to stay in high otbit(or book stayovers at Darmos). Only the most daring, foolhardy, or ignorant deign to visit the surface to test themselves and experience the null.
Wealth:
Prosperous; despite(or, for those who fear the supernatural, because of) its reputation, Varo San-Gar makes a good profit in providing services to travellers and refugees from magic.
Government:
Oligarchy---The ‘Council of Six’, a group of early speculators who staked out land claims early and now control a substantial portion of the currently avaiable land and the businesses established on them, effectively control the colony. While not tyrants, the ‘Six’ still set the rules with little room for debate. Anybody wanting to do anything on Varo San-Gar that doesn’t involve planetary security or similar has to deal with the Council for approval.
Law Level:
Lawful. The local constabulary just have to deal with ‘mundane’ crimes, as the Null effectively rules out psychic and magic crime.
Popularity:
Popular, those who have settled on the ‘Null Planet’ and toughed it out, enjoy their lives there for whatever reasons.
Stability:
Stable; there have been no complaints about the running of the Varo San-Gar colony

Locations of Note:

*Fort Nil---One of the most feared training grounds in the United Systems Alliance, at least by magic-users and psychics.

*The ‘Blank Box’---Rumored maximum security prison for mages and psychics, said to be hidden somewhere on Varo San-Gar.

[taalismn]

Military Forces and Traditions of the United Systems Alliance:

“There’s plenty of tales that the Rim polities like the United Systems Alliance recruit up cannonfodder legions from the desperate worlds, wowing them with high-tech and tales of glory. Harrisar, for example, where life is cheap because there’s so many of them. Supposedly the usans make promises to the fresh meat that they cast on the battlefields as ablative meatshielding, bullet-catchers, and disposable ground-matting.
Fact is, the USAJC values its troops like few others. If you don’t mind magic healing or even resurrection, or don’t object to bionic or biogenetic life support or reconstruction, your odds of surviving a stint with the Alliance military are very good---better than most. You’d pretty much have to be vaporized for the Alliance medical establishment not to be able to rez your remains back into something you could recognize as yourself.”

“We put the trainees through hell now, so they don’t falter in the hell of real combat later.”

Though a new star nation, the United Systems Alliance already has acquired a reputation as a military power, and a fair number of its constituent worlds and cultures have martial reputations. While the USAJC attracts many outsiders into its Foreign Legion-style formations and Irregulars, it manages to vet them and weed out most, if not all, of the less-ethical and more opportunistic types, as well as the more ignorant adventure- and glory-seekers.

-Greater New Englanders---Native-born and -raised Rifts Earther GNErs may be thin on the ground offworld due to their small numbers, but they invariably are the core of elite and special forces units thanks to their higher than average physical attributes and ratios of special abilities like psionics and magic. They tend to be hard-bitten, resilient, resolute, and almost fanatically zealous about their duties, with an infectious spirit of ‘can-do’ in those around them. The Gurkhas of the USA.

-Skenzians--Under the elven aristocratic posturing and dotty traditions are knife-happy elven cutthroats eager to skewer pirates and slavers. Skenzians bring well-practiced traditions of fighting with sharp implements to their galactic units.

-Daradans---Recruits from dusty Mars-like Darad have a rep for being crack small-arms shots with a fondness for shutting down corporate wars. They also excel at desert vehicles, especially hovers, and Daradan ‘duster-jocks’ are making names for themselves as hover/GEV/contra-gravity armor.

-Abelonians----Though this clone society is generally a peaceful and peaceable one, Abelonian recruits to the USAJC have made names for themselves as scouts and rangers. Possibly their shared genetic legacy with the famed dimensional traveler ‘Wander’ Atchison is responsible, but other clone lines are exhibiting certain apptitudes as well(though part of this may be because the Abelonians tend to be rather selective about the quality genetic material they use to expand their genepool).

-Chai-Chuks----These furry high-gravity worlders are adapting well to Galactic technologies and they train some excellent heavy weapons teams and armor-drivers. Coordination in groups is a signature trait of Chai-Chuk units.

-Kellestans---Aside from the fear some people feel when in the presence of these plague-scarred humans, Kellestans are earning a reputation as hard-driving pirate hunters.

-Venhest---Recruits from this world are almost invariably also graduates of the martial College and show a studied approach to combat. Recent experience fighting for their world means that the lessons of guerilla warfare are still fresh in their minds, and Venhestians are dogged insurgency and counter-insurgency fighters.

-Hadazad---Though they’re still adapting to Galactic technologies and ways of war, units recruited from Hadazad show a proficiency in robot combat few others possess, once they get over their tendency to seek one-on-one duels.

-Kai-Shem---The Minotaurs of Kai-Shem are well-respected for their starship crews and marines. Bladesmanship is on a par with Skenzian swordsmanship, and even the Skenzians respect Kai-Shem hull-metal axes.

-Rebliss---The phlegmatic and laid-back Rebliss may not be great physical specimens, but they have unexpectedly acquired a growing and feared reputation for their methodical approach to warfare. Rebliss can be excruiatingly patient and unnervingly calm when executing space maneuvers. Many a non-Rebliss superior officer has futily castigated a Rebliss subordinate for not moving on a target, only for the latter to choose the perfect moment to deliver the most devastating strike to the enemy. Likewise, many an opponent has been unnerved to distraction and cowardice by the seemingly suicidal oncome of a Reblis warship or formation of them on a collision course, breaking only at the last moment and delivering critical strikes in passing.

-Tmelain---Exile from their homelands and fighting to carve out new ones has engendered in the Tme a calm patient anger and tactical cunning born of experience. Tyrants beware; the Rim-scum are seen as practice for the day many Tme hope will come when the USA can take back the lost Tmelain homeworlds from the TransGalactic Empire.

-Eugenians---Prior to joining the USA, the wealthy Eugenians already had a good solid space navy and marine corp for self defense, but lacked power projection. Training with the civilized Rim- and Rift-raff of other members has honed the Eugenian military to better take the fight to the enemy which they do with dignity and barely-concealed enthusiasm.

-Gilbertans---Though their society is rife with odd mannerisms and nepotism, once many upper-class Gilbertans of a military bent get away from the eyes of their peers and the expectations of high society, they turn out to be pretty good officers. Strong organizational skills and stoic bravery seem to typify these soldiers and fleet officers.

-Harrisonians---Though dismissed as cannonfodder by the ignorant, the recruits from the overpopulated, polluted and resource-depleted world of Harrisar are anything but. Though fed-up to the nutritional standards of the USA, Harrisonians still feel that they have little to lose and everything to gain by giving it their all, and they are willing to FIGHT for land grants and a future where their children aren’t scrambling for crumbs and resorting to cannibalism. Harrisonian ground troops show a surprising resilence and stubornness in combat, and do not concede ground easily.

-Nettavanians---The Grendelsec Bashers have made their mark on Nettavans’ recruits to the USAJC. The inherent ferocity of goblin-kind is fused with the galactic experience of the Bashers to produce soldiers and warriors with a cool professionalism, near fearless demeanor, and tactical cunning hard to match. Bashers and Nettavanian military personnel in general have even come to regard themselves as a cut above the 'barbaric' majority of goblin-kind(most of who, if they acknowledge the Nettavanians at all, see them as 'sell-outs' for their close cooperation with non-Goblins, especially humans). So far, that reputation has withstood all challengers.

-Kraykt----The Kraykt of Yeltzar are still few in number and mainly content to send military observers. The few times they’ve participated in small-group actions, their operatives have demonstrated the ferocity and professionalism for which their species and culture is rightly feared.


More Notable United Systems Alliance Military Units

*Peloiian Teneford First Footguard
(aka ‘The Gilded GutterRats’, ‘Ten’s Ass-kickers’)
“They may be trained in modern galactic tactics, equipped with modern galactic gear, and can stand politely at attention as backdrop for the cameras trained on the princesses, but make no mistake; the usan-made body armor and Peloiian decorations are just gilding on vicious guard hive-rats who will go for your eyes and bite out your throat if you even think of going near their royal females with ill-intent.”

“Really, when the girls went abroad for foreign study on some worlds on the edges of even t usan space, their schoolmates thought ‘princess’ was just a cute nickname. It wasn’t until some local organized crime boss’s ambitious daughter thought to begin establishing herself as queen rat above local law, that she learned that the girl with the prosthetic limbs that she’d dismissed as inconsequential turned out to know the law of the jungle even better than she did, the ‘nickname’ actually meant something, and the crime boss’s enforcers were no match for a heavily-armed bodyguard who killed slave-dealers and narco-gangers for a living.”

Before it was annexed in self-defense by Peloii, the pirate haven of Danager and its capital of Dowtrer were run by gangs. But not all the gangs were engaged in rapine, extortion, piracy, and organlegging; some were strictly formed out of self-defense. These groups tended to be on the backfoot, however, and few lasted long against the larger pirate-backed gangs. Those that did, however, tended to raise scrappy gutter-fighters , or left a legacy of tough and idealistic resistance. When the United Systems Alliance Joint Command finally blasted the Danageran pirates and broke the backs of the gangs that supplied them with a base and supplies, the USAJC rounded up the gangs and turned them over to Peloiian justice to deal with. Those young militants who were judged not to harbor pro-pirate sentiments were re-educated and drafted into a Peloiian-led militia organization to give them direction.
The Teneford First Foot came about when members of the Danager militia learned that the Crown Prince of Peloii, Prince Tessen, had adopted several young Dowtreren children and made them eligible legal heirs to the throne. Enthused by the prospect of ‘one of them’ (i.e. slum-rats from Danager) rising to nobility, the young Danageran soldiers swore allegiance to the Prince and asked if they could serve them in a more proactive role. The Crown Prince’s brother, Duke Teneford, who(uncharacteristically for an aristocrat in a similar situation)wholly approved of the adoption, gifted the children with a company of Danager-raised troopers as a security detail, provided they passed the rigorous Peloiian and USAn training and standards for such work. They met the challenge, and Prince Tessan gratefully accepted the Teneford First Foot Guard into his service in recognition of his brother’s magnanimous gesture.
The Teneford First Foot consists almost entirely of former Danageran gangers who are zealously loyal to the adopted daughters of Prince Tessen. When the Tessan Princesses go abroad, units of the Teneford First Foot accompany them as security detail.
The Teneford First Foot specializes in urban warfare and security. They go plainclothes almost half of the time, but they are fully versed in EBA armored combat and extraction work. They may lack the spit and polish of traditional Peloiian noble guard formations, but they have adopted very well to the USA’s general attitude of ‘hold noble ideals and fight dirty if you have to to defend them’. Since most of them grew up on the very mean streets of Dowtrer, the Teneford Foot is well-versed in streetfighting tactics, Having been saved from the streets like the princesses they protect, the Teneford Foot means to show that the trust placed in them is well-placed, and they’ve already proven their resolve in encounters with ex-pirate gangs, assassins, and other threats to their charges.

*181st Provisional Infantry Brigade
(aka ‘Hel’s Rejects’)
“Once they get past our looks, some of the metroworlds’ high societies began inviting us over for tea. In a way it was insulting; we had to sweat our table manners under the electron microscope so some high-browed socialites could show off how ‘enlightened’ they were while showing off the ‘monsterous Fringe freaks’. However, some of them admirably really made an effort to show us they believed in us, and we met some crusty old veterans who I suspect were involved in some questionable activites back in their day, who truly understood us.”

“The question is not whether we can take that position away from the enemy, but how much of it do you want left?”

The 181st is a unit made up largely of recruits from the more monstrous and ill-reputed species, including defectors from the lower classes of demonic and near-Infernal species. The inclusion of the latter caused no small degree of controversy and concern, especially over the veracity of the vetting process used to screen the defectors.
In truth, the recruits in the 181st expected to be used as cannonfodder in spearhead attacks, but the USAJC has instead been using them in special missions to make best use of members’ special abilities. This has included some very spectacular and public actions, which has earned the 181st some very positive PR. This has come as a surprise to the soldiers of the 181st; while most initially joined up simply for the pay, a growing number of members have joined or stayed on to fight for the ideals of the Alliance. There’s even been talk of a second brigade being formed.
The downside of the 181st is that when members make or get into trouble, it hits the news hard. And their reputation on the battlefield has led to accusations by opponents of the USA unleashing ‘monsters’ on the galaxies’ conflicts. And opponents learning of the 181st opposing them are just as likely to open up on them with everything as they are to run in fear. Thus, the 181st has a higher than average turnover rate due to attrition, with many members killed in action or retiring fairly early due to combat-related medical conditions.

*654th Field General Support Company
(aka the ‘ScareCrows’)
“ Some of the meanest units in GNE service are support units; if they have to fight, they fight hard, and some of them, given the opportunity to fight, fight creatively. The hashslingers are particularly good with knives, the logistics units are good at creating all sorts of nasty tricks with what they have on hand, and the motorpools just love improvising all manner of adhoc weaponry.”

A logistical support unit charged with feeding and provisioning front line troops during the Travesdeen War, the 654th got more involved when they encountered organized bands of mercenary scavengers preying on refugees and wounded resistance fleeing the Travesdeen, enslaving captives and selling them to the Travesdeen soldiers. Assuming a rear lines area security posture, the 654th began hunting the ‘vultures’ and ‘crows’, liberating their captives, and moving them to safety behind Allied lines. Using intelligence gleaned from captured outlaws, the 654th also tracked down the locations and ID codes of several Travesdeen units doing business with the vulture-gangs and, under the guise of being the outlaws, delivered booby-trapped battlefield loot. The 654th became so proficient at impersonating the ‘vultures’ and ‘crows’ and instigating conflicts between the Travesdeen and their allies that USAJC psychops began complaining about somebody stealing their schtick.

*22nd Ser-Chai Kongan Royal Armored
(aka ‘Canned Fuzz’)
“The ‘chuks drive their crawlers like power armor with a surety of skill and purpose that is at first hard to believe. They move over the landscape with the grace of an ocean wave, and their fire strikes like directed lightning. Once we saw the Twenty-Second in action on Heral, my men didn not have any further worries about the security of our flank.”

A Chai-Chuk armored regiment formed on Ser-Chai from a Paritine Sovereignty armored force, to serve as part of the Ser-Chaian offworld expeditionary forces. The Paritinese transitioned from multi-turreted KrOf-7s to PS/IHA Steel-series MBTs; the smaller crews per tank shifted traditional Chai-Chuk armored strategy from something resembling naval maneuvering to a more individually aggressive style as the smaller vehicle crews showed their initiative. The 22nd saw action on Heral against the Infernal forces and Hel-spawned monsters plaguing that world. Two tank crews made ‘ace’ in destroying at least five enemy armored units each in the campaign.
For their courage under fire and successes on the battlefield, the Paritinese monarch Honarsai Ghoftab VI awarded the 22nd the honor of being a ’Royal’ unit, enjoying the patronage(and techncial resources) of the Paritense crown.
Despite being equipped with ‘antiquated’ treadlayer AFVs, the 22nd Kongan RAR has acquired a reputation for being steadfast and aggressive on the ground.

[taalismn]

Giaya----Pirate Haven(Anvil Galaxy)
“Sometimes pirates aren’t poor and desperate men born of impoverished worlds; sometimes they’re wealthy and greedy men living in gardenworlds and willing to bankroll the enslavement and murder of their fellows.”

“Giaya’s a green cancer, the way things are shaping up, and we can’t just lance this one like the smaller darkports we’ve been shutting down. This is a full-fledged stellar polity that, though we may laugh at their hardware, has numbers and organization like none of the small bandit groups. It’s not like the Sorm, where we can declare a threat to galactic security and go in gunning down everything in sight, and unless they start hitting targets outside Solex space, we can’t justify coalition-striking them like the Kretig. Shiny happy green-friendly communities getting ski-bombed doesn’t make for good press for us. But we KNOW they’re engaged in slave-trafficking and the rot runs all the way to the top, so we’re going to eventually have to do SOMETHING about it.”
----Excerpt from interoffice report, Office of Positive Outcomes, on the Giaya situation.

“Kamara, -darling-, will we be seeing you at the country club this evening? Captain Algers is coming and they’ll be auctioning off some fresh servitors, some of who look -fabulous-. Getting rid of their Solaran attitudes has done wonders for them; really, they have such beautiful bodies, but their minds....they should be glad we’re even taking prisoners!”

Not so much a darkport as an entire planet, Giaya was part of the Solex Federation, but became the headquarters of a pro-Colonial independence movement. One of the better habitable Earth-like worlds, Giaya was snapped up by affluential interests on Solara, and developed as a paradise-colony, with colonization controlled to accept only the ‘better’ applicants. .
Giaya is a beautiful world orbiting an uncommon trinary star core, benefitting from the best civic planning and technologies the expatriate wealthy of Solara can develop or buy. The world is very well-defended, as well, as it is also the headquarters of the Dynchan Group, the largest techcorp outside Solara. The Dynchan Group effectively built the planet’s high space defenses.

The current leader of Giaya, President DaceTrellin, was a former Solex Federation Senator and corporate executive of the Dynchan Group, but grew disenchanted with the many restrictions and regulations on both colonial development and corporate practices being issued from the coreworld of the Federation. Resigning his place in the Federation Senate, he returned home to run for high office on Giaya, with the ultimate goal of separating his planet and corporation from Federalist regulations. He found ready allies in the growing Colonial Rights movement and tapped into popular resentments of Solaran prejudice against the ‘hick’ colonials. Charismatic and wealthy, Trellin easily won Giaya’s top political role and soon became the beloved popular face of the Colonial Rights organization.

President Trellin fancies himself the father of a new star nation, free of the legal and moral constraints of stuffy old Solara. Initially he promoted tensions between the colonies and the coreworld as a way of increasing the stock of the Dynchan Group, but increasingly Trellin came to believe the guff about the colonies representing a superior breed of human, with himself as a near-messianic leader. The Outbound Noble Destiny Party, which started out as something of a strawhorse joke, has become almost cult-like in its fanaticism and behaviors. Increasingly, Trellin turns a blind eye to the atrocities committed in his name, seeing them as the inevitable birthing pains of a new order. Those who refuse to toe the line and pledge allegiance to him have only themselves to blame when they are properly chastized or weeded out by the new order. The original idealist Colonial rights activists of the ONDP have been pushed into the shadows or eliminated in favor of a Dynchan Group/Trellin-centered movement. Those enslaved and mindwarped should be happy their lives were spared and use made of them.

Frankly, though, Trellin has lost control of the Colonial revolution; splinter factions owing little allegiance to the Giayan ONDP, have taken over regions of space as their own fiefdoms and taking their own actions, rather than follow a coordinated campaign to bring Solara to its knees and the bargaining table. When Trellin hears of this, he figures it will only require some show of force to bring these rowdies back in line, or they’ll come crawling back of their own accord when they realize they can’t go it alone in the great big frightening cosmos.

Though Trellin has issued letters of marquee to privateers operating from Giaya, the fact is that the planet is effectively open to any pirate willing to pay for a license and don the ONDP badge. Trade in and ‘adjustment’ of slaves has become an open secret on the planet, as well as traffic in weapons, proscribed substances, and other contraband. It’s also no secret that the ONDP is asset-stripmining loyalist Solex colonies and running a protection racket with those colonies and outposts not fanatically loyal to the Colonial leadership on Giaya. However, as long as their lifestyles aren’t unduly affected, most Giayans turn a blind eye to the deterioration of the Colonial Rights movement.

The Dynchan Group is a highly successful local Solfed high-tech conglomerate based on Giaya, but with branches on most of the major colony worlds of the Solex Federation. The DG originally moved to Gaiya from Solara to escape business restrictions and regulations on the homeworld, including anti-trust legislation. DG has its fingers in many high-tech pies, and has gobbled up many lesser competitors, using its tremendous economic clout and the more lax business laws in the Colonies to force mergers and dictate business terms.
The Dynchan Group has used the breakdown of law and order in the current civil war to increase its fortunes. The DG has seized as many Federal assets in the Colonies as it can, before other Colonial parties can, and made them its own. And while the Colonial Rights cause proclaims respect for local industry, the fact is that the Dynchan Group has positioned itself as THE arms and technology supplier to the rebelling colonies, over the collapsed economies and dead bodies of its closest competitors. Anybody in the Colonies wanting the best locally-produced weapons has to go to the Dynchan Group, which also controls many of the arms imports from outside Solex space. DG is also thoroughly complicit in the techno-slave trade on the Colonial side of the war.
The Dynchan Group produces warships, weapons, combat vehicles, and military drones for the Colonials. A backroom office of its biomedical division produces the torture equipment and drugs used to brainwash and ‘adjust’ slaves. Its hand in just about every industry on Giaya and in the Heliax system gives it massive economic clout and far-reaching influence.
The Dynchan Group is not likely to greet the news well if/when Naruni Enterprises comes sniffing around looking to sell to the various factions in the Solex conflict. Though the DG has acquired NE equipment through various cut-outs, they have not yet engaged in direct business with the extradimensional arms dealers, and they would not welcome the outside competition unless they got a piece of the action and had final say on who in the Solex Naruni could sell to. Right now, NE is busy finagling a proper vengeance against the Golgan Republik, and only relatively low-level sales reps are poking around the Solex, but eager to bolster their flagging sales, once NE figures which factions are best to approach, Naruni WILL make an appearance with a full load in tow.

The fact of the matter is, though the Colonial Rights movement was originally a reatcion against the exploitive policies of the Solaran motherworld abd its megacorps, the independence movement has been subverted by Colonial organizations like the Dynchan Group, who are just as, and even more, monopolistic and exploitive as the coreworld they fight against.

Solar System(Heliax)
Heliax is a trinary star system in the Anvil Galaxy. It sits some 120 light years away from the Solex Federation capital coreworld of Solara.
Number of Stars: 3
Types of Stars:
-Yellow Dwarf(Heliax-Alpha)
-Yellow Dwarf(Heliax-Beta)
-Red Dwarf(Heliax- Ceti/Prodo)
Number of Planets: 7
-Terrestrial(Drumin)---- Earth-sized but Mercury-like in its suns-blasted desolation, Drumin is a harsh planet, but invaluable as a mineral-rich resource world. Much of the metal that feeds Giayan industry comes from the sun-shaded mines of Drumin. However, it’s also rumored that some of the ‘off-grid’ mines are prison-holes worked with slave labor.

-Asteroid(Adus)---- Dwarf planetoid Adus has a near-polar inclination orbit around the Heliax star-center. Like many such bodies in colonized solar systems, this makes attractive as a communications relay station and sensor outpost.

-Asteroid(Prerl)----Prerl is the site of an exclusive Dynchan Group facility for corporate officials, though it’s rumored that the planetoid has been turned over to host ‘security consultants’(i.e. pirates) in the employ of the DG. There alwats seems to be a warship docked to the asteroid.

-Gas Giant(Beheneth)----Jupiter-sized ‘hot gas giant’ with a massive set of rings that tell of a moon system that destructed. Seen from Giaya, Beheneth’s rings glow in the light of the Heliax-stars like wings, giving the planet the nickname of ‘mothstar’. Beheneth is a tourist attraction with several habitats in the rings catering to visitors, and also serving gas-skimming operations.

-Terrestrial(Giaya)----System Lifeworld

-Gas Giant(Therlyn)----An enormous gas giant with a large moon( 19 in all) system, Therlyn is the site of the Thela Shipyards, originally constructed and run by a Solara-based militech-corporation. For years prior to the open rebellion, the Dynchan Group had been quietly infiltrating the shipworks through subcontractors. When open war finally erupted, the Group openly seized control, kicking the Solarans out. The Giayans have been retooling the ‘yards to refit the Colonial forces and build new capital-class warships.

-Terrestrial(Hasbaday)----Gargantuan darkworld Hasbaday is curious in that it does not rotate, its surface gravity is a nearly tolerable 3.7 gees, and it has only a thin atmosphere. Only its distance from the warmer worlds of Heliax keeps it from potentially being developed as a resource world.

Planet( Giaya)
Giaya is a garden-world, dotted with well-planned communities, nature reserves, and extensive civil engineering projects. Most heavy industry is conducted offworld, keeping the planet a lush unpolluted playground for its residents.
The dark side is that Giaya is the capital of an increasingly oppressive regime that exploits other worlds. There is also a growing slave trade that is gaining the acceptance of the wealthier higher-ups in Giayan society.

Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 11,000 km
Gravity: 0.8 gee
Temperature: Temperate
Unusual/Special Features:
-Moons(3)----- Giayan’s three moons are all heavily developed to keep the most polluting heavy industries off the green planet.
Atmosphere:
Breathable, terrestrial nitrox mix, but with an exotic element that produces a marked skyglow for several hours before and after sunrise/sunset. This makes for beautiful skies, but ruins planet-based astronomy.
Terrain:
Unusual Geology---The White Light Mountains, a ridge of massive quartz formations(the largest concentrations of the mineral on Giaya) some 800 ft high, somehow stable(though the lower parts are compressed quartzine). Some of the White Light Mountain peaks have been hollowed out into small towns and crystalline private estates, before the conservationists managed to get the remaining untouched peaks declared off-limts to development.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Iron
- Molybdenite
- Antimony
- Magnesium
- Gypsum
- Ruby
- Barite
- Nickel
Hydrosphere:
51% of Giaya’s surface is covered in deep open water
Biosphere:
Dense---Varied flora and fauna. Native and imported life have reached an equilibrium of sorts. Warmblooded saurians are the dominant native lifeforms, and the larger predators, some of which approached T-Rex size, have been almost exterminated or forced into reservations for conservation, but many smaller(dog-sized) predators still roam freely. Introduced domestic Solaran lifeforms(a combination of baseline Earth- and late-Cretaceous analogue biota) are the most commonly seen flora and fauns around Giayan communities.
Civilization:
Settled
Population:
2.3 billion Humans
Technology:
Low Galactic, but arguably second in the Solex only to Solara. The Dynchan Group’s industries openly turn out war material and spacecraft for the Solex Colonies now that the Colonies are no longer beholding to the coreworld corporate monopolies.
Economy:
Industrial, though most of the heavy industry is conducted offworld.
Wealth:
Rich, approaching Super-Wealthy by the standards of the Solex(just Rich by anybody else’s). Besides high-tech industry, Giaya has much Colonial trade routed through it, recieves loot and tribute from other worlds, and basically makes its wealth by gouging it from others.

Government:
Syndicracy with the drapery of a democratic republic. However, Giaya is sliding into becoming an Autocracy, as President Trellin has used the Dynchan Group to take over most of the business interest blocs on the planet and vote him ever-expanding and far-reaching administrative powers.

Law Level:
Overbearing. It’s not obvious, but the Giayan police are carefully ramping up oppression measures against enemies of the President and the ONDP. If the growing police state is noticed at all and commented on, the Solex Civil War provides a ready excuse for the excesses of the stepped-up security.

Popularity:
Popular, rising to Beloved. Manipulation of the media has painted President Trellin as the defiant champion of Colonial Rights, savior of Giayan quality of life, and usher of a new era of prospecity, even with a war going on. What dissent there may be is being stifled by the positively glowing messages flooding the networks. No matter how bad the war may be going, the Giayans are being provided with bread and circuses and being told in no uncertain terms that President Trellin is responsible for the good times. Through steady media pressurr and manipulation, the average Giayan is coming to accept a good many previously uncomfortable things in their society and not question their leadership.

Stability:
Besides President Trellin’s rising popularity, careful police action and economic manipulation are insuring that the regime remains in power. Trellin has already set the stage for his own family to hold the reins of power unto the next generation, though he’s been careful not to give them any reasons or temptations to try succeeding him too early.

[taalismn]

Carsan---- Solex Federation Warzone(Anvil Galaxy)

“Damn it, front lines just changed again.... we’re caught in the middle.”
The two USA naval security men swore as they peered through their remote-viewer visors feeding them closed-channel data from the throw-sensors they’d scattered when they’d been forced to hurriedly retreat from the upper floors of the office building.
Getting cut off from their ship was NOT what they had in mind when they’d made planetfall on the relatively peaceful Solex Federation world of Carsan to gather some information on the state of affairs in the troubled star nation.
However, the Solex civil war apparently had other ideas, and from what they’d seen as they’d hurriedly decamped from upstairs, both the oppressive federal government and the upstart angry colonials had decided that Carsan was worth fighting over...or destroyng to deny it to their rivals. Two fleets had jumped in almost on top of the planet and each other, and begun landing troops when they weren’t shooting at each other. The city outside now seemed to be one big free-fire zone, with the lines between the two factions changing constantly...and a whole lot of people caught between.
Now they and a dozen civilians had taken refuge in a rather decrepit restroom from the fighting going on outside. Scummy and unsanitary as the graffiti’ed chamber may have been, its walls were at least thick, and the in-wall plumbing would offer some protection from stray shrapnel and casual sensor scans, but it was by no means an ideal bunker to be in the middle of a warzone. The usan-mens’ flak armor might give them some additional protection, but not as much as good battle-EBA, and none of the civilians had any armor to speak of. Especially not the four indentured servants from the dance club who’d joined the runners and hadn’t even had enough time to grab any covering clothes.
Demeron looked through one of his remote pickups. “Double-damn it...I’m picking up mechs...yeah, looks like AB-bots. Stickmen. ”
Solex Navy anti-boarding robots, mobil e weapons platfoms meant for clearing starships and space habs of unwanted personnel. Could be teleoperation or automated. Didn’’t matter; the ‘bots tended to have motion-tracking targeting systems for vicious antipersonnel weaponry. Somebody didn’t seem to care about civilian casualties.
“Whose?”
“Does it matter? The colonials and the feddies are killing everybody out there.”
The Solex Federal gov troops and the colonial rebels were settling grudges out there using heavy antipersonnel weapons. NOBODY was safe in that sort of crossfire.
“We better get out of here before they decide cluster-fletchettes and maser-cookers aren’t killy enough.”
“My thoughts exactly. Only way out’s the Lassie; better tell Captain Drog the best bet’s to bring her in hot behind the rackball courts, so we better get ready to move.”
“I’m all for it, and on it. You scout an exit route.”
“Any of you folks want to stick around here? By that, I mean the planet, ‘cause we’re leaving the system when our ride gets here.”
The civilians in the room all shook their heads. Most of them looked like migrant workers or fellow star-travellers. The servant girls in particular nodded vigorously that they wanted out.
“Okay, Drog’s coming before the orbitals notice her. Expect ETA in ten.”
“And I think we can use the service ways out. Here’s my plan so we don’t expose the civies to stray fire-”

Carsan---- Solex Federation Warzone
Carsan is a world of the Solex Federation. Like Gevadan, the inhabitants of Carsan hoped that their relative obscurity and low-key economy would keep them below the radar of the angry Federal and Colonial factions contesting for control of the Federation. Unfortunately, Carsan didn’t share Gevadan’s distance from the Solex’s center, being instead near a trade lane that benefited Carsan, but also made the planet much more attractive as a target. Bot the Federation and the Colonials chose to seize the planet, the two fleets arriving simultaneously.
Carsan is now effectively a war zone. The main city, Danialac, was effectively razed to the ground during fighting between the Federals and the Colonials. A rump civil government has set up shop in a smaller community, and has been trying to coordinate rescue and relief operations, but with little success, as so much infrastructure has been destroyed or seized by the belligerents. Meanwhile, pro-Fed and pro-Colonial Carsanites have polarized around the respective contingents and military governors landed to ‘restore order’. The most extreme of these partisans have formed armed miltias who actively support their factions’ expeditionary forces.
Whatever the two factions’ respective original plans were for Carsan, the situation seems to have snowballed until both factions are staying out of sheer spite, much to the dismay and increasing misery of the non-aligned Carsanites.
During the initial collapse of order in the Solex Federation, many neutral traders sought safe harbor and opportunity to unload their wares on ‘neutral’ Carsan. The arrival of the warring Federation and Colonial fleets has threatened that, as both groups have attacked and seized neutral ships seemingly at random.

Solar System(Melban-817)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars:
-Blue Sub-Giant
Number of Planets: 8
-Terrestrial(Carsan)----System Lifeworld

-Terrestrial(Yelden)----Huge with a dense, exotic atmosphere and crushing gravity field(7 gs). Yelden actually has a dense biosphere based on silicon compounds. None of the native life has exhibited any signs of higher intelligence, however, and currently scientific study of the planet has been suspended due to the civil war overrunning the star system.

-Asteroid(Holzer)----Dwarf planet that plays host to a refueling and servicing station
A dozen neutral merchant starships that couldn’t jump out of the system due to mechanical problems have managed to make their way to Holzer and have taken refuge at the dwarf planet’s station. The crews of the starships have pooled their resources and hope to cobble together one or two working stardrives that they can then use to spirit everybody gathered out of the system before the warring factions think to come after them.

-Gas Giant(Grenuli)----Tiny gas world that has been frequently used for gas-skimming operations.

-Gas Giant(Relton)----Enormous Relton is surrounded by a strong electromagnetic field strong enough to damage even shielded starship systems, as was proven when a Colonial warship tried to lure its Federalist opponent into the interference zone. Both ships became trapped, and their crews died of life support failure. Both ships remain in slowly decaying orbits around Relton.

-Terrestrial(Kazmann)----Large, cold, and shrouded in a thick poisonous atmosphere, Kazmann is largely overlooked as a poor candidate for development.

-Terrestrial(Fortell)----Large, cold and virtually atmosphere-less. . It has a single large moon.

-Gas Giant(Jelicar)----Miniscule for a gas giant, Jelicar is regarded as effectively too far out on the edge of the Melban system to attract any interest.

Planet(Carsan)
Carsan formerly had four large space stations in orbit to facilitate trade; three survive. The fourth was destroyed by the Federals to prevent the Colonials from seizing it. Of the surviving three, two are controlled by the Colonials, the third by the Federals. The two warfleets effectively orbit on opposite sides of the planet from each other, occasionally venturing around into line of sight to take potshots at each other and provide cover for ships leaving and arriving.

Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 11,950 km
Gravity: 0.8 g
Temperature:
Temperate, but on the cool side.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Energy Fields---- It isn’t well-known, but small regions of Carsan are PPE-rich(approximating PFRPG-world levels), though it would take a mage or metaphysically-sensitive being virtually on top of these sites to detect them and know them for what they are. Having no history of magic, the Solex Federation peoples are unlikely to determine what the significance of these regions is, aside from a rare few (latent psychic) people getting a ‘strange feeling’ when approaching them.
Atmosphere:
Breathable terrestrial nitrox mixture
Terrain:
Unusual Geology---Regions of Carsan are known to generate booming noises associated with low-level seismic activity. The ‘Boomlands’ or ‘Roarlands’ tend to be avoided by all except the curious.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Zinc
- Sapphire
- Scheelite
- Copper
- Nickel
- Ruby
- Diamond
- Borax
Hydrosphere:
Badlands----The Carsan colonists initially colonized several of the oases dotting the planet, but found it better to dig deep wells and create new oases.
Biosphere:
Verdant; for such a dry world, Carsan has an incredibly rich biosphere, with many species adapted to living in dry conditions. The colonists have learned to exploit a good number of native species, and for that reason have decided to leave most of the pre-colonial oases and watering holes alone. Most native life on Carsan uses an insectoid or crustacean model as a basis; Carsanite ‘sand lice’ are a globally-successful genus, as well as a constant irritant to the colonists. ‘Sand Ferns’ are also a widespread plantform and a welcome sight for colonists, as their presence usually signals nearby water.
Civilization:
Settled
Population:
522 million humans
Technology:
Low Stellar Age, but as the war takes its toll on infrastructure, the standard of technology is dropping.
Economy:
Commercial; followed by agriculture and mining. Carsan was a useful trading port.
Most of Carsan’s industrial sites have been destroyed by the rolling war.
Wealth:
Was Prosperous, but has dropped to Squalor. The economy has collapsed, trade has ceased, the orbital spacelanes are effectively blockaded, the invading factions are looting targets of opportunity(justifying it as keeping assets from the enemy), and refugees are crowding the handful of small way-stations strung between the oases. The remains of the civil government is parceling out what emergency supplies it still has access to, and using what funds it has to try to hire blockade runners to smuggle much-needed supplies in and people out.
Government:
Was a representative democracy, but has collapsed into wartime anarchy, with pockets run by militant strongmen.
Law Level:
Effectively Minimal bordering on Lawless; the planet has polarized into pro-Fed and pro-Colonial armed camps fighting over what remains of the cities ad available resources. Anybody trying to be neutral is either interned as a suspect POW, or killed on the spot by the fanatics of either side. A remnant of the neutral civil government has tried to provide for those who want nothing to do with either side, but they lack the strength to and means of enforcing their edicts against the overwhelming firepower of the offworld factions.

Popularity:
The Solex Federals and Colonials have a simple message; join us or die. With the public infrastructure in tatters, many desperate Carsanites are doing just that just to survive.

Stability:
Effectively a three-way civil war. The offwolder-supporters may be outnumbered by the neutral Carsanites, but they have the better guns and support of the offworld warships and troops.

[taalismn]

And yet another world from the Solex War Zone...

Thatchen---Ex-Solex Federation World/Probationary United Systems Alliance Member(Anvil Galaxy)
“Thatchen? Why would they be contacting us? It’s deep in Solex territory...was an up-and-coming Silicon Valley techworld, as much as the Solfed has them, but seems to have not been very politically active until the civil war went hot. Techdiv got some samples of their production and says it shows promise---our Perotti tech-heads act really excited about the stuff---so it might be worth the risk to check the place out.”
---- Senator(Darad) Patrec Adelsun, United Systems Alliance Foreign Affairs Council

“Why do I want the protection of somebody else? Because the last time I met with that representative of the Outbound Noble Destiny Party, he brought along that blank-eyed top-heavy assistant of his and asked me if I had anybody I’d like to see given a similar ‘adjustment’ as she got. All I had to do was draw up a list and they’d take care of it when they moved in and ‘rationalized’ the planet. In fact he insisted on a list as part of any deal we made, ‘just between men of the galaxy’. That let me know that things were as bad as what we saw in Padkin Dome, remember? I wouldn’t wish an ‘adjustment’ on ANY of my enemies, and I’m not waiting around to see what the Ignoble Destiny Party has in mind for us if they’re already wanting me to sell out fellow Thatchians. Solara isn’t going to help; they’re part of the original problem, so we have to look outside for assistance.”
---- Thatchen Oversight Matz Orella

“SPEAKER GOEN DID NO WRONG! THE ALLEGATIONS THAT HE KEPT SEX SLAVES IN PADKIN DOME ARE FALSE! LIES CREATED TO DEFAME A TRUE LEADER AND CHAMPION OF THE PEOPLE! THE LABOR PARTY’S THUGS PLANTED THE EVIDENCE AND KILLED AN INNOCENT MAN TO COVER UP THEIR OWN POWER GRAB! THE ANTI-REVOLUTION SHALL OT HAVE THATCHEN!”

“The wormhole we found doesn’t allow us direct linkage from our territory to the middle of the Mosebek system...that would be too much to ask for, but it still originates outside off the beaten path of the rest of the Solex. It shaves some fifty lights off the trip, and allows us to get ships in without advertising increased traffic flow to Thatchen. Otherwise this whole venture would be a LOT harder to carry out if we had to risk fighting our way in and out.”
---- Coomodore Palaz Rgeldon, Eugenian High Guard, United Systems Alliance Joint Command.

“Let’s face it, the warships of the Usans are the only real reliable power of stability in the region. Much as they’ve tried to keep it quiet, Gevadan ran to them for a reason, and that reason is that the Federals and the Colonials are reyeching sods. People in this part of space see Solfed or Colonial ships and they see trigger-happy militarists, corrupt extortionists or mad dog killers. They see an Usan cruiser, they breath a sigh of relief. That’s why we want them around.”
---- Thatchen State Secretary Olian Trass

Thatchen is one of the latest allied worlds of the United Systems Alliance. It is also deep within the war zone that was the former Solex Federation.
As the Solex Civil War becomes more and more uncivil, distinctions between the original two factions, the Federals and the Colonials, are blurring with regards to atrocities perpetuated against each other. The original stated reasons for rebellion, overreaching domination of the colonies by the coreworld, have been lost as it has become apparaent that many on the Colonial side were really angling to make a power grab of their own. While a few idealists still fight to win Colonial self-determination or to preserve the Federation, extremists have highjacked the course of the war. Federal commanders are using the war as an excuse to stripmine colonies, and Colonial warlords have been known to extort ‘war taxes’ from reluctant colonies barely able to support themselves, with supplementary aid cut off from the central worlds. Solex space has become dangerous to travelers as the situation splinters into various factional war zones. Pirates and slavers operate with near impunity in some regions of the once rigorously-policed Solex Federation.
Naturally, this unstable situation has become a major concern of the neighboring United Systems Alliance. Besides stepped-up anti-piracy patrols that sometimes slip across the ‘border’ into Solex space, the Office of Positive Outcomes (the USA’s effective version fo the CIA) has taken actions against what they can identify as the worse slavers and warlords. Assistance to refugees has been extended, and in some cases, the USA has been able to openly broker the escorted delivery of humanitarian aide to beleagured settlements. Though there have been some rumors that the USA actually instigated the civil war, the fact of the matter is the USA has been working to mitigate what they foresaw as a looming massive crisis.
Though not interested in invading and occupying Solex space, the USA has still wound up acquiring flaked-off portions of Solex territory. The colony world of Gevadan peeled off early and joined the Alliance as a full member, but that world was located on the relative edge of Solex space and thus fairly far from the centers of conflict .
Thatchen was originally a Solex Federation domer-colony governed by a Federally-appointed administrator. The colony mined some valuable minerals, but its real developing industry was high-quality microprocessors and computer components. This netted the locals a good profit, and that drew the unhealthy attention of the coreworld Solaran high-tech conglomerates, who agitated that in order to protect the foreworld’s industries, Thatchen would either have to slash the prices on its production, or else turn over administration to a corporate, rather than a federal or civil, governance. This was intolerable to the Thatchen colonists, who wanted to run their own businesses and set their own prices for their labor. When the Solex Civil War broke out, the Federal government was quickly deposed and sent packing by a local revolutionary council who were ready to swear allegiance to the Colonial Rights movement leadership on Giaya.
Instead, after sitting on their hands for months, ocassioned by some infighting, the Thatchen Revolutionary Council finally recieved an ambassador of sorts ....who proceeded to matter-of-factly outline what Thatchen was expected to hand over and allow as part of the greater Colonial movement. The current leader on Thatchen was so apalled that he thought the Colonial leadership had made a mistake and sent the wrong person. When the Giayan Outbound Noble Destiny Party confirmed that the person in question was indeed their approved representative, he fully represented the policies of the ONDP, and Thatchen Revolutionary Council’s full coopereation was expected, Oversight Matz Orella knew something had gone wrong with the revolution. He began looking at alternatives, knowing that neither the Federals nor the Colonials would treat well a world that refused to cooperate with either side’s outrageous demands. Contact with the United Systems Alliance was made soon after, and Orella soon after severed ties to the Giayan Colonial Rights leadership by having the ONDP representative killed(and the man’s retinue of slaves turned over to the USA).
Despite the difficulties of traversing the newly and fortuitously discovered Mosebek Wormhole, th USAJC has managed to sneak in a small force of destroyers and frigates, and send enough small and medium transports to establish a respectable defensive garrison and support elements, without the Colonials suspecting a thing.. So far, fortunately, both the Colonials and the Federalists have yet to react to Thatchen effectively dropping out of the rebellion network.

Solar System(Mosebek)
Number of Stars: 2
Types of Stars:
-Blue Sub-Giant(Mosebek-Alpha)
-Blue Dwarf(Mosebek-Beta)
Number of Planets: 6
-Terrestrial(Thatchen)----System Lifeworld

-Terrestrial(Morris)----Enormous Morris possesses a high gravity field, but not as great as one might expect. With proper equipment and gravity-baffling, it is speculated that Morris could be properly exploited. It also possesses a sparse extremophile micro-ecology that shows signs of being related to the silicate bacteria of Thatchen, with some airborne strains showing potential commercial value. Exotic atmosphere that seems to feed the microbial ecology; bioluminescence had been known to erupt in massive bright ‘waves’ that can be seen from orbit and often mistaken for aurora activity(which Morris also posssesses).

-Gas Giant(Phalk)----Saturn-sized Phalk possesses eight moons, useful as base sites for atmosphere skimming operations.

-Asteroid(Prein)---- The planetisimal Prien has a high inclination orbit that carries it abve and below the mean ecliptic. A communications and stellar sensor station has been established on Prein.

-Exotic(Wormhole)---- This is the USA’s game-changer with regards to the Thatchen situation, though they didn’t discover it until after they began to reconnoiter the system with defending it in mind. The ‘Mosebek Gate’ offers ships an unseen shortcut in and out of the system, though the turbulence of passage requires expert piloting to avoid serious damage.
A.) Location: Mid-system
B.) Size:Modest----Vessels up to frigate size can travel through the ‘hole.
C.) Frequency:Regular---6 times per day
D.) Direction: Conditionally Two-Way---Travel can go back and forth, but limited to one direction at a time; so vessels cannot be traveling in opposite directions at the same time. To do so courts disaster; the vessels may simply disappear, may emerge as debris, or the wormhole may temporarily destabilize(and the ships never seen again)
E.) Range: Interstellar---Connects to a solar system 52 light years away
F.) Transit Initiation---- Direction---The starship has to enter the wormhole at a specific angle
G.) Duration---- Instantaneous
H.) Special---- Turbulence---Vessels transiting the wormhole are subjected to considerable turbulence that can wreak damage on the ship. Make a piloting roll at -15% to keep the ship steady and on an even keel. On a failed piloting roll, roll a d20; the resulting number is the amount of damage, x10, that the ship takes in running the wormhole.

-Gas Giant(Rhomus)----This tiny whisp of gas hardly counts as a gas ‘giant’ although it’s still roughly thirty times the size of Earth. It’s more of a ‘slush giant’ made mostly of ammonia ice. Nevertheless, it has seven small moons, the largest of which, Delenn, now hosts a USA scientific and commercial outpost, studying the unique-biochemistry’ed microorganisms that hav been discovered in Rhomus’s atmosphere and in the uppermost layers of its core ‘ocean’.

Planet(Thatchen)
Thatchen is a ‘dome world’, habitable by humans only with the use of artificial habitats. Despite having two hot blue stars in its sky, the planet is far enough away from them that the planet is actually quite cold, and terraforming efforts are aimed at raising the planet’s temperature.
There are sixteen major dome-communities dotted across Thatchen, most linked by hyper-rail maglev links. Smaller mines and outpost communities are serviced by crawler-bus or suborbital flitter shuttles.

Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 9,000 km
Gravity: 0.6
Temperature: Cool; average temperature is -120 degrees F.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Moons(3)---Thatchen has three small moons of note. All have manned outposts that serve as sensor platforms, transit stations, and supplemental microgravity factory sites.

-Rings---The remains of a fourth moon survive as a thin ring system around Thatchen.

-Craters---Thatchen is pockmarked with craters, some of them quite large, that are the result of debris infalls from the aforementioned fourth moon.

-Exotic(Caverns)---Thatchen sports several sizeable cavern systems that sprawl under many of the massive plains. Several of them are filled with liquid water, constituting giant undergroud seas. Some of the smaller cave complexes have been colonized, but the majority of the caves remain largely unexplored.

Atmosphere:
Thin----Thatchen’s atmosphere is mainly carbon dioxide
Terrain:
Two; plains and mountain ridges
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Lead
- Gold/Silver
- Tin
- Aluminum
- Titanium
- Diamond
- Quartz
- Arsenic
Hydrosphere:
45% surface coverage of water ice, frozen on the surface.
Biosphere:
Thin; Thatchen’s native life consists of bacteria and algae forms, mainly living in the underground seas and fed by the planet’s scant geothermal heat. Some extremophile forms have reached the surface and form visible green mats just under the surface of the frozen oceans.
However, it was discovered that several strains of native Thatchen silicate bacteria ate arsenic compounds and, in combination with other elements, produced unique biological byproducts useful in the production of high efficiency microprocessors. While Thatchen scientists are studying how to synthesize the materials, in the meantime Thatchenians are learning how to grow and harvest the more useful native bacteria for commercial use. Several crater clusters have been turned into maturation pools for the bacteria.
Civilization:
Settled
Population:
736 million Humans
Technology:
Low Galactic, Thatchen can produce megadamage materials and weapons, can can maintain starships, but not build the ships from scratch. Fusion reactors and solar arrays power the dome-cities and maglev lines.
Local industry has a focus on electronics, on a par quality-wise with the output of the major industrial worlds of the Solexfed, though microprocessors made with the output of the local silicate bacteria show marked improvements in efficiency, as mych as 30%. Given enough time and resources to pursue several promising lines of research, the Thatchen computer industry might well have, and could, surpass the rest of the Solex worlds’ electonics concerns and even equal some of the larger Galactic techc-corps’ efforts. Control of this potential hotbed of innovation may have led the Solex military-industrial complexes to attempt to take over Thatchen or at last stifle its threat to their own bottom lines.
The Thatchen Revolutionary Council Peoples’ Guard maintains a planetary militia armed with older pattern security vehicles and troops armed with the equivalent of lower-end HI-lasers. Their space assets consist of a single old Parthian-class cruiser, two converted transports, a handful of security corvettes and several flights of armed shuttles and cutters. They’ve also managed to cobble together a crude network of orbital weapons platforms.
The USAJC presence consists of a squadron of destroyers, frigates, and two light carriers. Two modular stations ar being assembled in orbit of Thatchen, and USA engineers are consulting about upgrading the planetary defenses.
Economy:
Thatchen produces high-efficiency microprocessors and computer systems. Its use of native bacteria to produce etched and doped microchips has proven a boon, with their components favored by most Solex electronics firms. Infusions of USA technologies promises to only improve production quality.
Wealth:
Until the Solex Civil War, Thatchen enjoyed a Wealthy status from its microprocessor industry and mining, but that has since slipped to Depressed. Trade in microprocessors with the USA is slowly(given the problems of easy access through the Solex war zones)) drawing the economy back up .
Government:
Autocracy---- The current leader of Thatchen is unlikely strongman Oversight Matz Orella, originally a civil engineer and labor unionist who joined the Thatchen Revolutionary Council to serve his homeworld and rose through its ranks. A man of high convictions, Orella feels let down by the realities of the Colonial Rights movement and is distressed by what some of his fellow revolutionaries have sunk to. Orella is determined to hang onto power as long as it takes to keep those behaviors from ever acquiring power over Thatchen, and to do so he’s had to take some hard alignment-slipping actions(including killing several rivals for power and an ONDP representative ) to stay on top and the rot contained. He readily admits that the Thatchen Peoples’ Guard is too weak to repel a Federal or Colonial invasion, and is thus seeking allies outside the Solex.
Law Level:
Moderate; Orella’s planetary constabulary has managed to keep the most extreme post-revolution ‘redistribute the wealth’ fanatics from stripping the economy, but there’s still a lot of angry and desparate people robbing out of necessity, as the economy tanks without galactic trade.
Popularity:
Unpopular----Orella and his regime are not the most popular with the people, espcially since the engineer came effectively from the background and displaced seveeral more popular revolutionaries. But those more charismatic leaders favored social policies and political alliances that would have proved disasterous to Thatchen, and so Orella got them out of the way(some fatally). Many of the followers of the aforementioned populist revolutionary leaders rightly suspect that Orella had a hand in ther deaths.
Orella has the support of many of the engineering and labor groups on Thatchen, but his austerity measures are unpopular with many others, many of who thought that share-the-wealth spigots would open up once the Federalist govenment was forced out.
Stability:
Stable. Orella’s managing to hold things together with bailing wire and duct tape metaphorically, but unless things change for the better and soon, Thatchen may become unstable again. The reopening of the microprocessor plants and advance orders from the USA are a step in the right direction and show promise, but there’s still plenty of bitterness and fear about the Solex Civil War.

[taalismn]

Aldamar----United Systems Alliance Protectorate(Extradimensionally located/ Sobel Sequence)
The GNE-USA Government House on Aldamar came as a surprise to Medestal, who had been expecting the sort of functional, utilitarian architecture the Greener engneers seemed to favor when they set up shop somewhere, or at the least a boulder-disguised bunker nestled in amongst the local trees. Instead, he found himself loomed over and dwarfed by a giant, sprawling, elegant structure of red stone and inlaid wood, rambling over landscaped grounds. It was so at odds with what he had heard and seen of the Greeners who were at the center of the United Systems Alliance. He decided that it must be a local neobarb creation, a gift of an estate or summer palace of some local sovereign or high aristocrat to curry favor with the newcomers from the sky who had come to bring great change to this corner of the galaxy. Had anybody, like a lord fallen out of favor, been displaced to free this place up, or had it been a surplus summer residence? He found himself happily immersed in the fine lines and airy arches of the galleries and halls of the place.
His guide was equally surprising and equally easy on the eyes, what with her own fine lines. The young woman who had been assigned to lead him to his meeting wore scant armor that covered little and protected less, but she carried an elaborate battle-axe and shield combination with an ease that spoke of great strength in her fine limbs and long practice in her movements. She was friendly, spoke Trade Four with little accent, and Medestal had her pegged as a foreign intern, most likely one of the Tavaza amazons he’d heard were clients of the GNE. A young warrior, then, out to see the sights of the megaverse with the comfort of a government job to fall back on.
All too soon they had arrived at his destination and his lithesome and erudite guide had cast him free into the custody of the local Interworld Trade Commission office. Stepping inside, he found arrangements he was much more familiar with. What had once been a space that probably had played host to courtiers playing court games had been re-arranged to house cubicles, work stations, and the mundane furnishings of common-pattern bureaucratic paper- and electron-pushing shops the galaxies over. A mixed troupe of secretarial androids, biobods, and Chigdee minor functionaries did their things at desks, and barely looked up from their tasks as he entered the room.
At least somebody had the good taste not to remove the locally-made furniture from the meeting room he was directed to. It lent a touch of class to what was likely to be a quite boring legalese-heavy meeting with the Interworld Trade Commission. A severe-looking elf sat at the end of the conference table next to a large houseplant...looked like the talks were about to begin.

As it turned out, it was the ‘houseplant’ that was the senior Commerce Secretary in charge if negotiations. The elaborately-coiffured elf had been the junior official.
The minor contract negotiations had been anything but boring, being conducted with an intensity more befitting a galactic peace conferenece. But the terms wre good, both parties were satisfied, the talks wrapped up early and it looked like Medestal would have enouugh time before his return flight home to get in a little sightseeing, maybe even arrange some small trade with the locals.

*******
“The Aldamar may not have a global government as yet, but they DO have a complicated network of political relations interweaving the three sophont species. It’s mainly common interest in keeping everybody from each others’ throats and in their comfort zones. It requires going through a maze of treaties and contacts between various earls, dukes, herd-barons, underlordlings, lair-jharls, and grass-dwars that you need spreadsheets to keep track of, but it seems to keep the real conflicts from breaking out...and incidentally keeping the current aristos in power. ‘Byzantine’ doesn’t begin to describe some of the politics and protocol contortions operating here.”

“Many of the cultures of Aldamar subscribe to a code duello and many gentlemen of Aldamar are quick to take offense at something an offworlder may do, and even quicker to draw steel after declaring a duel. Much of it’s a put-on, or deliberate effort to manuever a soft offworlder into making concessions under duress, but don’t count on it if you find yourself challenged. The extortionists expect to be bought off, but there’s always one or two fanatics who will settle for nothing less than blood to appease their ‘honor’. What they won’t tell you is that certain loopholes in the code allow for other means to settle a dispute...or you can appoint somebody to fight in your place. The embassy has enough lawyers on call to find you an out, but if it comes down to drawn steel, we also have arrangements with both local and offworld talent to have somebody take your place on the dueling ground....more often than not the local challenger will show up, see our proxy, and decide it’s not worth it and drop the fight, usually just satisfying their honor with a simple apology from you.
Still, don’t get dragged into a duel at all. Just don’t.”

A rift-settled Palladiumite world with a tech- and social-level roughly equal to the Earth’s 17th century. Aldamar was settled by a combination of three different species; humans, goblins, and a variant species of minotaur, all claiming to have hailed from different worlds; the humans amd the goblins from backgrounds of technology, and the minotaurs from a more primitive background. In the past, all three species have fought wars against each other, with the humans and goblins, who apparently originally possessed a limited 19th or 20th century technology, losing their original capabilities. In time, though, all three species evened out in their capabilities and reached a general détente. They still retained knowledge of high technology, however, and so could appreciate it, and the power disparity, when Galactics came a-calling. All three species of Aldamarans greeted the revelation that there were starfaring humans, goblins, and minotaurs with surprise and joy, and some with shock when they learned that all three species were part of a starfaring coalition.
In general, humans are regarded as the technologists and most science-oriented of the three species. Their lead in gunpowder weaponry helped them to gain an upper hand in the various wars, and control large swaths of territory. The goblin tinkers, however, kept apace with human chemistry, and their knowledge of magic has often kept them from being overrun by the humans. The minotaurs(or heim, as they call themselves) have the least grasp of technology(though they too possess gunpowder firearms), but their sheer physical toughness and ability to survive the treacherous conditions of Aldamar’s wilderness has allowed them to resist the advances of their neighbors.
Aldamar’s also in the process of (re)discovering magic, and there’s considerable local debate whether the Aldamarans should pursue magic or technology . As the Galactics seem to practice both, neither side in the debate has a clear edge. The goblins have the greater cultural lore of magic, but humans are quick studies, though they seem to favor technology. The heim can go either way.
The United Systems Alliance has opened relations with the nations of Aldamar, finding the planet’s location useful for neutral trade and diplomatic negotiation conferences. The USA has established a communications center and several diplomatic compounds on Aldamar.


Note 1: Aldamaran Minotaurs(the Heim)
The Minotaurs were apparently the first species transplanted to Aldamar, and they have been there long enough to have evolved some physiological adaptations to living on the planet. While they’ve been driven into the more marginal regions of Aldamar, those same regions are harder for the other species to exploit and invade, and so provide natural refuges for the minotaurs. Though on the backfoot(or hoof) for centuries, of late the heim-minotaurs have gained enough political savvy and learned to use diplomatic weapons to regain some of thier lost territories. Some of the Human- and Goblin-settled lands along the borders of Minotaur territory now have heim landlords.

Note 2: Aldamaran Goblins-
Goblinfolk were the second to arrive on Aldamar. They drove the minotaurs out of the choicer lands by sheer weight of numbers, superior technology, and some magic.
In turn, the goblins would lose out to the incoming humans. By the time the goblins reached parity with the humans, though, the kingdoms and civilizations had quit splitting along species lines and more along geopolitical ones, and there were just as many goblins willing to fight alongside the humans as against them. Conversely, there were also enough humans willing to advise the goblins in opposing other humans that the goblins set aside racial animosity to hire human mercenaries and advisors.

Note 3: Aldamaran Humans.
Humans were the last to arrive on Aldamar, but only a few centuries after the goblins. The goblins almost immediately attacked the newcomers who were squatting on ‘their’ lands. Superior technology carried the day initially for the humans, but that edge was gradually lost over time and subsequent wars. Human adaptiveness and bloodymindedness that scared even the goblins, however, came to the fore. The humans were also willing to exploit factionalism and opportunism among the goblins, and hired goblin mercenaries or else negotiated peace and mutual assistance pacts with goblin kingdoms.


Solar System(Cidalius)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars: Yellow Dwarf
Number of Planets: 4
-Terrestrial (Celh)---Enormous super-Earth, with a dense stormy atmosphere. Celh is actually home to massive silicate lifeforms of dinosaurian proportions. These organisms have not exhibited any significant intelligence.

-Terrestrial (Aldamar)----System lifeworld

-Gas Giant (Koit) ----Miniscule and hardly big enough to have any effect on the other bodies in the solar system, this small gas giant has little to attract attention aside from the possibility of skimming gas from its atmosphere.

-Asteroid Belt(Elbyra) ---- A dense asteroid belt circles the system. The largest body in it is the planetisimal Elbyra. The USA is developing Elbyra as a communications relay and transit station.

Planet (Aldamar)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 13,000 km
Gravity: 1.07 g
Temperature: Temperate. Average planetary temperature is 48 degrees F.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Moons(2)----The USA has established a base and spaceport on Kihev, the smaller of the two moons. The larger moon, Telda, has been mapped, but left for the Aldamarans to eventually explore/exploit.
-Energy Field----Aldamar’s ambient magic levels seem to wax and wane over cycles of millenia. Currently, levels seem to be rising. As a result, there are roughly equal numbers of true scientists and mage-practitioners on Aldamar, and the discovery of TechnoWizardry will likely cause considerable overlap betwene the two,
-Other----Aldamar is dotted with ‘plugs’ of geological material that could only have originated extradimensionally, suggesting older and more extensive dimensional rifting activity in the distant past.
Atmosphere:
Dense, but breathable terrestrial nitrox mix. Most visitors will require several days to acclimate to it before venturing out, and several hours or days effectively decompressing upon leaving. The USA provides several treatments and drugs to ease this transition.
Terrain: Varied, but Aldamar’s arid regions are characterized by especially hostile conditions in the form of ‘dust bowls’ filled with particularly fine dust and sand. These depressions can appear deceptively firm if undisturbed, but can suck the unwary down like quicksand. And if disturbed by winds, they can blow up into massive dust storms of choking dust. The worst are ‘white storms’ of fine diamond dust that can destroy lungs if inhaled, and cause machinery to destroy itself from the abrasive grit tearing apart gearing.
Some of the sections of geology of extradimensional origin also exhibit various unusual, and occasionally dangerous, properties such as inexplicable differences in the strength or alignment of gravity, flow of time, or behaviot of the elements. Among the locals, these areas are regarded as cursed or bewitched.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Iron
- Cobalt
- Amethyst
- Colombite
- Platinum
- Diamond
- Borax
- Emerald
Hydrosphere:
48% of Aldamar’s surface is covered in open water.
Biosphere:
Verdant----Aldamar has a rich and diverse global ecology analogous to Earth’s Cretacous period. Though many of the larger predators have been culled by the minotaurs, goblins, and humans, there are still areas of wilderness where it is unsafe to wander without well-armed escort or powerful personal weaponry..
Civilization:
Settled
Population:
3 billion(45% humans, 30% goblins, 25% minotaurs)
Technology:
Early Industrial Age; the Aldamarans have just (re)discovered steam power. They have gunpowder armaments, though melee combat is still considered a norm, especially among feuding aristocrats(to who simply shooting an opponent lacks flair and class). Airships are another recent invention that is starting to spread.
Economy:
Agricultural----Aldamar’s Industrial Revolution has not yet hit in earnest, and most people are involved in farming.
Wealth:
Can be considered to be Poor, with most of the wealth concentrated in the hands of the monied and landed upper class.
Government:
Most of the 33 significant nation-states of Aldamar are ruled by various forms of aristocracy, sprinkled with outright monarchies and a few experimental democracies.
Law Level:
Lawful---Most of the nation-states of Aldamar have similar codified laws, though exact details vary from country to country. They tend to favor the monied class, but there are a few examples of sterling legislation meant to champion and protect the lower classes.
Popularity:
Ambivalent---At any given time an equal number of Aldamar’s nation-states are facing some sort of societal crisis, scandal, or form of unrest. Most of the time this is the usual unease between the aristocracy, the peasantry, and the clergy. Most Aldamarans see it all as the price of living in relative security as part of the feudal system.
Stability:
Stable; Aldamar has passed through stages of fanatical racism, loathing, and suspicion between the various intelligent species, but gradually reached a state of pragmatic accommodation(occasioned by shifts of alliances between the three, usually two teaming up against the third), before entering a period of enlightenment just before contact with the Galactics was made. It has become common practice among the three peoples to hire members of the other races for various professions(mercenaries, craftsmen, managers, etc.). There’s still some pockets of ardent species-supremacists; when contact was made and the Aldamarians learned of their starfaring kin, many of these fundamentalists sought to enlist the help and technology of their particular ‘starkindred’...and were rudely surprised to learn that the United Systems Alliance’s humans, goblins, and minotaurs frankly got along very well, thank you very much.

[taalismn]

(Yep, time for a USA membership drive and add new members. Just to make things fair, here’s one that started with some random dice rolls resulting in...)

Mynu---Homeworld of the Bazrun(USA member)( Anvil Galaxy)

“Between their synthesis technologies, their sky-farms, and their traditional agroworlds, the United Systems Alliance has effectively eliminated food insecurity in its populations with enough surplus for export and crisis relief. Those worlds that contribute nothing more than the products of their soils and the labor of their farmers are just as important to the USA’s strength as its beings-at-arms and warships.”

“Despite the high gravity, Mynu gets a good number of visitors. The produce markets sell a wide variety of quality fruits and vegetables of interest. Off the main market venues, the symbiote tanks and pens are also worthy of notice, especially if one is seeking therapeutic assistance. ”

“While an all-out war of the genders is not inevitable on Mynu, post-Contact culture shocks are appearing in Bazrun society. We’ve already been approached by a number of Baz-feminist organizations wanting to negotiate separate business deals with offworld concerns, without first going through male middlemen. If you visit Mynu, avoid getting caught up in local gender-based politics r even discussing them, just to be on the safe side.”

Mynu is an agrarian society planet that has only within the last sixty years made contact with galactic society. The inhabitants of Mynu, the Bazrun, have seen some sweeping changes in their society as a result of alien contact, but have quickly established their planet as an agroworld, selling foodstuffs offworld.
The Bazrun admit that they are not native to Mynu, but came to their world from ‘far away, long ago’, either brought, exiled, or escaping from others their legends call ‘gray cousins’. The Bazrun have suffered at least one collapse of their society down to a pre-technology state, and have managed to rebuild themselves.
Aware that their yellow main sequence star and planets were an attractive target to other interested parties(the Golgans already having made at least one run and implied threat towards them), the Bazrun appealed to the United Systems Alliance for protection. Membership, after a brief evaluation period as a solar protectorate, was negotiated.
The Bazrun are, in general, a pacifistic agrarian people whose contribution to the military of the USA is minimal, but whose potential economic and medical contributions are substantial. Though not the same level of geneticists as the Streleg or Cambridge Jungle Tribes, the Bazrun are still accomplished genetic engineers, especially in the application of symbiotic organisms in their holistic medicine. Though Mynuan organisms pale in comparison to the biowizardry power-ups of the Splugorth, they are much more useful in medical applications. Bazrun gardening techniques are also catching on among the Alliance members and Bazrun agronomists may be found touring the USA worlds both handing out advice and learning other ways of farming.

Solar System(Dol’toa)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars:
Yellow Dwarf
Number of Planets: 6
-Gas Giant(Neben)----A large ‘hot Jupiter’ gas giant, Neben. Neben’s five moons describe what some astronomers call a ‘perilous dance’ between the gas giant’s and the star’s gravitational influences. The fifth moon, Ealon, has been discovered to possess substantial deposits of Psylite, though a combination of a radiation belt surrounding Neben, and gravity-induced tectonic psi-quakes makes extraction of the valuable mineral difficult.

-Terrestrial( Mynu)---- System Lifeworld, Homeworld of the Bazrun

-Terrestrial(Temsis)---- Arid and Mars-like, but with a heavier gravity, Temsis is a good candidate for terraforming. As the Bazrun currently do not possess much of a spaceflight program, they are negotiating an access deal that would allow USA business concerns to prospect Temsis and develop the planet for/alongside Bazrun colonization.

-Gas Giant(Hhehew)----Huge, and possessing 2 large moons of note, Hhehew is convenient as a gas source for starships. It would also likely be a convenient source of water-ice to terraform Temsis.

-Asteroid(Kolsus)----Some 400 miles in diameter, this minor planetoid is a likely candidate for an asteroid colony and waystation. The USA has negotiated terms with the Bazrun for the use of the asteroid, provided that half of the developed habitat space and mineral rights belong to the Mynu government.

-Terrestrial(Jopna)----Earth-sized, rocky and cold, but possessing a super-dense, almost liquid, ammonia-laced atmosphere, Jopna is another potential chemical source.

Planet( Mynu)-Homeworld of the Bazrun
There is some evidence to suggest that Mynu has had a number of ecological mass extinction events in its past, with the Bazrun arriving while the planet was still recovering from the last one.
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 23,000 km
Gravity: 1.4 g
Temperature: Temperate, with average temperatures being 65 degrees F.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Moons(2)---Mynu possesses two minor moons, Dapsus and Olroy. The Bazrun pre-Contact managed to crash-land probes using their primitive impulse rocketry on Dapsus. The USA has established, with Bazrun permission, a base on Dapsus that is being developed into a starport, trading market and shipping terminal.

-Energy Field---Mynu possesses a low ambient PPE field similar to the PFRPG world’s; more than most Earth-analogs but well below that of Rifts Earth. It’s an indication that the Bazrun are not originally native to Mynu in that they have not had time to evolve the capability to tap into this field and develop magic on their own until it was introduced by mage-startravelers(whereas Rifts Earth got a MASSIVE PPE infusion that -forced- magic evolution ). However, a number of native Mynuan species have evolved magic abilities that were not identified as such until recently. The energy field may also be responsible in part for the marked fertility of Myu’s croplands.

Atmosphere:
Breathable terrestrial nitrox mix
Terrain: Varied, 4+
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Mercury
- Tin
- Zinc
- Sapphire
- Arsenic
- Platinum
- Salt
- Diamond
Hydrosphere:
Moist; 62% surface coverage
Biosphere:
Dense. Mynu possesses a great number of aquatic and terrestrial reptiloid lifeforms as its primary apex animals, and a wide variety of plants, but there are indications that the diversity is recovering from past ecological collapses/depletion. The Bazrun have been careful to respect this and not over-harvest certain species, while trying to breed greater diversity into others.
Civilization:
Settled (Bazrun homeworld)
Population:
4.5 Billion Bazrun
Technology:
Roughly equivalent to Information Age. The Bazrun were tentatively experimenting with spaceflight at the time of Contact, but their physiological limitations hamper high-risk/reflex-dependent aerospace activities. Part of their trade deals with the greater USA membership has been in developing assisted-flight and transportation systems.
Economy:
Agricultural---The Bazrun have fairly recently commenced large-scale farming of their world with offworld exports in mind.
Wealth:
Wealthy; early trade in agricultural products like quigroot, manasquash, and morgalana-fruit has garnered an enthusiastic response from offworld markets and is earning the Bazrun a good deal of coin for their efforts. They are also developing a promising trade in pharmaceuticals and therapeutics.
Government:
Gendocracy----The Bazrun are run by patriarchy, However, females dominate in the sciences. However, exposure to other cultures has led to some recent questioning of the whole ‘males rule’.
Law Level:
Lawful, but there is some growing post-Contact cultural shock causing ripples in the legal systems.
Popularity:
Ambivalent; exposure to Galactic ideas has led to a growing discontent with the current patriarchal government systems, and a mounting call for more women in administration.
Stability:
Dynastic; many government positions are passed from fathers to sons. Others are available only to males of distinguished lineage. This has predictably not always resulted in consistent quality of administration, leading to recent discontent.
Despite some recent questioning and calls for reforms, it seems likely that the male dynastic political system will continue to survive in some form or other.

Bazrun
“Incredibly strong, blindingly fast, very tough and fast healers....they gotta be the latter, because when they trip running at speed...and they trip surprisingly easy and often, they go tumbling arse over teakettle like a rollerbug in high wind.”

The Bazrun are a humanoid people, characterized by (deceptively) slight physiques, green skin, large hairless heads, large oblong black eyes, and pointed ears.
Bazrun are superlative physical specimens, being considerably faster, stronger, and more durable than the average human, but they have one great glaring weakness, a condition they call (translated as) the ‘shakes’, a neurological condition endemic to their species that causes them to be off-balance and slow in rapid-movement. The ‘shakes’ prevent the Bazrun from being good at combat or competitive physical activity involving agility and quick dexterity. It has also hampered their technological development(there are no hotshot aerospace pilots, for instance, among the Bazrun). The gene groups responsible for the condition have been identified by Bazrun scientists(and confirmed by offworld researchers), but suggested gene therapy has been refused, especially because the same gene cluster is a lynchpin in regulating other neurological processes. A rare few individuals who do not possess the active gene sequences producing the ‘shakes’ almost all exhibit marked sociopath behavior...and skin that tends towards gray coloration. This has led to some speculation that the Bazruns’ ancient enmity with ‘gray cousins’ may be related to their condition.
Despite their limitations, a few adventurous Bazrun have gone offworld to see the sights, study magic abroad and serve with the United System Alliance’s civil service.

Alignments: Any, but generally(95%) Good and Selfish
Life Span: 120 years
Size: 5-6 ft tall, 120-180 lbs.
Gender: Heterosexual
Physical Description/Appearance:
Humanoids, with a slight(but wiry) build, large obloid heads, large jet-black eyes, small noses and mouths, and sharp angular chins. Their skin is hairless and sleek, with a bright green color. They possess four-fingered/toed extremities and pointed ears.
Disposition/Attitudes:
A generally calm-demeanored nonaggressive folk who take their lives slowly and deliberately. Agrarian, with a love of growing and living things. Bazrun enjoy growing things, and gardening, both for food and aesthetic pleasure, is popular. The Bazrun find the idea of famine to be an abomination and unthinkable in a culture where practically everybody grows or raises foodstuffs, as a hobby if not for commercial purposes.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 4d6
ME: 2d6+6
MA: 2d6+15
PS: 4d6+24
PP: 1d6
PB: 1d6+4
PE: 2d6+12
SPD: 2d6x10+60
(ISP): ME+ 4d6+(1d6+4 per level of experience)
(PPE): 4d6
Hit Points: 100+PE
SDC: 200
Natural A.R.: 8
MDC:----
Horror Factor:-----
Natural Abilities:
*Good Peripheral Vision---Bazrun have large oblong eyes that wrap halfway around their heads and offer good fields of vision to their sides making it difficult to take them by surprise(+12% to Detect Ambush, do not suffer a lack of Initiative when surprised from behind).

*Advanced Sense of Taste----Can discriminate between and identify common substances with 70%+5% per level of experience proficiency, and can identify exotic tastes and poisons at 30%+5% per level of experience. +10% to cooking ability.

Penalties:
-The ‘Shakes’----A state of clumsiness that cuts in whenever the Bazrun have to reflexively react quickly. -1 to strike and -5% to skills requiring manual dexterity and balance.
Other related conditions exist, mainly age-related, such as a growing numbness in the extremities.

Psionics:
(Major: Healer and Optimist)
-8 from the Healing category
- +2 save vs psionic attack and possession

Magic:
Magic-Using. The Bazrun were not originally a magic-using people, but visiting offworlder mages discovered that the Bazrun possessed considerable potential and introduced them to the basics. A ‘blue revolution’ swept the planet as magic-potential’ed individuals were identified and offered training. However, while some 5% of the population has identified magic potential, it has proven difficult to direct their interest into specific disciplines of magic. Most(81%) Bazrun mages are Mystics, another 18% are Mystic Herbalists, and the last 1% are a scattershot mix of basic disciplines.

Cybernetics/Bionics: None; and after learning of them, the Bazrun don’t feel that such augmentation is appropriate for them. If they need a replacement limb or organ, they will seek magic/psionic healing or biosystems.

Available OCCs:
Any low- to mid-tech professions. Most are involved in agriculture, if only raising truck farms in their backyards or workshop roofs.

RCC Skills:
Gardening(+5%)
Cooking(+5%)

Skills of Note:
Domestic skills and Botany get a +5%

Culture:
Agrarian, patriarchal. The male-dominated status quo, however, has recently faced faced increasing challenges from females who have been exposed to Galactic egalitarian ideas.

Mynuan Symbiotic Organisms
Many of the organisms of Mynu’s recovering ecosystem get by by forming symbiotic relationships with other organisms. The Bazrun have learned to exploit some of these relationships. A few of the available/adapted types include:

*Cardiojela----An amoeba-like organism that takes up residence in the bloodstream and feeds off arterial plaque. It heals aneurysms more or less immediately while facilitating blood flow elsewhere and enriching the blood. It is adaptable to other species as well as Bazrun.
(Game Stats: it gives the host a +10% to save versus death from stroke and other cardiovascular conditions, and gives a +1 to P.E.)

*Gezavine---Appears as a green corduroy-like vest attached to the torso. The symbiote feeds on small amounts of blood and body waste, and in return senses if the host is in a panicked state of falling, whereupon the symbiote will shoot out prehensile vines that stabilize the person, either as balancing rods/counterweights or as ground supports. The vines also cushion falls and rights the person. Gezavine stay attached for the life of the person. They are a favorite geriatric tool for aging Bazrun, though it is also popular with adventurous types.
(Game Stats: it gives the host a +10% to Sense of Balance, +2 to roll with falls and impacts, takes HALF damage from falls/tumbles, and protects the torso with 2d4x10 SDC and an Armor Rating of 16. )

*Varifern---A symbiotic organism resembling a patch of fern fronds, attached to the recipient’s back, but with tendrils penetrating the torso and intertwining with the respiratory system(it’s sometimes ghoulishly called a ‘green blood eagle’). Varifern helps with respiratory problems by filtering impurities out of the air and providing supplemental oxygen. Though variferns can be pulled close to the body and concealed under clothing, they work best and thrive given regular exposure to sunlight. Variferns can be grafted to non-Bazrun.
(Game Stats: Recipient doesn’t suffer from breathing thin or tainted air, is +2 to save versus gases and airborne contaminants, and, as long as their ‘green lungs’ are exposed to sunlight, they get a bonus +1d4 points of P.E. for endurance activities. The variferns have 4d6+ recipient’s PE/2 in SDC. )

*Wosan---- Wosan look like a small tree or anemone growing from the host’s back, with a long flexible rubbery-elastic trunk up to 2 meters in length. The wosan feeds off sunlight and some fluids of the host. In return, the wosan acts like a living umbrella, shielding the host from solar radiation, bad weather, and falling debris. The wosan can also parry attacks from the sides, top, and backside, blocking for the host. Like the Varifern, Wozan can form unions with non-Bazrun, though many find the prospect of walking around with a large plant growing from their backs to be ridiculous.
(Game Stats: 1d6x10+ recipient’s PE in SDC, gets an automatic parry at +1. Recipient is also shielded from directional solar heat, radiation, and acquires the Heroes/Powers Unlimited Minor power of Kinetic Resistance. Hosts are also -2 to be surprised/ambushed from behind.)

*Deedar Worms---- These bloodstream symbiotes seem to have a stabilizing effect on Bazrun nervous systems and, in fact, seem to counter most of the detrimental effects of the ‘Shakes’. However, the deedars are short-lived(3 years), do not tolerate certain medications, and repeated use of them can damage other aspects of Bazrun physiology. Still, continued research into developing more effective strains of them is ongoing.
(Game Stats: Bazrun recipients re-roll P.P. as 4d6, gets a +2 to strike/parry/dodge, and loses the penalties, Taking another injection of deedars after 3 years incurs a possible chance of rejection; roll versus non-lethal poison or take a -1d4 loss to P.E. an P.S.. Taking a third dose of deedars after six years requires a save at -1, and risks a loss of -1d4 P.P. in addition to another possible loss of P.E. and P.S., Additional dosages beyond that incur a cumulative penalty of -1 to save versus further deterioration. )
(Non-Bazrun taking cultures of deedar worms don’t get such benefits. They only get a +1 to strike/parry/dodge, and the worms last only 4d6 months. Additional dosages are NOT possible for Non-Bazrun.)

*Engidar---- A large leafy plant-symbiote that covers over half the body with broad fronds. It acts like a form of exoskeleton, assisting in movement. The plant also takes up metals and synthesizes organic superconductors that can manipulate energy. Engidar are a new discovery/development and are proving popular with Bazrun going offworld to explore and with non-Bazrun adventurers, despite the need to get at least 5 hours of sunlight/full spectrum light per 48 hours, plus extra water and nutrient supplements. Engidar can bond with a host for life.
(Game Stats: Recipient is impervious to cold, gains a +6d6 t0 Speed, and fatigues at 10% of normal. the Heroes/Powers Unlimited powers of Re-Channel Kinetic Energy(Major), Abnormal Energy Sense(minor), Impervious to Energy & Electricity (minor) and Impervious to Light & Lasers(minor). The Engidar offers partial megadamage protection similar to cyber-armor; 6d6 MDC, Armor Rating 17. It regenerates at 1 MDC every 2 hours. )


Sample Mynuan Foodstuffs:
-D’Jof---A peppery-flavored drink, served hot or cold. It serves as a stimulant.

-Yakardi Sticks---- Orange-colored bark shavings that are chewed for a mild euphoric effect.

-Polg---- A smooth-skinned pumpkin-like vegetable, best served boiled whole, the top cut open, and the insides scooped out and eaten. It is extremely nutritious and compatible with a variety of metabolisms.

-Yav---An algae-like plant that grows in thick mats floating atop bodies of water such as swamps and wetlands. It is eaten boiled, whereupon the individual plant cells separate to form a bubbly mash that can be spooned up like porridge.

-Kenggen---Leafy kale-like vegetable. Due to its leaves curling up when heated, broadleaf kenggen often serves as a pita-like wrapper for various fillings like meat-paste or spiced vegetables.

-Plaf---A sprout-grass that can be eaten raw, with a crisp texture and a tangy taste. It also is an effective detoxifying agent; those who eat the sprouts have a +1 to save versus ingested poisons for 1d4 hours.

-Thale---A yellow maize-like plant. It grows prolifically in even depleted soil and its kernels can be ground into flour. The Bazrum regard it as a ‘poor man’s crop’ of bland flavor and texture, but other worlds, especially near-shatterworlds like Tenlen, are very interested in the planets’ resistance to disease , tolerance for harsh conditions, and fecundity.

[taalismn]

Kasane---(Anvil Galaxy)( United Systems Alliance Member)
“Kssane’s not exactly a hospitable world; it’s more of a ‘better than nothing’ world. It’s the sort of world that got overlooked because it was easier to go a little further in search of better worlds to settle. It’s a world a desperate people at their resources’ end would settle. It’s a world that’s bound to breed either a hardy or a crazy people, or both.”

“Kasanans are noticably more paranoid and secretive than the average Tme. The disguises they assumed to distance themselves from their homeworlds have become something of a more prevalent tradition among them, to further distinguish them as different. It can get really awkward when the two branches of the same old culture meet and mingle. ”

Kasane is a new member world of the United Systems Alliance, though they are actually part of an older member civilization of the USA.
While the TransGalactic Empire’s takeover of the Tmelain Republic was vigrously opposed, there was enough forewarning and time to organize an exodus from the TR’s coreworlds. The main exodus fleet stuck together and set out for distant outpost possessions---only to find them pirated by opportunistic claim-jumpers. Eventually though, the main exodus fleet would manage to, with allies, win back some of those worlds and establish a new homeland, the Tme Republic-in-Exile(often referred to as the Republic-in-Exa or the Second Republic), which would attract other Tmelain refugees. However, in the chaos of the conquest, multiple smaller escape efforts were made, with varying degrees of preparation and success, especially from the first worlds overrun.
Kasane was founded by a mixed group of Tme civilians and military from several TR outworlds that got caught on the wrong side of the crumbling republic by the invading TGE. Unable to retreat to the Tmelian coreworlds, the refugee fleet fled in another direction from the coreworlds, hoping to avoid the TGE armadas advancing on Tmea Prime. After learning of several other refugee groups getting baited by false assembly points and getting either captured or massacred, the rim-fleet went comm-silent and disappeared far over the old Tme Republic’s outer rim. The refugees ran hard and far, eventually finding an unclaimed world hopefully far from TGE notice, at least for a while. The settlers of the newly-named refuge of Kasane thought that they could well be the last surviving free Tmelain in the Three Galaxies. Leery of having their continued existence known, the Kasanans only reluctantly, after long initial sequestration, began to engage with outsiders to trade for much-needed materials and technology. In such dealings, the exiled Tmelain represented themselves as a separate Coyle offshoot, even going so far as to have their representatives to the outside world altered with full-body fur dye jobs and surgical alterations. They made no inquiries about the Tme Republic or the deposition of any survivors, or even of the TransGalactic Empire at all, so as not to tip off any suspicions. For all intents and purposes, Kasane was a backwater world of little significance not likely to attract any attention.
However, unbeknownst to the refugees huddled on Kasane, the Tme Republic-in-Exile would become part of the United Systems Alliance, and the USA would expand its reach far and wide among the worlds of the Rim, exploring virgin territories, contacting backwater worlds, and reconnecting with lost and abandoned colonies. It was this effort that eventually found the Tme of Kasane.
Though overjoyed to learn of other free Tme and an official government-in-exile, the Kasane Tme are not rushing to put themselves under the governance of the Republican Council on Lakye as a protectorate. Instead they have submitted application to become a member-state of the USA. This currently suits the TRinEx just fine, since they’re adjusting to the knowledge of other surviving Tme living under a generalissimo and a constant state of martial law(though admittedly this is not too different from how the Tme exodus fleet operated as wandering mercenaries).
Kasane posssesses a small defense flotilla of still-functional Tme light warships, and a mix of aerospace fighters they’ve scrounged from various galactic sources. As a member of the USA, they’ve been receiving assistance in the form of defense upgrades.
Solar System(Hostos)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars:
-Blue Giant
Number of Planets: 4
-Asteroid(Mundersyn)---- Star-blasted and looking eroded, Mundersyn has mineable amounts of Skagerite deep under its crust. The valuable form of uranium ore, useful in the manufacture of particle beam weaponry, was discovered after contact and is being mined with United Systems Alliance technical help, particularly with regards to radiation shielding and remote operations systems that can safely dig out the material. The Kasanan defense forces have first priority on the production and products made with the Mundersyn ore.

-Terrestrial(Caljed)---- Venus-style ‘hothouse’ planet. It is even hotter, though, and thus a poor prospect for terraforming, even if the Kasanans were able and willing to undertake such an ambitious project.

-Terrestrial(Kasane)---- System lifeworld

-Terrestrial(Pramed)----Earth-sized Pramed has higher gravity, but virtually no atmosphere and just as little water as Kasane. Nevertheless, the planet has been suggested as an alternate colony site with habitation underground mining ice and minerals. Already, several sites are being developed, with the idea that underground colonies would be less likely to be detected and better sheltered from space attack. Pramed is an important source of fissionables(thanks to large deposits of pitchblende) and titanium vital to the Kasanans’ defenses.

Planet(Kasane)
Kasane is a small arid, low-gravity world orbiting the Blue Giant star Hostos. The desperate Tme colonized it because it possesses a breathable atmsphere, biologically compatible life, and concentrations of usable minerals(the latter of which shouldn’t exist on a small world like Kasane, suggesting an odd planetary formation history).
A major concern of the Kasanan-Tme is that the low gravity of their world is leading to the deterioration of the Coyle physiology without a standard terrestrial gee-field to maintain it. While stopgap solutions and mandatory physical exercise regimens have kept the Kasanans relatively fit, the Kasane-born population is showing signs of ‘lunie atrophy’ with regards to a general weakening of their muscle tone. This is one of the arguments being used in favor of developing Pramed as a secondary colony. One of the things Kasanans are interested in from the USA’s medical community is more effective ways to combat and ideally reverse this trend.

Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 9,000 km
Gravity: 0.4 g
Temperature: Tropical, with average temperatures in the high 80’s(degrees F).
Unusual/Special Features:
-Rings----Kasane’s ring system helps cool the planet. They are also a good place to hide early warning sensors and automated weapons platforms.

-Craters---Kasane is dotted with impact craters.

Atmosphere:
Breathable terrestrial nitrox mixture, with a high humidity level.
Terrain:
Varied; four+ terrain types. Dominated by large craters, though.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Wolframite
- Copper
- Scheelite
- Sapphire
- Nickel
- Fluorite
- Ruby
- Titanium
Hydrosphere:
Badlands--- Kasane is arid, with the occasional oassis or fossil spring bringing water up to the surface. Kasane is dependent on moisture collectors and imported ice to supply its water needs.
Biosphere:
Sparse--Mainly evolved forms of hot springs algae and extremophile bacteria. The Kasanans cultivate some native varieties as foodstuffs and feedstock for plastics manufacturing. Imported plant and animal species are dome-raised or in prepared and well-irrigated farmlands.
Civilization:
Settled
Population:
40 million Tme/Coyle
Technology:
Low Galactic--The Kasanans, until fairly recently, have lacked the means to produce aerospace fighters, starships and FTL engines, and have had to buy most of their contragravity and higher-end technology.
The Kasanans have barely enough means to keep their small defense fleet in repairs, but have used locally-mined fissionables to manufacture numerous nuclear mines and missile warheads.
Tecnical assistance from the USA is slowly upgrading the level of industrial technology on Kasane.
Economy:
Agricultural; the Kasanan economy serves to feed its population first. Mining is a secondary economic pillar.
Wealth:
Poor---Virtually everything goes into support of the community, with little left over for discretionary project spending. It’s hoped that with safer and more open galactic trade through the USA that Kasane’s fortunes will improve.
Government:
Autocracy; Kasanan society is governed by a paramilitary supreme official, the Alpha Coordinator. The rest of the government is organized along paramilitary lines, with military officers doubling as civil officials.
Law Level:
Overbearing---What one would expect of a constant state of martial law in a society expecting alien invaders to come and enslave or destroy them. Military service is required of all able-bodied adults.
Popularity:
Fanatical---- The security-minded Kasanans adore their leadership and are dedicated to the security of their world.
Stability:
Dynastic----The Alpha Coordinator’s office has passed to three generations of the same family already. Fortunately, their leadership has been exemplary so far, and there have been few complaints about their regimes. The current Alpha Coordinator is the granddaughter of the first Kasane Coordinator.


Planet(Pramed)
“Like their parent settlements on Kasane, the Pramedian colonists subsist on a pretty bland diet of algae-based foods and vat-proteon. Kasanian cuisine can be charitably described as ‘uninspiring’. That’s why imports like Silkran spicefern and marsh-figs are taking off like crazy. And watching Kasanans taste Stygian black tea or G-force coffee for the first time is something of a spectator sport.”

Pramed started out as a resource world but has been considered as a secondary colony site thanks to its beneficially higher gravity. Pramedian settlements are fortifoed and well-hidden as a hedge against Kasane being discovered and atatcked; hopefully attackes would overlook Pramed. It is an important source of fissionables for the Kasane defense forces’nuclear armaments program.

Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 13,000 km
Gravity: 1.1 g
Temperature:
Cool---Though lacking Kasane’s shading rings, Pramed is sufficiently distant from the blue giant Hostos that it recieves less solar radiation and is significantly cooler.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Moons(6)---These natural satellites have been fitted with concealed passive sensors and anti-spacecraft batteries as a last resort defense.

-Rings---Rather than Kasane’s broad rings, Pramed has a set of thin dust rings.

-Craters---Pramed is also dotted with large impact craters.

Atmosphere: Thin, consisting mainly of carbon dioxide and argon.
Terrain:
-Hostile---- Rocky chasms in the fracture zones around the crater-lands, often camouflaged by wind-blown debris, can open up under the unwary.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Antimony
- Gold/Silver
- Pitchblende
- Mercury
- Quartz
- Titanium
- Samarskite
- Borax
Hydrosphere:
Badlands; a few fumeroles spout steam and have adjacent underground springs.
Biosphere:
None
Civilization:
Colonial
Population:
1.3 million Tme/Coyle

[taalismn]

Livia---Home of the Livian Corsairs---( United Systems Alliance Member)(Anvil Galaxy)
“Damn, but those rip-ships can do some damage! They’re almost as bad as our Raijus and a lot more colorfully done up. I figure their crews are just as bad as ours in the crazy department.”

“I am Asuka van-Darian ze-Shikinamin ab-Zarbon, Mistress of Flames, Ace of the Magayani, Holder of the Daishun Sash, dashing young quick-blade of the Crimstar Squadrons! Stare in awe at my magnificence, peons!”

“Called it.”

“So we’ve allied ourselves with another group in spandex?”
“Not exactly. Some of those super-powereds wear a lot less than spandex.”

“The Livians are individually very powerful, yes, and their ships are indisputably effective, but against a larger multi-planet organization that could overwhelm them with numbers they’d be far less effective. And there are those powers that would just LOVE to get their hands on meta-talents to enslave or dissect. There’s a fear in the older generation that their adventurous children may throw caution to the wind, thinking themselves invincible, and wind up on somebody’s vivisection table or auction block. That’s part of what’s driven them to finally seek allies and formal treaties. ”

“There’s a lot of talk about the great unclaimed expanses of the Thundercloud, but there’s still a lot of unclaimed and un-policed real estate closer to the Corkscrew and the Anvil in the form of the smaller island cluster-galaxies. Those who don’t want to stretch out to the ‘cloud are going to look to the mini-galaxies for territory and the Onnat’s one of those clusters. The Livians are soon going to need more than a hobby-military to keep their quiet neighborhood safe and unmolested. A mosquito fleet, no matter how wild-run and well-armed, can only do so much without heavier iron to back it up.”

“Summary? The Livians are the rebellious descendants of a crazy bunch of dimensionally-stranded superpowered, super-talented supervillains who discovered trying taking over the world or the galaxy was too much, and they instead decided to retire to a little paradise of their own making, and went straight in privacy. However, their kids have discovered heroing can be fun and have become local vigilantes, keeping their neighbors safe from things that go bump in the night.”

The Livian Corsairs are a relatively small extraplanetary organization that protects the Onnate Cluster, a miniature island-galaxy in the process of being assimilated into the Anvil Galaxy. They have a reputation for fearless combat piloting and daring-do in the face of stacked odds.
It would therefore surprise many to learn that the Livian Corsairs actually have their origins in a very successful pirate group, the flamboyant Dydarals, who swashbuckled their way across a good swath of the Human Alliance during the post-Automaton War Great Expansion. Though generally regarded as criminals, the Dydarals also did enough Robin Hood-esque actions against corrupt colonial officials, tyrannical military officers, thieving corporations and menacing alien threats that they became folk heroes. That mixed reputation earned them many friends and enemies on both sides of the law.
It is also rumored that the core of the Dydarals may have been a dimensionally-shifted group of superpowered superVILLAINS from an alternate universe. Their official history states that they were fleeing persecution on their origin planet and found their way to the Three Galaxies and found opportunity to fight the injustice they found there. UNofficially,a more critical eye or deep interdimensional traveler might learn that the Dydarals were fleeing PROsecution at the hands of the law when the experimental teleportation drive on their suborbital escape rocketship threw them into another dimension. There the super-criminals found opportunity to rob a few merchants, take over several criminal gangs, and start new lives as space pirates and vigilantes on the Galactic Frontier.

In time, though, the nature of the close-Fringe changed, and the leadership of the Dydarals, tiring of the game and dealing with increasingly aggressive rivals for their spot as ‘Lords of the Galactic Main’, slipped away to retire in a quiet corner of the Three Galaxies, that corner being the Onnate Cluster. There they established a colony in a resource-rich system that was very successful..and very eccentric. given its founders.
Their descendants, however, besides inheriting a host of blood-gifts, also acquired a hankering for adventure and action, and they found it in protecting other forgotten and vulnerable colonies and primitive species in the Onnate Cluster. The Livians did not attempt to create a united star-polity of these worlds, but instead served as a guardian angel police force, patrolling the star-lanes in the Cluster. Many regard Livia as a darkport world that went straight.

Besides having a blood heritage of metapowers and magic, the Livians have had the advantage of exceptional engineering talent(often described as ‘mad scientists’) that have kept the inherited Dydaral tech-base cutting edge, even in relative isolation(the Livians have managed some small trade with outsiders over the centuries). As a result, one of their advantages is some very good quality, virtually hand-built starstrike spacecraft. These individualized and unique custom warcraft have struck terror into pirates and interstellar criminals who thought that the worlds of the Onnat were easy pickings. Traveling in flotillas of 5-10 ships, Livian Corsairs generally have the speed and firepower to scare off most pirates.

The LIvian Corsairs are paramilitary ‘stables’ or ‘garages’ that act as combination military-trade schools and cadres. One joins a ‘stable’ to learn advanced skills in return for a set period of service to the stable. Some Corsair-garages teach a rounded curriculum of space-piloting and ground-fighting, while others focus entirely on space combat. They get their financial support from a variety of sources; private sponsorship, protection fees for escorting outworld merchant traffic, and loot/bounties from taken-down criminals and pirates. These organizations are distinguished by flamboyant color schemes adorning their ships, with such groups as the Red Squadron/Crimstars, Black Wing, and Green Adders being particularly well-known and feared throughout the Onnate Cluster.

More than one sociologist has compared the Livians to Old Earth’s ancient Norsemen; farmers and merchants at home, who occasionally go a-viking abroad in search of adventure and trade. The Corsair-stables also engage in martial competitions at home, honing their skills in practice combat against each other, against the time when they’ll face enemies on the galactic marches. Great prestige and sponsorship can come out of these competitions, and also great expectations of the winners when they go out patrolling.

The first contact between the Livians and the United Systems Alliance went poorly. Due to a rather convoluted set of circumstances, both the Livians and the usans arrived on the scene of an attacked merchant and thought that they were encountering pirates in the other...or at least, pirate-state(the Indrellians were a favored boogeyman)-affiliated proxies. The result was a raging dogfight through a dense asteroid cluster that lasted many hours and left both sides badly shot up and ready to kill each other at the slightest renewed contact. Fortunately, the arrival of cooler heads able to talk to both sides and coax them out of kill mode managed to defuse the situation. Fortunately, though both initial contact groups were badly damaged, no one was killed or seriously injured, and as the truth emerged that both sides were pirate-hunters, a grudging respect for each other grew between the two groups. Later, the Livians would declare ‘no harm, no foul’, and would normalize relations with the USA, eventually asking for admission to the Alliance.

The Livians elected to join the USA out of concern that as the ‘civilized’ Fringe-frontier crowds closer and closer to the Onnat Cluster and their stellar neighborhood becomes busier, the Livians will steadily lose their edge against greater threat numbers and advancing technology. Having the support of a friendly star-nation willing to help them is seen as a big plus and a serious advantage. There is also the lure of adventure; the younger LIvian heroes have heard about the ‘shenanigans’ that usans frequently get into, and they want a part of that. Thus, while the majority of the Livian Corsairs continue to patrol and protect the Onnat, a few of them have gone off with the USAJC and other USA organizations to observe and participate. The sharing of knowledge has benefitted both considerably. The discovery that Livia is rich in gemstone crystals has brought crystal-based technowizardry to the planet’s mage-practitioners.

Note: Livians can be represented by any of the Heroes/Aliens Unlimited superpower, magic, or skill classes, with a space-opera slant. The typical Livian Corsair operative is effectively a Space Pirate OCC with a more lawful and heroic bent.

Notable Founding Dydarals:
*Blackstorm---Leader of the Dydarals after the original leader, KingDomCome, was killed in an early pirate action, allowing the much more cunning and careful Blackstorm take over the group(there’s some rumor that she assisted her arrogant and violent predecessor to his end). A cool and meticulous planner by all accounts, with powers of probability manipulation, Blackstorm carefully choreographed the Dydarals’ more audacious capers, laying the groundwork, then letting the rest of the group do what they did best. The Blackstorm Academy on Livia continues to honor her in its teachings of civics and leadership.

*Rage-Blade---A superhuman master of swordsmanship, whose prowess served well in the taking of starships. Though her early days were marked by past-trauma-incited anger-fueled berserker violence, it is said that later in life she came to terms with her past and in retirement founded a still-thriving school of swordsmanship on Livia.

*Hyperman----Supposedly once a speed-obsessed hero-sidekick named Hyperlad, who ran afoul too many times for violating traffic laws (and stealing vehicles) and flipped to the dark side, the soon-renamed Hyperman enthusiastically took to a universe with FAST SPACESHIPS. A master of highjacking ships and piloting them, Hyperman was the Dydarals’ go-to ‘wheelman’, and laid out the guidelines for the types of ships the gang would use and the training that went into piloting them. Like many of his comrades, in retirement Hyperman would establish a garage/shipyard and piloting school. It is said that he died as he lived; at the controls of a fast ship, trying to go faster still.

*Wang-Klaw---A superpowered martial artist and assassin who specialized in stealing techniques from other schools, ‘Wang-Klaw’ was in it for the delight of humiliating her opposition by taking their vaunted martial prowess and turing it on them. She was also an expert infiltrator, experience that served her well as the Dydarals’ ‘faceman; and inside-prepper. Idealism was less her thing, and more the joy of playing the game of pulling off jobs. She found the environment of the Three Galaxies a heady challenge, facing strange new technologies, who new planets’ worth of martial arts techniques, aliens, and special abilities. Eventually, however, as she aged and slowed down, too many close calls got her thinking of what legacy she would leave. Some believe that she may also have contracted an incurable wasting disease, or been afflicted with a degenerative dim mak-type technique by a martial arts opponent. Aided by Rage-Blade, with who she had an off-and-on rivalry, Wang-Klaw set up a dojo and martial arts library to carry on what she had learned/stolen, before she died(some believe that she deliberately let the venomous Livian snake-analogue that killed her get past her defenses, rather than go on living in a steadily declining body).

*Flux---- An aggressive environmentalist-ecoterrorist and chemical engineer dedicated to fighting climate change and environmental degradation through robbery, blackmail, and sabotage , Flux found a new target in the Three Galaxies in exploitive colonial development corporations. His chemical concoctions could knock out the crews of boarded spacecraft, break down components of machinery, and accelerate the growth of decay organisms.
Later on, Flux became interested in neural chemistry, and developed several medical treatments to assist in the colonization of Livia. Among his creations was the Garan Transference, a DNA/RNA treatment that can allow for the transference of a parent’s skills and proficiencies to their unborn children.
Flux/Doctor Garan is depicted in Livian lore and history as a kindly humanitarian who served as Livia’s Head of Medicine for many decades before he finally passed on. Those more familiar with his past would be hard-pressed to see in the Livian histories the raging terrorist he was once known as.

*Dreadyad-----Daughter of Flux and the recipient of experimental therapy to cure a childhood illness, the therapy drugs leaving her with the power of APS Plant and plant-related sub-powers. She later bonded with a unique alien plant symbiote she called the ‘Greenspring’ that only increased her powers. She was infamous for her tactics of filling boarded ships with entangling greenery and restraining vines.
When it came time to settle on Livia, Dreadyad became a key figure in taming the planet’s very active ecology enough for the ex-pirates to carve out a comfortable retirement colony. It is rumored that she still lives as the last of the original Dydarals centuries later, having transmogrified herself into Livia’s dense ecology.

*Starfist--A dark, brooding giant with a random mutation factor. Something of ‘brick’ or ‘tank’ (and possibly a borderline Mega-Hero/Villain) with his super-abilities of Invulnerability, Supernatural Strength, and Energy Expulsion among them, Starfist always felt freakish in human society. Starfist developed the mutant ability Space Native, which further alienated him from Earthbound society, but also gave him, when he could get into space, an avenue of escape from his earthly woes. Never theless, he stood by the Dydarals because they offered him acceptance of sorts. Starfist found a new home in the vastness of the Three Galaxies and almost left the group several times to wander on his own, but would come back time and again out of a lingering sense of loyalty. When the Dydarals decided to retire and go colonial, Starfist helped set up their new home’s space infrastructure. It is unknown if Starfist ever fathered any progeny; he is known to have had several relationships, none of which lasted(and at least one of which ended tragically), but several families on Livia claim descent from him.
Ultimately, though, his mutations proved unstable and terminal, and Starfist elected to spend his last days alone in space. He disappeared from the ken of the Dydarals/Livians, though some claim that a recent impact feature on an outer system asteroid marks Starfist’s grave.

*Windshear----Windshear was a violent vigilante who became too aggressive fro the law to ignore, especially after his air powers( mainly CEF Air ) killed several federal agents caught in the area of effect he was aiming at a gang boss who was being taken into custody. Windshear was, by all accounts, arrogant and headstrong, and was frequently at loggerheads with Blackstorm over leadership and policy, and other crew members over procedure and tactics. He distrusted most authority, but never seriously challenged Blackstorm, despite their apparent differences. He served as the group’s main commando, a quiet and hard-striking soldier of the air. He frequently worked alongside Sunburn, but was critical of the superpowered arsonist’s brashness as often as he enjoyed the man’s enthusiasm. Windshear, however, commanded considerable respect for his stoic discipline and attention to to the task at hand.
Windshear was eventually badly injured and lost use of most of his limbs before the Dydarals decided to fade from the galactic scene. He became dependent on his wind powers to move around, though he claimed that this made him ‘less of a landling’.

*Sunburn----Fiery-haired Sunburn was said to command the Elemental force of Fire, an ability he passed on to his many children and their descendants. Going by the historical accounts, Sunburn was a lusty charmer who played the swashbuckling space-pirate role to the hilt, and was brash and arrogant enough to match Windshear ego to ego. Sunburn’s amorous adventures offship reportedly got nearly as many authorities after the Dydarals as their heists. Sunburn even made a pass at Blackstorm, but after an un-witnessed rebuff neither ever talked about, he never again bothered the Dydaral leader. The incident later became a running gag among the Livians, whenever Blackstormers and Sunburnians date.
Depending on who one asks, the descendants of Sunburn are either particularly free-spirited life-lovers, or loud arrogant jerkasses.

*Watchsmith---A master technologist, Watchsmith started his career cracking safes and security systems, but branched out into creating super-gear for criminal activities. He was headhunted by Fabricators Inc, but found himself on the lam from the law before he could decide whether he wanted to leave the group he was with for the larger but more restrictive FI. His one great failure(or was it a success?), was the ‘zip-port’ device that transported the original Dydarals to the Three Galaxies. He was never able to duplicate the device, but soon found himself distracted with the abundance of advanced technology available in their new surroundings. He established several technical schools, research groups and the first Corsair ‘garage’ on Livia, establishments that still proudly serve in the modern era.

*(Sir)Vorland--Perhaps one of the first Fallen Cosmoknights of the Human Alliance, Vorland Fell after attempting to defend the honor of his alien friend and mentor, a CosmoKnight who also Fell. Embittered and resentful, Vorland joined the Dydarals to escape his reputation. He was a close friend of Starfist, and deeply mourned the passing of the conflicted super-mutant. Vorland lived for several centuries, serving as an advisor to the Livian government, until his death fighting a rearguard action to allow young corsairs to escape a trap set for them by a particularly aggressive and persistent pirate group. It is said by survivors that Vorland regained his Cosmoknighthood in time to deal the last great blow, at the expense of his own life, to the pirates. The Livian government posthumously reinstated Sir Vorland’s full title in recognition of his sacrifice.

Solar System(Tas-Ked)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars:
---Orange Dwarf
Number of Planets: 18
-Terrestrial(Alende)----A large rocky world with a fairly dense atmosphere. The planet possesses large mineable deposits of Colal Crystals( see Rifter #0-1)ideal for making lenses and laser optics. With enough resources, it could be terraformed.

-Asteroid(Carkin’s Rock)----A large asteroid supporting a small Belter-style habitat. Carkin D’rogin was a Belter who joined the Dydarals to get revenge on the corrupt colonial development corps that ran his original settlement out of business, When the ex-pirates moved to the Tas-Ked system, he started a new settlement. His descendants still hold title to the diamond-rich asteroid that bears his name.

-Gas Giant(Kallen)----Tiny gas giant. Its weak gravity makes it ideal for slingshot maneuvers and gas-skimming,

-Terrestrial(Livia)---- System Lifeworld

-Asteroid(Simmonston)----Site of Simmonston Station, which has served as a training and deployment base for Livian Corsairs for generations. The massive nickel-iron asteroid is also a natural fortification, though it is dependent on outside sources for its water and volatiles. .

-Terrestrial(Betrice)----Huge, with crushing gravity, but a barely breathable atmosphere, Betrice is a world of contrasts. It possesses a modest ecology of extremophile microorganisms able to survive its extreme environment. The Livians have established several orbital science platforms to gather data against more thorough future study.

-Terrestrial(Mineva)----Small Mineva possesses an ice-roofed global ocean supporting chemotropic marine life. The Livians have established several surface bases with boreholes to tap the water and study the marine life.

-Gas Giant(Helen)----Huge Helen sports a moon system with 8 large moons of note. Phehys, the largest, is home to a growing corsair settlement.

-Gas Giant(Jance)----Small Jance claims 1 small moon to its orbit, but displays impressive auroral activity. A small colony on the moon Methas is a popular resort destination for Livians on offworld vacations, who find watching the ‘Jance-lites’ a fascinating spectacle.

-Terrestrial(Tyna)----Miniscule Tyna has a surprisingly dense atmosphere of ammonia-laced ‘fog’ or ‘froth’. Large surface deposits (including giant floating icebergs) of water ice and low gravity make it an attractive stopover for ships looking to refuel and stock up on water.

-Gas Giant(Ronda)----Miniscule Ronda would be considered a good site for gas-skimming, but for an unexpectedly strong magnetic field that can foul navigation sensors(-10% to Read Sensory Instruments and Navigation rolls).

-Terrestrial(Nina)----Earth-sized, cold, with a toxic atmosphere, but bearable gravity and pressure, and substantial amounts of water ice, Nina is a promising resource world. Interestingly, like Alende, Nina possesses large quantities of Colal Crystals, making it another center of laser manufacture.

-Terrestrial(Daryn)----Huge, with a thick dense atmosphere, Daryn is considered too dangerous to colonize or exploit, and thus invites only casual orbital study.

-Gas Giant(Zala)----Enormous Zala sports a six-moon satellite system, two of which support methane atmospheres and ammonia-utilizing exolife(though nothing more advanced than simple microorganisms).

-Terrestrial(Vidian)----Earth-sized, covered in a thick toxic atmosphere, Vidian has massive hurricane storm cells rampaging across its surface. It is not considered suitable for colonization.

-Asteroid(Wayne)----Large planetissimal covered in ice. In the time since the Dydarals colonized the Tas-Ked system, Wayne has acquired a new feature; a large( 51-mile diameter) crater surfaced in melted and refrozen perfectly smooth ice. As whatever caused the impact and creation of the crater was not observed, and it happened around the time of Starfist’s disappearance, the perfectly circular crater has been dubbed Starfist’s Grave(or Pool, Mirror, Pond, or Oculus). and out of respect the crater has only been studied by passive means.

-Gas Giant(Gala)----Tiny gas giant with eight tiny moons and a strong electromagnetic field similar to Ronda’s(-10% to Read Sensory Instruments and Navigation rolls). The Livian Corsairs occasionally run space combat exercises through the satellite system.

-Exotic(Tensahn Nebula)---- A colorful cloud of stellar gas, some 200 million miles in diameter, believed to be the evaporated remains of a failed protostar or an exotic matter brown dwarf. Its fringes are slowly sweeping along the edge of Tas-Ked’s heliopause. The Crimstar corsair stable maintains a base inside the nebula.

Planet(Livia)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 12,900 km
Gravity: 1.4 g
Temperature: Temperate, on the tropical side.
Unusual/Special Features
-Moons(3)---Balthos, Premagin, and Daros. They all host bases used by the corsairs.
Atmosphere:
Livia has a breathable, terrestrial oxygen-nitrogen mix, but with an added exotic aspect of a range of harmless airborne microorganisms that react to human breath; coughing, sneezing, blowing hard, or hiccuping will cause a momentary cloud of bioluminescence to appear in front of the breather. ‘Puff-lighting’is sometimes useful at night, and it has also been used to track fugitives careless enough not to cover their faces when attempting to evade pursuit at night. The microorganisms responsible for the effect are otherwise harmless to humans(aside from a minority of locals and offworlders who react to them like hay fever) and cannot survive offworld(though some Livian entrepreneurs have tried selling canisters of Livian atmosphere offworld as party-favors) .
Terrain: Varied; 4+ terrain types
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Pitchblende
- Mercury
- Amethyst
- Sapphire
- Platinum
- Emerald
- Calcite
- Ruby
Hydrosphere:
44% surface coverage in open water. However, massive subterranean aquifers supply the planet’s rich surface ecosystem
Biosphere:
Cornucopia----Livia lives with a very dense and diverse ecology that is so active it virtually required colonists with superpowers to tame the land enough to set up stable and enduring settlements.
Civilization:
Settled
Population:
1.3 billion (84% Human, 16% other)
Technology:
Low-Galactic, but with a few areas of exceptional advancement.
Livian shipwrights virtually hand-build a dozen or so starstrikers every year, but they’ve also heavily modified ships they’ve acquired from outside sources of copied from common domain plans. Their fleet includes examples of such vessels as the JAa-APG-019 Stelavian Heavy Aerospace Fighter/Patrol Cutter(and its predecessor, the -APG-F08 Sun-Arrow), NC-APG-06 Pundi Patrol Corvette/Gunships, KFsr-APG-18 Bustard Heavy Aerospace Fighter/Patrol Cutter, LEV’Questors’, GftshrA-Anchora System Patrol/Defense Corvettes and even several rare Irisuni Arms T-179 ‘Casto’ Patrol Ships. The Livians have also managed to acquire a handful of Huntress-class cruisers and older Hunter-class destroyers. The largest vessels in the Livian defense forces are a pair of heavily -remodeled Stonewall cruisers.

Economy:
Industrial; the Livians are best known for custom spacecraft parts and assemblies, as well as knockoffs and common domain copies. Livia also produces a fair amount of ‘gimmick’ gear useful to law enforcement, espionage, and criminal activity. The Livians also make a healthy profit providing services to travel through the Onnat.

Wealth:
Rich; as arguably the most advanced system in the Onnat, Livia enjoys great prosperity both from its own inventiveness and through its facilitating trade through the Cluster.

Government:
Nominally a democracy, in action it’s a Syndicracy, with the various stables, labs, and service providers voting in a global parliament.

Law Level:
Moderate; though Livia has a well-established legal system, there’s a good degree of free-spirited lawLESSness to contend with. Though the more serious crimes (rape, murder, assault and battery) are prosecuted severely, lesser crimes such as petty larceny, drunk and disorderly, and grand theft auto are frowned upon, but rarely seriously punished. In fact, it’s considered sport of sorts. With so many superpowered individuals around, it’s considered good practice to keep your pockets from being picked, your vehicle stolen, or your wares shoplifted. In general, though, crimes against a person’s health and personal welfare are severely punished, while minor(if irritating) crimes are left to individuals or small community groups to deal with. On Livia, it is possible to hire private investigators or to appeal to a local vigilante /bounty-hunter group to retrieve one’s car, protect one’s property, or hunt down a harasser.

Popularity:
Fanatical---Livians LOVE their freewheeling society.

Stability:
Dynastic---The regime set up by the original Dydarals has persisted for several generations now and shows no signs of being overthrown any time soon.


Example of a LIvian Corsair: StarStriker(Fire of Riyak)
“The -Riyak’s- a flying cannon battery that can do some serious carving, but I also hear that they have to completely rebuild the cooling system on the lasers every five or six combat mission-forays.”

Livian StarStrikers are custom-built or heavily-modified light warships, fast on speed and heavy on armament(especially lasers). They are longer-ranged than regular aerospace fighters and carry heavier weaponry, and have been compared to pre-Rifts Earth’s PT/E- boats. Though not having the mission endurance of larger vessels, starstrikers can still go on patrols lasting a week or more, and the Livians have established forward bases and resupply depots to extend their patrol range several dozen light years out from Livia and along the more heavily-trafficked tarvel lanes in the Onnat.
The downside of these high-performance beasts is high maintenance and a dependency on specialized parts available only in the Tas-Ked system.
The Fire of Riyak is one of the feared ‘Red Star Flotilla’ group of Livian Corsairs, of the Crimstar Yards band, distinguishable by their red paint schemes. The Fire of Riyak is captained by Koptan Y’flessan, an experienced(8th level ) Corsair who has faced planet raiders and pirates on numerous occasions, been outnumbered on more than a few of them, but has emerged alive and victorious(though the Riyak’s had to be virtually rebuilt at least twice). Though she still has a few years before she’s ready to retire, Y’flessan is already looking to find a hot new talent to mentor to be her replacement in the command chair.

Type: FLRSS Fire of Riyak
Class: StarStriker/Heavy StarFighter
Crew: 8
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,000
Cockpit 800
Wings(2) 450 each
Engines 1,300
Heavy Lasers(3) 360 each
Point Defense Turrets(2) 150 each
*Variable Forcefields 400 per side(2,400 total)
*Shield Refresh Rate is 10% per melee

Height: 25 ft
Width: 98 ft
Length: 100 ft
Weight: 600 tons
Cargo: 15 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 6; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 10
(Kitsune Values: 55% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
Market Cost: Would cost 420 million credits if made market-available
Systems of Note:
Standard Aerospace Fighter/Spacecraft Systems, plus:

*Advanced Flight Controls---Advanced pilot interfaces and a finely-tuned and responsive CG drive give the Riyak a +1 to strike and +3 to dodge.

*ECM Suite----- The Fire of Riyak has an ECM suite for confusing sensor-guided weapons; -4 to strike.

Weapons Systems:
1)Heavy Lasers(3)---The main weapons of the Fire of Riyak are three X-ray laser cannons, one in the nose and two in the wings. These powerful weapons give the Fires a serious bite that can inflict substantial damage on even larger vessels, allowing the ship to punch well above its weight-class, but also require plenty of maintenance overtime to keep operating.
Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 5 miles in atmosphere, miles in space)
Damage: 6d6x10 MD per blast; 1d6x120 MD per double blast(counts as one attack), 1d6x180 MD for a triple blast(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Point Defense Turrets(2)--Further outboard of the lasers on the wings are two wingtip Colal-crystal laser turrets mounted for point defense. They can fire to the front, sides, back, and ventral/dorsal arcs of the ship thanks to their positions.
Range: 1.2 miles in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x10 MD per single cannon blast, 6d6x10 MD for both cannon firing simultaneously(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Missile Launchers(2)---Two ventral fuselage missile bays. Each can hold 80 mini-missiles(volleys of 1-10), OR 24 short range missiles(volleys of 1-8), OR 12 medium range missiles(volleys of 1-6), OR 8 long range missiles(volleys of 1-4), OR 6 cruise missiles(volleys of 1-3).

Auxiliary Craft:
2 atmo/deep space antigravity speeder-bikes. These are sometimes used to deploy superpowered commandos to boarding actions on pirate ships.


Livian Corsair: Varlan’s Hammer
“The whole discussion about the Varlan’s weapons configuration is similar to the old ‘machine guns versus cannon’ argument. Faster-firing but less overall damage or slower ROF and greater damage on target?”

Another vessel of the ‘Red Star Flotilla’ group of Livian Corsairs, of the Crimstar Yards band, the red-hued Varlan’s Hammer is another custom hull. A new addition to the stable, crewed by a young crew that had won sponsorship for their performance as trainees in the ‘academy’ martial games, the Hammer lacks much history, compared to other older and more notorious Crimstar ships. It’s also attracted some attention due to its design and configuration. Instead of relying on multiple batteries of lasers to inflict damage, the ship instead has a nose-mount axial nuclear particle accelerator. The use and mounting of the weapon means the ship has to be deadly accurate over easier ‘spray and pray’ maneuvering. This requires considerable nerve and skill, especially when under fire, and some believe that the young crew of the Varlan’s Hammer are not up to to the task, displaying more bravado than common sense. So far they’ve proven their critics wrong in a number of encounters with lawless elements in the Onnat, but the naysayers feel these successes are attributable to luck and fear that the Varlans are going to run out of it at a critical junction.

Type: FLRSS Varlan’s Hammer
Class: StarStriker/Heavy StarFighter
Crew: 7
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,500
Cockpit 800 +15%
Wings(2) 440 each
Engines 1,500
Nose Cannon(1) 360
Beam Sprayer Array(1) 280
Point Defense Turrets(2) 150 each
Top Sensor/EW Array 250
Missile Launchers(2) 150 each
*Variable Forcefields 400 per side(2,400 total)
*Shield Refresh Rate is 10% per melee

Height: 45 ft
Width: 70 ft
Length: 90 ft
Weight: 550 tons
Cargo: 12 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 9
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.9% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
Market Cost: Would cost 400 million credits if made market-available
Systems of Note:
Standard Aerospace Fighter/Spacecraft Systems, plus:
*Advanced Targeting---The Hammer is dependent on accurate targeting for its weapons to be effective. It possesses an advanced targeting system that gives its direct fire weapons a +2 to strike.

*ECM Suite----- The Hammer has an ECM suite for confusing sensor-guided weapons; -5 to strike.

Weapons Systems:
1) Particle Beam Cannon(1)---Mounted in the nose of the Varlan’s Hammer is a powerful particle beam cannon. Its position buried in the nose armor makes it hard to knock out, but also limits its arc of fire; the ship must be aimed to bring the cannon to bear on target.
Range: 3.5 miles in atmosphere, 7 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 7 miles in atmosphere, 700 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100+50 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: Four shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Beam Sprayer Array(1)--Mounted on the underside of the main hull is a multi-lense laser array that spams area-of-effect beams --a cheaper version of a tachyon sprayer.
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD to a 30-degree arc.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3)Point Defense Turrets(2)---The wingtips hold small laser PDS turrets.
Range: 1.2 miles in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per single cannon blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

4) Missile Launchers(2)---Mounted atop the main hull among the panels of the primary sensor array are two small missile launchers. Their limited capacity is of some concern to fellow Red Star Flotilla members who fear they lack the throw-weight and capacity for sustained combats.
Each launcher can hold 40 mini-missiles(volleys of 1-8), OR 12 short range missiles(volleys of 1-8), OR 6 medium range missiles(volleys of 1-6).

Auxiliary Craft: None




Livian Corsair: Sterling Stalwart
“Firing the fusion gun reminds one that the weapon is essentially a repurposed plasma drive; without the gravitic baffles counteracting the recoil of the plasma expulsion, the ship would otherwise lose forward speed and jump offcourse.”

The Stalwart is a corsair of the Silverston Stables, based on Simmonston Station. It is barely recognizable as being originally a Harbin Dynamics F.112 light transport. It’s since been yard-hacked, with four separate engine pods providing serious combined thrust and redundancy(albeit at the cost of longer maintenance downtime) and a sheathing of laser-resistant silvered durachrome. The swivel-mounted engine pods give the one-time freighter a surprising degree of agility.
The current captain of the Stalwart is Captain Jess d’arms, a former ground-fighter who decided on a change of orientation. He is involved in ground support and boarding actions as often as he is in pure antispacecraft actions, thanks to the versatility of his ship’s cargo bay.

Type: FLRSS Sterling Stalwart
Class: StarStriker/Heavy StarFighter
Crew: 9
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,000
Cockpit 900
Wings(2) 450 each
Engines(4) 500 each
Weapons Pods(2) 420 each
Nose Turret 180
Nacelle Lasers(2) 130 each
Point Defense Turrets(2) 150 each
*Variable Forcefields 500 per side(3,000 total)
*Shield Refresh Rate is 10% per melee

Height: 45 ft(mainly tail fins)
Width: 60 ft
Length: 125 ft
Weight: 620 tons
Cargo: 12 tons(see Reconfigurable Cargo Bay , below)
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 9
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0. 9% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
Market Cost: Would cost 450 million credits if made market-available
Systems of Note:
Standard Aerospace Fighter/Spacecraft Systems, plus:
*Laser Reflective Armor--Lasers do HALF damage

*Advanced Maneuvering---The multiple pod-mounted engines give the ship a +2 to dodge and roll.

Weapons Systems:
1) Plasma Cannon(1)---Mounted in a large housing on the port wing next to the cockpit is an advanced plasma cannon.
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space.
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x100 MD per blast to a 60 ft blast radius. The radiation also has a 60% chance of blanking out the target’s sensors for 1d6 melees.
Rate of Fire: Once per melee
Payload: Effectively unlimited

2) Heavy Missile Launcher(1)---Housed in a nearly identical wing pod on the other side of the nose from the plasma cannon. Holds 18 long range missiles.

3) Nose Lasers(2)----Concealed under the nose of the Stalwart in a retracting turret are two rapid-fire lasers.
Range: 1.2 miles in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per single cannon blast, 4d6x10 MD for both cannon firing simultaneously(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

4) Nacelle Lasers(2)---Mounted under the forward engine pods are small lasers, identical to those mounted in the nose turret, but fixed to fire along the axis of the swivel-engine pods. Typically slaved to fire under the pilot’s control.
Range: 1.2 miles in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per single cannon blast, 4d6x10 MD for both cannon firing simultaneously(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

5) Point Defense G-Cannon(2)----The tail is protected by two rapid-fire kinetic cannon.
Range: 1.2 miles in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per 40 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 500 bursts per gun

6) Reconfigurable Cargo Bay---The Stalwart’s old cargo hold can be quickly reconfigured to carry tons of cargo, 25 troops/passengers, or additional missiles( 120 mini-missiles OR 60 short range missiles OR 40 medium range missiles OR 20 long range missiles OR 10 cruise missiles).

7) Countermeasure Launchers(2)---Mounted in the tail are two countermeasure launchers. The Livians didn’t develop the same variety of ‘smart’ countermeasures as the CAF, so regular thermal flares/ radar-scuzzing chaff are on tap.
Range: Close Defense
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 12 per launcher (24 total)

Auxiliary Craft: None

[taalismn]

Kiyvah---(United Systems Alliance Protectorate)(Anvil Galaxy)
“Though they fell from their past technological high and lost a lot of their former culture, the Kiyvah colinists never forgot that they came from the stars, and that one day somebody from the stars would come and find them. They lucked out in that the Livians were a bunch of big damn heroes who would protect them.”

“They’re a hardluck abandoned colony, they’re mutant freaks, they’re on the Fringe...of COURSE they’re going to fit in just fine with us!”

Kiyvah is one of forty settled/inhabited star systems in the Onnat Cluster that are actively patrolled by the Livian Corsairs.
Kiyvah is a ‘lost’ early-First Diaspora Human Alliance private colony effort that was isolated because of a xenopathogen outbreak. Contact with the outside galaxy was lost when the captain of the the colonists’ last uncannibalized working starship elected, in the throws of raging infection himself, elected to self-destruct the ship, rather than let his equally infected and delirious crew take the ship back to the Human Alliance and spread the pathogen.
The Kiyvah colony collapsed, losing the ability to maintain its technology as parts wore out and technicians died in the outbreak. Colonial unity fractured as the settlements sought to protect themselves in the absence of a unifying central administration(which had died attempting to coordinate quarantine efforts). Eventually, all communities were infected, but some survived, to pass on their resistance, and immunity, to their descendants, as hope gradually returned and the colonists gradually recovered.
Several centuries after their fall, the Kiyvahns were (re)discovered by the Livians and placed under their protection, but not before several pirate raids managed to abduct a number of Kiyvahns. Being superpowered mutants themselves, the Livians immediately took a shine to the now-disease resistant human settlers. When the Livian Corsairs joined the United Systems Alliance, the USA became co-protectors of Kiyvah. After ascertaining that the pathogen was no longer active(or could be defeated by modern medical techniques), more extent contact was opened with the Kiyvahns.
Kiyvah is currently a protectorate of the USA, while its people are slowly reintroduced to galactic society. A few Kiyvahs have already left their world to visit and see the worlds of the USA, but there are also a few locals who were abducted by slavers and world-raiders before the the Livian corsairs appeared on the scene and could put a stop to the activity. Finding the fate and whereabouts of those abductees is a priority of the newly-established Kiyvah branch offices of the United Systems Alliance Marshals’ Service(USAMS) and Frontier Defense Force.

Solar System(Ulstes -43)
Number of Stars: 3
Types of Stars:
- Blue Dwarf(Ulstes -a/Ulstar)
-Orange Dwarf(Ulstes -b/ Solan)
-Orange Dwarf(Ulstes -c/Boram)
Number of Planets: 9
-Asteroid(Sadghum)----This radiation-blasted crater-pocked minor planetoid has been discovered to have several large deposits of Taranium, a mineral useful in radiation-focus elements and megadamage metal fabrication(especially durable energy weapon assemblies). The Livians are especially enthusiastic about this find and seeking technical assistance from the USA in developing a mining strategy.

-Terrestrial(Zhaust)-----Gargantuan ‘hot Venus’ world shrouded in hot acidic clouds. Considered a poor prospect for development.

-Asteroid(Malebe)---- A large comet-like wanderer, it describes a complicated orbit around the trinary stars.

-Terrestrial(Kiyvah)---System Lifeworld

-Gas Giant(Betler)----Enormous Betler sports 4 large moons and seems slated for industrial gas skimming and development. The Livians found deposits of Feshite( Rifter #0-1) on one of the moons already.

-Terrestrial(Rehest)----Enormous, cold and shrouded in dense methane clouds, Rehest would seem a desolate unwelcoming place, but science probes have detected tantalizing hints of microbial extremophile exolife on the planet.

-Terrestrial(Scgumman)----Tiny icy Scgumman is being developed as a USAJC naval facility in anticipation of increased traffic in the region.

-Asteroid(Gholeg)----The USA is establishing a communications relay and sensory platform on this distant rocklet.

-Terrestrial(Dwas)----Tiny rocky Dwas is the ‘last outpost’ before Ulstes’ cometary cloud. The Livian Corsairs established a life-station and supply cache on the planet, but fortunately have not had to resort to using it.

Planet(Kiyvah)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 13,224 km
Gravity: 1.1 g
Temperature: Temperate, on the tropical end
Unusual/Special Features:
-Odd Revolution----Kiyvah speeds exceptionally fast around its three suns, considering its wide orbit. Technically, its year should be nearly twice what it really is.

-Craters---Multiple impact craters dot Kiyvah‘s surface.

Atmosphere:
-Exotic----Breathable, terrestrial oxygen-nitrogen mix. Kiyvah’s upper atmosphere reacts strongly to the radiation output of three suns, glowing in bright spectacular auroral displays visible even in the day.

Terrain: Varied; 4+ terrain types

Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Magnesium
- Lead
- Tin
- Wolframite
- Thorium
- Diamond
- Asbestos
- Graphite

Hydrosphere:
43% surface water coverage

Biosphere:
Dense; and up from Moderate. Evolutionary forms are similar to those of Earth’s Devonian Period, with an increasingly diverse land plant ecology, and well-developed marine life. The most advanced land animals are a number of arthropods and crustaceans.
It is currently believed that the xenopathogen was released as a result of the original colonization inadvertently knocking out an element of the ecology, leading to mass die-offs and the unchecked blooming of the xenopathogen, which spread to the human colonists. Both the ecological die-off and the depopulation of the trigger factor(the colonists) caused a pause and ‘reset’; the ecology has since bounced back with astonishing speed. Though the Livians had little interest in this in their cursory studies of Kiyvah, the following-up United Systems University and United Systems Planetary Protection Council(USPPC) are both VERY interested in this very rapid global ecological response. Current thinking is that a gaiaistic mechanism has -adapted- to the colonial presence on Kiyvah.

Civilization:
Settled
Population:
500 million Kiyvahns--Human Variant Sept
Technology:
Early Industrial Age. The Kiyvahns have gotten back up to building their first steam engines and telegraph systems. Hot air balloons and their first airships are a new thing, though the Kiyvahns syill have records of heavier than air flight. Because of their regenerative abilities, most Kiyvahnian personal weaponry is particularly brutal and is designed to do as much damage as quickly as possible. Incendiary weaponry is common(the Kiyvahns arguably developed flametrowers before rediscovering musketry), as well as large caliber exploding ammunition(shotguns and fletchette-rounds are particularly popular).
Economy:
Agricultural---Industry is still in its infancy on Kiyvah, and most natives are involved in agricultural pursuits.
Wealth:
Average; the Kiyvahns have managed to rebuild a stable planetary economy, and in general everybody gets enough to eat, places to love, and clothing to wear, with a little left over to spend on themselves. The governments have enough resources to maintain general services and have some extra to spend on such projects as irrigation/travel canals, telegraph and rail line networks.
Government:
Varied; most regional polities on Kiyvahn are aristocracies or strongman autocracies. but parliamentary democracy is becoming a popular thing.
Law Level:
Moderate; the fragmented nature of rule on Kiyvahn means that overall rule of law is spotty.
Popularity:
Popular; most Kiyvahs stick by the governments they grew up with. There is some dissidence with the more tyrannical regimes, but by and large most native Kiyvahns abide by their local governments.
Stability:
Stable---The arrival of offworlders has had a unifying effect on the Kiyvahns; for better or worse they are reluctant to shake up their society while they unify to welcome or resist the strangers from the skies.

Kiyvahns--Human Variant Sept
“Most outworlds hit by a plague either do so with little long term effect...or else they’re devastated, and many are never heard of again until their remains are discovered by follow-up expeditions. A rare few, however, emerge from tragedy with something extra to show for it...proof that life adapts...or else somebody or something is insidiously clever in manipulating life.”

“Ever make love to a woman with three arms? Once you get past the asymmetry....the things she could do with that extra hand....”

“Tailoring is a necessary art on Kiyvahn; the lack of a normal body form means that ‘off the rack’ styles are never going to become a thing for them. It’s also going to make fitting the Kiyvahns with such things as spacesuits very difficult.”

The Kiyvahns are the descendants of an early-First Diaspora Human Alliance private colony effort.
The colonists fell victim to a xenopathogen that attacked the replication mechanisms of the humans’ cells. Many colonists died of near-explosive cell growth; rapidly metastasizing tumors that clogged their bodies and killed them with organ failure. Like Kellest and Hablis III, worlds that also suffered devastating pandemics, Kiyvah was quarantined(though in this case more by distance and limited spacefaring capability than by outside government action) and left to its own. Kiyvahn society fell on hard times as multiple waves of the pathogen swept the population, killing and crippling. Eventually, though, the surviving colonists acquired an immunity of sorts to the pathogen, and even managed to regain or retain enough hope to procreate and generate new generations of Kiyvahns. However, the disease left its mark.
Kiyvahns are normal-appearing, even exceptionally fit and attractive-looking, humans, but for the jarring feature that some limb or organ is unnecessarily duplicated, a lingering effect of the rampant cellular growth factor of the original pathogen. For some Kiyvahns, it is an extra internal organ , but for others it may be a obvious extra appendage or limb(or several). When this is noticed, it can be quite jarring to those used to more normal and symmetrical anatomy.
While most baseline humans may find Kiyvahn mutations unsettling, the GNE natives of Rifts Earth, the Averi-Cheral, and the Kellestans, all used to dramatic mutations in their own germ plasm, are unfazed and wholly accepting of the Kiyvahns. Other USA members, such as the Bhozyari, Zolann, Valkosians and Bazrun, are also sympathetic and accepting of the Kiyvahns, smoothing their entry into the United Systems Alliance. The Davasgarans, with their random genetic expression of their demonic ancestry, also hardly bat an eye at a Kiyvahn sporting an extra arm or a third eye. The fact that many of these extra parts give the Kiyvahns extra abilities is seen as a plus, and the Averi in particular are quick to point out that the initial calamity may prove to have a silver lining after all.

Kiyvahn Human
Attribute Bonuses:
M.E.: +1d6+6
P.P.: +1d6+6
P.E.: +1d6+6
P.S.: +1d6+6
P.B.: +2d6+10(will be potentially modified downwards by mutations. see below)

Mutations
-Disease Resistance--- Kiyvahns are +2 to save versus disease, in addition to any other bonuses from their mutant physiologies.

-Regeneration----80% of Kiyvahns possess advanced Regeneration, 1d6 HP/ 1D6+3 SDC per minute of rest or sleep and can grow a new limb within a week. There s some concern that some of the Kiyvahns taken offworld as slaves may be being used as living organ banks to grow transplant tissue and parts.

Extra Parts
The most telling of the mutations is a preponderance of extra organs and limbs. While many of these extras can be surgically excised, most Kiyvahns regard their extra parts as perfectly natural, and in any case, the advanced regenerative abilities possessed by many Kiyvahns render surgical modification an only temporary measure.

Number of Mutations:
01-50% 1
51-80%1d4+1
81-00%1d6+2

Location:
01-50% Internal
51-00% External

Internal
01-10% Extra Heart---Reduced chance of cardiac illnesses/disorders. +1d4 to P.E., +15% save vs coma/death, +1 save vs disease, +2d6 Hit Points, and fatigues at HALF the normal rate. Immune to cardiovascular diseases.

11-20% Lung---Extra breath-holding capacity(30% more/longer per extra lung). The Kiyvahn tends to have a broader chest to accommodate the extra respiratory organ(s).

21-30% Liver---Greater resistance to alcohol and other ingested toxins. +2 save vs poison and disease. Can ingest twice as much alcohol without ill effect.

31-40% Double Jointed---Adds a +1 to Roll, +10% to Escape Artist skill rolls

41-50% Larynx---The Kiyvahn has an extra voicebox in their throat, evident by a more pronounced adam’s apple in men, and the appearance of one in women. +10% to Imitate Voices, and +15% to Singing.

51-60% Skin----The Kiyvahn has extra-thick skin that provides near-armor levels of protection. The skin may appear noticeably tan or leathery, and the Kiyvahn may have trouble shedding heat in hot and humid climes. +110 SDC and effectively has an Armor Rating of 14.

61-70% Stomach---A larger ‘pre-stomach’ that allows the person to consume extra food and store a reserve of energy against lean times. Also protects against food poisoning; gets TWO saving rolls vs ingested poisons and food-norne illnesses at +1 each roll.

71-80% Inner Ear---Has an extra balance-sensing organ. +15% to Retain Balance and +1 to Roll.

81-90% Kidney---Spare blood-filtering kidney(s). +2 save vs poison, +1 save vs other drugs and toxins, and duration, damage, and effects of poisons are HALVED.

91-95% Twin Tongues----The Kiyvahn possesses two abnormallu long and prehensile tongues. Normally hidden in the mouth, but if extended, what looks like either a split tongue or two mouth tentacles can be pretty disconcerting; -1d6 to P.B. On the plus side, the person can untie(or tie) knots with their tongues, gets a +4% to Language and Singing skills, and possesses the power of Heightened Sense of Taste.

96-00% Brain Lobe---The Kiyvahn has an enlarged brain. Externally, they may have a noticeably larger head, prominent forehead, or longer skull(can be covered up by hair or clothing. +1d6 to IQ, +1d6 additional skills, and has the equivalent of Perfect Recall. -1 P.B.

External
01-15% Fingers---1d4 extra fingers. -1 P.B.

16-30% Toes----1d4 extra toes. The Kiyvahn needs extra-wide footwear. -1 P.B.

31-50% Arm---An extra arm, typically lower on the rib cage. It’s generally 25% weaker than the regular arms, but is faster reflexively; +1 APM and automatically gets the W.P. Quickdraw skill. Can be concealed under clothing. . -1d4 P.B.

51-60% Eye--(01-50%) An extra eye, typically offset above a normal one, or (51-00%) a cluster of 1d6+1 smaller ones in the regular eye socket. +1 to Perception. (01-59% No additional abilities)(60-75% Infrared Vision)(76-93% Night Vision)(94-00% See the Invisible). -1d8 P.B. .

61-70% Leg---An extra leg. -1d6 P.B., and -1d6 to running speed, but +1d6 to swimming speed, and + to retain balance. The person can also deliver a Power Kick that does twice as much damage as a regular kick, and costs only 1 APM.

71-90% Ear....An extra ear, typically offset on the side of the head or growing from the back of the skull and 1d6x10% larger. +1 to Perception and +1 on Initiative using hearing, and a 01-50% chance of possessing the Minor Superpower of Enhanced Hearing. -1d4 P.B.

91-00%Misc.(this could be extra genitalia, nose, nipple, etc. with no real advantages, or an extra version of one of the previously mentioned extra spare parts, only nonfunctional/poorly placed, like baby fingers growing out of a shoulder, or an ear on a knee). -1d6 P.B.

[taalismn]

Dultrex Corporation D-C90 ‘SkyTral’ Heavy Interstellar Transport
(aka ‘Octopede’, ‘Sky-Crawler’)
“Beautiful old ships and right treats to fly in atmo, provided the antigrav is working. Stately in maneuver, though they can be quick to stabilize if the going gets turbulent. To get that performance, though, you better take extra care of the pylon articulators and the engine pod servos. ”

“Pirates used to call the SkyTral the ‘Shooting Gallery’, with their pilots trying to see how many of the engines they could take out in a single pass.”

The ‘SkyTral’ was the Dultrex Corporation‘s successor to the Dultrex C80 and was meant to cash in on the post-Automaton War reconstruction and expansion. Twice the size of the C80, with the same engines, only doubled up in number, over twice the cargo lift capacity, but only half again the maintenance cost, the D-C90 seemed slated to be a winner.
Indeed, with its large cargo capacity, and no less than eight pylon-mounted engine pods, the SkyTral was well-suited for delivering cargo to rebuilding worlds and expanding colonies, its multiple engine pods allowing it to handle well in turbulent alien atmospheres. For a time, the SkyTral was a common sight, hauling freight across the reconstruction zones and supplying the new colonies.
However, the D-C90 was in competition with the retooling military-industrial giants whose ships had won the Automaton War . Military-grade structure, engines, and shields made the new generation of heavy transport faster, more durable, and better-suited for the increasingly hostile frontier, as th Human Alliance in its new ageof exploration made contact with new alien species. Post-war piracy was also on the rise, as many demobbed soldies turned pirate or mercenary, of opportunists equipped with War-surplus military gear struck at unprepared colonies. The D-C90, as manueverable as it was in an atmosphere, was especially vulneable in its slow ponderous space speed and exposed engines to combat damag, despite an integral commercial-grade forcefield and the ability to mount extra weapons. Without escort, the lumbering SkyTral was an attractive target for bandits.
Denied the wild frontier, the SkyTral was relegated to cargo runs near the metroworlds, where its competition was the many short-run transports being pumped out by DC’s competitors. Dultrex soldiered on for another centiry, but never again regained the fire of its earlier days, though credit to the designer, the SkyTral trudged on for many years after Dultrex folded. Ironically the design would make a return to the frontiers that were once its roaming grounds, as metroworld companies sold their old transports to ship-desperate Rim operators . A number of SkyTrals thus tramp the Rim, laboriously(and lovingly) maintained by Rim shipyards, and taking their chances with the still-extant vulnerabilities.
The multiple redundancy of the D-C90’s engine nacelles allows the ship to fly on as few as four engines, provided symmetrical thrust is maintained. It is thus not unusual to see old SkyTrals operating with one or two outrigger pods missing.

Type: D-C90 ‘SkyTral’
Class: Heavy Interstellar Transport
Crew: 20, provision for up to 40 additional passengers.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 5,700
Bridge 1,000
Main Power Bloc 1,000
Engines(8 ) 960 each
Cargo Bay Hatches() 400 each
Forcefield 2,000
Height: 164 ft
Width: 300 ft main hull, 434 ft at outriggers
Length: 1,300 ft
Weight: 86,000tons
Cargo: 65,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 35-year energy life between reactor core replacements
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 5
(Kitsune Values: 20% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.5% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
Market Cost: 195 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Exceptional Atmospheric Stability---The placement of the engines and inflight 3D vectoring systems gives the large freighter unexpected stability in atmospheric flight: +15% to piloting rolls maneuvering in atmosphere.

Weapons Systems: None standard, but has provision for up to 14 point defense mounts and 4 light or 1 medium weapons turret.

Auxiliary Craft: None standard; some operators convert a cargo bay into a hangar, in which case the bay can hold four light shuttles or 5 light fighters.

Variants:
A number of post-market variants exist, most being configured to handle vehicle or liquid/gas cargoes. The SkyTral is sometimes used as a support ship for gas-skimming operations or colonial weather control efforts.
After the Dultrex Corporation folded, nobody picked up the licensing rights to their designs, so they became common domain. In the centuries since, a few smaller, mainly Fringe-based, companies have built D-C90s, or at least SkyTral-unspired, ships, mainly for the atmosphere-skimming industry. At least one operator maintains a SkyTral as a tour-liner of planetary atmospheres, with the internal cargo bays reconfigured into cabin space accommodations for 500 passengers.

[taalismn]

(this will probably be obsolete in another month of so if new ships are added, but...)

Random USA Military Unit(Space) Encounters
(modified from an all-GNE ship encounter table)
“One of the things the CCW likes about the United Systems Alliance is that the USA mutual defense treaty means they handle most of the system patrolling themselves. That means the CAF doesn’t have to stretch itself thin guarding all those new systems on the Rim. They can shift their ships and personnel to other more vulnerable systems.
However, there’s also an opposing camp that worries that the United Systems Alliance may not, for all the ships they like to fly about, have the chops to deal with any REAL hardcore incursions into their space by somebody like the TGE or the Invaders. If the CAF is too quick to withdraw their forces and mothball their bases in USA territory like some want to, they may not be able to get back in fast enough to save the USA if it gets into serious trouble.
The coldest analysis I’ve heard yet, though, has some in the CCW liking the cost-cutting and having the Alliance serve as a buffer zone that any hardcore threat would have to fight its way across. The way those analysts see it, a strong-enough Alliance will blunt the edge of an offensive in their space and buy time for the CAF to come back to the rescue. By that same token however, the Alliance military will be so used up by the time the CAF shows up in strength, that the more prosperous systems that left the Consortium fold to make better deals with the Alliance, will flock back to the CCW. ”

The United Systems Alliance, a trade and mutual defense alliance of worlds loosely allied to the CCW, is large enough both in worlds and organization that a regular amount of space traffic can be found in its sectors. A good portion of that traffic belongs to the paramilitary of the Greater New England colonial and commerce network, which is responsible for a major portion of the USA’s defense. As GNE builds most of their own warships(and gives itself a healthy discount on them) they can field warships in strength, though they are still light on heavier units.
These are the units of the GNE/USA you’re likely to encounter in space claimed or affected by PS/GNE/USA activity.

A:. Origin:

“Homeguard ships are pitbulls, Frontier Defense are mastiffs, Merchant Defense are sheepdogs, ExForce are Great Danes, and ExCom are whippets.”

The United Systems Alliance operates several divisional-offices of starships in its forces, depending on the area of responsibility and assigned duties.

01-25% Colonial Homeguard Force----This is a unit attached to a large or sensitive colony deemed to need space protection. They do not often venture far outside their assigned system, but will occasionally meet incoming or accompany outgoing convoys. Most CHF vessels tend to favor non-FTL, high-local space capability, and heavy weaponry. CHF also typically takes care of local space minefields, battlelite nets, and orbital monitor stations. The warships in PS/ASI’s home Rifts Earth system are considered to be part of the Homeguard Force, High Fleet One.

26-50% Frontier Defense Force---This is a ‘super-reserve’ force based out of an established colony or starbase that patrols an area encompassing several settled or claimed systems that don’t yet have the resources to mount a substantial Homeguard force of their own. The FDF maintains listening posts and navigation aides, patrols looking for pirates, escorts convoys, and acts as a ‘fire brigade’ to attacks on colonial systems. Speed, sensors, and firepower tend to be favored in FDF vessels.

51-75% Merchant Defense Force---This is a dedicated force , typically operating under the local command of Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries, and nominally under the FDF, that protects PS/ASI and Alliance shipping. Most MDF vessels fall in the destroyer to light cruiser classes, as well as light carriers, with range, speed, and sensory capabilities being emphasized.

76-85% Expeditionary Force Reserve ---This is another ‘super-reserve’ force held in readiness for force projection, be it offensive operations against pirate strongholds, Splugorth outposts, or other opposition forces. EFR works hand in hand with Regular Army, Marine, and Stelmarine commands as troop transport is a large part of their responsibility. +10% on Ship rolls

86-00% Exploration Command---Exploration Command is dedicated to interstellar(and interdimensional) scouting and exploration. They also provide back-up to civilian exploration efforts. Exploration Command also acts as overwatch during the initial stages of colonial settlement, working hand in hand with the Frontier and Merchant Defense Forces. Their vessels tend to be long on endurance, range, speed, and sensors, and lighter on armaments.

B.Size of Unit:
“Hard to tell definitely at this range...but that looks like two battle groups coming in-system. Care to tell me who you pissed off out there to get this sort of response?”

The Greater New England Space Force uses an extension of the Navy organization for its starships, and Air Force organization for aerospace craft such as fighters and shuttlecraft. However, other member states may maintain their own nomenclature or tactical unit layouts for their own regional forces.

01-25% Element(Fleet)----Single Spacecraft
26-50% Division(Fleet)----2-3 spacecraft
51-75% Flotilla----A squadron(2-3 divisions) of smaller vessels(up to corvette class)
76-90% Squadron(Fleet)----2-4 divisions of destroyer- or heavier-class vessels of the same class or type(4-12 starships).
91-99% Battle Group/Task Force---Typically a mix of 3-6 squadrons(which can mean 12-72 starships)
-00% Fleet---Arbitrary organizational designation, typically of 3-6(sometimes more) Battle Groups(or upwards of 36-432 starships)

C:Type of Unit:
<<“Okay, you got those knuckleheads off that hellworld before they became xeno-chow? Excellent. Now we can glass the place, if it would make any difference.”>>

What specific mission are the vessels encountered engaged in?

01-10% Deep Space Rescue--- The vessels are responding to an emergency signal, or are searching an area for missing ships.
11-45% Convoy Escort--- Escort forces are meant as deterent forces, either by a show of force to keep pirates away, or to surprise attackers. Escort forces also may act as guides and rescue ships in areas of heightened danger. The appearance of a Convoy Escort force will suggest the nearby presence of a larger body of transport vessels in the area.
46-65% Anti-Pirate--- Anti-Piracy forces operate independentally of convoys, in hope of intercepting pirates BEFORE they strike, or tracking them to their lairs and neutralizing them at the root. Speed, stealth, and firepower tend to distinguish these formations.
66-70% Interdiction --- This is a force dispatched to investigate and intercept suspicious space activity, especially sensor hits travelling towards GNE/ASI/USA systems or facilities. This can include unusual deep space phenomena.
71-90% Marine/Army Assault--- These are ground forces being transported to a combat zone. Such a force will be heavy on transports and ground attack equipment, such as fighter carriers.
91-00% Stelmarine Assault---The purpose here is to deliver elite Stelmarines to board and seize enemy spacecraft, spacestations, or small colonies/outposts(larger ground campaigns are generally reserved for Marine/Army Assault).


D. Ships:
“ Three merchant cruiser conversions with heavy shuttle racks full, four light carriers, and a heavy transport...wait a minute, those look like heavy weapons emplacements on the hull...okay, make that a heavy gunship, maybe even a merchanter battleship conversion...”

What specific types of ships compromise the encounter force?

01-10% Fast Patrol/System Defense Ship-----The ‘gnat force’ is rarely found away from a supporting mothership, flotilla, or base. Individually they aren’t very impressive, but in large formations they can be a threat to even capital ships. And for those attackers counting on the element of suprise, all it takes is one of these ships to sound the alarm and ruin an attack plan.
(Note: These vessels are typically found with Colonial Homeguard Forces and rarely operate outside a solar system)

01-10% *LAT025LCAAS ----- Cosgrove Military variant antiaircraft/antimissile platform.
11-15% *LAT025LCIM ----- Cosgrove Military variant
16-25% PS/ASI-LCrv021 ‘Haizam’ Heavy Aerospace Patrol Fighter/Light Corvette
26-35% *PS-CGM-M410----Kepler-conversion System Monitor
36-45%*PSS/ASI-DDGS-04 Falx Light Space Missile Destroyer
46-60% *PSS/ASI-DDES-05 Masakari Heavy Space Destroyer
61-70% * PS-CGAAE-M412---Kepler-conversion Anti-missile/fighter picket
71-80%*PS/ASI-SFG27 Spencer Interstellar Frigate
81-90%*PSS/ASI-FGMS-41 Oyumi System Defense Missile Frigate
91-96%*WZ-OF-Cov-401 Patrol Ship
97-00%*PS/ASI-S-M/DDG08 Orion II System Monitor


11-20% Corvette----Corvettes constitute the ‘mosquito fleets’ used by the AJC for scouting, light strike, and escort work.

01-10% *PS-PSS-LHMP-ADST-25 SunChaser Aerospace Multipurpose Corvette
11-25% *PS/ASI-DDC09 Barong Corvette
26-30% *PS/ASI-Crv018 Windfola Interstellar Corvette
31-65%*SC08PG----Concord Military variant, configured as a gunship/corvette
66-75% *PSS/ASI-DS-15 Hikyaku Heavy Space Scout/Courier
76-85%*PS/ASI-DDE019 ‘Bullet’ Destroyer Escort
86-00%* WZ-UFTLF-3244 Fenlock-Ashi(garu) Light Missile Corvette

21-40% Destroyer---Ships of the destroyer class are the watchdogs of the AJC, involved in patrol, recon, and strike missions. They rarely operate alone and are usually part of a patrol or attack group.

01-10% *PS/ASI-SC08DSDE----Destroyer Escort conversion of the Tsiolkovsky Heavy Multipurpose Interstellar Transport.
11-12% *PSS/ASI-CGS-07Javelin Space Missile Cruiser
13-18% *PSS/ASI-DDS-01 Sangu Light Destroyer
19-30%*PSS-DDES-12 Brandestoc Rapid Deployment Space Destroyer
31-55% *PSS-DDES-13 Godendag Rapid Deployment Space Destroyer
56-70% *PSS-DDES-14 Larna-Pe Heavy Space Destroyer
71-95% *PSS-DDES-15 Hauberk Light Destroyer
96-00% *WZ-MD-016 Blade Missile Destroyer

41-60% Frigate/Light Cruiser---This category is arguably the workhorse class of the AJC; frigates and light cruisers conduct the majority of long range patrol, escort, and interdiction missions in USA space.

01-10% *PS/ASI-SC08DSFR----Frigate conversion of the Tsiolkovsky Heavy Multipurpose Interstellar Transport.
11-25% PS/ASI-SFG25 BlackJack-class Frigate
26-35% *PS/ASI-PSS-ADS-FFG-21 Aurora Fast Aerospace Scout Frigate
36-450% *PSS/ASI-CGG-08 Assegai Light Cruiser
51-65% *PS/ASI-SCG-17 LaFayette Light Cruiser
66-70% *PS/ASI-SCG-18 Mazule Light Cruiser
71-75% *PS/ASI-SCG-19 Tabar Light Cruiser
76-85% *PSS/ASI-MCLG-07C ‘Brunel’-conversion Armed Cruiser
86 -00% *PS/ASI/WZT-C75 Shepherd Light Cruiser

61-80% Cruiser---Medium- and Heavy-cruisers are the AJC heavy guns most likely to be encountered in USA space.

01-10% *PSS/ASI-CGG-08M Makrigga Medium Cruiser
11-20% *WZ-CRZ--108 Shiva Heavy Missile Cruiser
21-30% *WZ-CRZ-014 Mogami Cruiser
31-40% *WZ-MC-020 Daito Missile Attack Cruiser
41-50% *PS/ASI-SCG-21 Voulge Medium Cruiser
51- 55% *WZ-MC-021 Kardara Missile Cruiser
56- 65% *PS/ASI-SCG-23 Pillara Medium Cruiser
66-75% *PSS/ASI-MCLG-08C-’Geothels’-conversion Armed Cruiser
76-80% *PS/ASI-SBB08 ‘Dewey’---Warship conversion of the Bradford-class heavy transport.
81-90% *PS/ASI- SC/CG10 ---Warship variant of the Tychan Heavy Transport Cruiser.
91-00% * PS/ASI-C55 Naegling Armored Cruiser-----Warshield variant


81-85% Assault Transport----Not all USA members can afford to support or contribute warships, but they usually can contribute ground forces. The USAJC has the means to transport them where they’re needed, and support them in combat.

01-10% *PSS-SC08AP---- Concord Military Variant light troop transport(160 troops)
11-25% *PS/ASI- LHDSC07 Lightoller Light Fast Troop Transport( 250 troops)
26-34% *PSS-FFS-17 Ranger Medium Space Cruiser/Combat Transport(250-500 troops)
35-40% *PSS-FFS-17/PSS-FFS-18 Gurkha Medium Space Cruiser/Combat Transport( 650 troops)
41-45% *WZT-LHDOEC04 Corvus Assault Cruiser/Marine Transport(180-280 troops)
46-60% *PSS/ASI-FFS-22 ‘Tongia’ Space Medium Troop Transport(450 troops)
61-70%*PSS/ASI-LHDOE-09 ‘Shoup’ Spaceborne Heavy Assault Transport( 640/40 troops)
71-80%*WZ-TAC-274X Dark Justice Trans-Atmospheric Shock Trooper Carrier( 550 troops)
81-90%*PS/ASI- SC/LHA10 --- Troop transport variant of the Tychan Heavy Transport Cruiser.( 2,000 troops)
91-00% *WZ-LS-003-TA(advanced) Cachalot Landing Ship( 3,500 troops)


86-92% Carrier---With the large stables of domestically-produced fighter types, the United Sysem Alliance needs carrier platforms to most effectively deploy them.

01-05% *PSS/ASI-CV-08 Sagadag Space Light Aerospace Carrier(24 fighters)
11-25%*PS/ASI-SCVE25 Goupillon Light Escort Carrier(24 medium fighters)
26-30%*PS/ASI-SCG/CV-25 Koveh Multi-Role Light Cruiser/Carrier(128 fighters in maximum hangar configuration)
31-40% *WZ-OF-CVE18 ‘Harpe’ Light Carrier---Adapted from the Blade-class destroyer(36 heavy fighters OR 72 light /medium fighters)
41-50%*PS/ASI-SCV07B Zhuge Nu Space Carrier(72 fighters)
51-60*PS/ASI- SC/CV10 --- Carrier variant of the Tychan Heavy Transport Cruiser. (80 heavy fighters)
61-75% *PS/ASI-SCV08 ’Forrestal’----Carrier warship conversion of the Bradford(240 fighters)
76-95% *PS/ASI-HInstelCvT-10 ‘Ramey’ Heavy Transport Carrier Cruiser(80 heavy fighters or 160 light fighters)
96-97% *WZ-OF-CVE17 Gemiyor II Heavy Carrier(80 fighters and 5 corvettes)
98-00% WZ-CAC-3100 Perdition II Fleet Carrier(240 light fighters, 240 medium fighters, 60 heavy fghters, 600 power armor)

93-97% Heavy Cruiser/Battlecruiser---These high-end warships are, of economic necessity, rare in the ranks of any space navy, and true of the USA as well. These ships are typically reserved for strike missions or vital system defense.

01-20% *PS/ASI-(S)BB/SBGC01 Joshua Norton Space Battleship(reclassified as Battlecruiser)
21-24% * WZT/CTRL-CG-18 Duval Heavy Cruiser
25-55% * PS/ASI-CG-18 Kamayari Heavy Cruiser
56-65% WZTCR-BC03 Arkada Battlecruiser
66-75%*PS/ASI- SC/CM10 ---Missile cruiser variant of the Tychan Heavy Transport Cruiser.
76-86% *WZT-BC02 Exeter Battlecruiser
87-97%*PS/CTRL-CG-17 Palatar Heavy Cruiser
97-00% *PS/CTRL-SBGC01 Tarkas Battlecruiser

98-00% Battleship---These constitute the heaviest units currently available to the USAJC and are typically reserved for strike missions or vital system defense.

01-40% *WZ-SB-003 Demas Space Battleship
41-85%*PS/ASI-(S)BB09 Joshua Norton II Space Battleship
86-95% *UWW-RG/PS/ASI -SB07 Zaxas-IIU/Guardian Space Battleship
96--00% *PS/ASI-CGBB Asteroid Cruiser


(Optional) Support Vessels
There is a 30% chance of any given formation also including support vessels, such as fleet tenders, supply transports, hospital ships, and tankers. SAR and Marine/Army assault formations will ALWAYS have accompanying support vessels. Roll again for numbers, then on the following:
01-05% *PS/ASI-MInstel -SC11 Carpathia Medium Interstellar Freighter
06-12% PS/ASI- SC07 Nao Medium Multipurpose Interstellar Transport
13-20%*PS/ASI-HInstel-SC420 Roamer Long Range Heavy Interstellar Transport
21-30% *PS/ASI-FA/MC-317 Bering Medium Interstellar Transport
31-35% *PS/ASI-HInstel-SC717 Monmra Long Range Heavy Interstellar Transport
36-45%*PS/ASI-HInstelCvT-10 ‘Ramey’ Heavy Transport Carrier Cruiser
46-50%PS/ASI- SC10 Tychan Heavy Interstellar Transport
51-75%*PSS/ASI-LHAOE-07 ‘Brunel’ Spaceborne Fleet Tender/Replenishment Vessel/Industrial Platform Dock/Heavy Transport
76-80%*PSS/ASI-LHAOE-08 ‘Goethals’ Spaceborne Fleet Tender/Replenishment Vessel/Industrial Platform Dock/Heavy Transport
81-90%*PS/ASI-AR03 Brahmar Deep Space Repair/Supply Tender
91-95%*PS/ASI-(A)CSS-02 Weibbe Hayes Armed Transport Cruiser
96-99 %*PS/ASI HInstelT-08 ‘Bradford’ Heavy Interstellar Transport
-00 % *PS/ASI-CGBB Asteroid Cruiser

E.(Optional) Condition
“Look at that formation. Three cruisers, two light carriers, two tenders and three support freighters, and those cruisers are docked and look like they’re missing hull plating. That carrier there’s got more shuttles crawling over it than it has deck capacity for, so I’m guessing it’s damaged too. This squadron’s been in a fight and they’re barely able to maintain a secure perimeter, or else we’d have been challenged by now. I’d advise against trying anything, though; I’d wager good odds they got a CAP up armed with their remaining heavy munitions, laying in passive stealth for an ambush, and those tenders like to carry extra heavy weaponry just in case.”

What condition are the ships in?

01-10% Beaten Up---The ships encountered have obviously just seen recent action. Whether they’re bearing the scars of hardwon victoy or limping home in defeat, they took a beating. Most of the ships have lost 2d4x10% of their hull MDC, shields are badly depleted(down 2d4x10%, and a 25% chance of having lost shields altogether), and are moving at only 1d6x10% of their normal speed. Ammunition stores are a mere 10% of normal, and small craft complements can only field 25% of their normal numbers(the rest are either destroyed or too damaged to sortie). These ships aren’t likely to survive another battle like the one they apparently just had.
11-65% Fatigued----The ships have seen action, but haven’t completely recovered from it yet with regards to repairs and supplies, -1d4x10% to hull/shield MDC and ammunition stocks.
66-00% Battle-Ready---The ships are undamaged, fully supplied, and as ready for action as they’ll ever be.

F. (Optional) Encounter Reaction
<“If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ll get!”>

How do the vessels respond to the encounter?

01-10% Belligerent----The ships will immediately challenge and will open fire on the slightest percieved provocation.
11-30% Commanding---The ships will warn off the PCs, telling them to immediately leave the vicinity. If the PCs refuse or are slow in complying, the ship formation(or accompanying fighters) will move to surround, or the weapons systems will lock up on, the PCs’ ship to GET them moving.
31-50% Cautious----- The ships will challenge, but hold their fire unless blatantly provoked/fired upon first.
51-70% Curious----The ships will transmit a greeting, and in friendly fashion question the PCs about where they’re from, what they’re doing, and if they’ve seen/encountered anything else.
71-00%Brusque ----The ships will quickly scan the PCs’ ship but will ignore the PCs unless the latter are obviously acting suspiciously.


G.(Optional) Encounter Surprise
“ You expecting company? Because sensors are saying we’re about to have some!”

Something unexpected happens during the encounter. What?

01-15% Reinforcements/Rendezvous:---The ships the PCs encounter aren’t alone: 2d6 minutes after initial encounter, roll for another new formation of vessels appearing. 01-40% more warships, 41-95% transports and support ships, 96-00% an Asteroid Cruiser!
16-25% Enemy Mine---- 2d6 minutes after initial encounter, a vessel or small group of vessels known to be enemies of the PCs appear and attack the PCs’ ship, ignoring the GNE/USA ships. Depending on how the encounter’s gone thus far, the GNE ships may try to rescue the PCs(and mediate a ceasefire), stand back and fight the winner, or slip away on their own business.
26-40% Sudden Recall---However the GNE/USA ships initially respond to the PCs, they suddenly stop what they’re doing and break off the encounter to go heading off, best speed, somewhere else.
41-50% That’s New---2d6 minutes after initial encounter, a new vessel appears; it looks to be Usan, but of a type rarely/never seen before. There are parties in the Three Galaxies who would be very interested in any new hardware the Usans are developing/deploying and might even pay for the intelligence.
51-67% Ambush----The ships the PCs encounter aren’t alone: 2d6 minutes after initial encounter, another formation of ships appear, only they’re enemies of the PS/GNE/USA ships, as they immediately attack them. Pick a side or run away.
68-70% Enemy Mine?--- 2d6 minutes after initial encounter, a vessel or small group of vessels of a power/species known to be antithetical to GNE/USA appear. Instead of attacking or provoking an attack, though, the enemy(?) ships fall into formation with the GNE/USA ships. The PCs’ ship is(01-30%) directed to shove off, (31-95%) boarded and their computer logs wiped or otherwise incapacitated and de-sensored, (96-00%) allowed to stay and observe whatever happens next.
71-85% Allies: ----Like the Reinforcements, only these will be non-PS/GNE ships, and belonging to another power friendly to them, like the CCW, UWW, Central Allaince, the Shemarrian Star Nation, or other USA vessels.
86-00% Megaversal Wildcard----An unexpected third factor appears; this can be a dimensional rift, an unknown alien spacecraft, or maybe one of the GNE ships explodes as it nears the PCs’ ship.




Random USA-based ‘Runner’ Ship Generation:
(By Runner standards, not all ships are runner-appropriate. The diehard runners like light fast ships that can carry small high-value payloads and still maneuver like fighters. Some favor obvious designed-pararmilitary or military-surplus hulls, while others like using civilian designs heavily modified with souped-up propulsion especially)
01-05 % PS/ASI Allnut Light Aerospace Transport, FTL-capable
06-12% PSG-ASI-018 Frontera Medium Multi-Component Interstellar Transport
13-25%*WZT-YFC-203C Slingshot Heavy Fighter/ Rimshot Interstellar Runner/Courier
26-35%*PS/ASI LInstel-SC027 Auriga Light Interstellar Transport
36-45%*PS/ASI-LAT025 ‘Cosgrove’ Light Aerospace Transport, Lenticular
46-50%*WZ-HIS-875 Raptor High Speed Interceptor
51-65%*WZ-HSI-027 Blackbird High Speed Interceptor
66-70%* WZ-UFTLF-3244 Fenlock Light Freighter
71-80%*WZ-RS-052 Wasp Light Runner/Singleship
81-85%*PS/ASI-LCrv021 ‘Haizam’ Heavy Aerospace Patrol Fighter/Light Corvette
86-00% *PS-PSS-LHMP-ADST-25 SunChaser Aerospace Multipurpose Corvette/Deep Space Transport

[taalismn]

Malatrax---Home of the Dekeos(United Systems Alliance tradeworld/affiliate/near-protectorate)( Thundercloud Galaxy)
“Malatrax is a world of extremes in a system full of anomalies. A three star system with planets shouldn’t be stable. A world that size shouldn’t have gravity that high. The inhabitants in that gravity shouldn’t be giants. The Splugorth shouldn’t have inexplicably abandoned such profitable merchandise. Yet all of these things ARE.”

“Tensions are rising on Malatrax, and it’s only gotten worse since Contact was made. Oh, it’s not our fault entirely; things have been coming to a boil on that world for centuries, but the locals having learned of democracy and other more benign forms of government and ways of life has added fuel to the fire. We have had some success in giving some of the locals a way offworld, and that’s relieved some pressure, but ultimately it’s up to the governing mage-class on Malatrax whether they want to hold onto their power at all costs or give in to the public demands for regime change. ”

“It may be of interest that Ormos shows up in some Ancient records as an ‘ancient’ or ‘haunted’ system in a region of older stars. The Gayjic notably avoid the entire sector like plague. Why the Splugorth set up shop there is unknown, given their own age as a culture, but either a young and foolhardy Intelligence was desperate for territory and ignored any old warnings or somebody was deliberately teasing unknown powers to see what happened. It’s thus telling that we have no idea of the identity of the Splugorth who was responsible for the Malatrax settlement.”

Malatrax is a former Splugorth slave-colony, a planet-sized moon of the gas giant Teleax. It is unknown why the Splugorth abandoned the planet, though this was not known in the region for some time, but it is suspected that the Splugorth Intelligence-in-residence was forced by either Splugorth politics or the approach of some other threat. The latter supposition has recently gained more credence from the accounts of the Dekeos, who tell of a ‘Night of Fear and Darkness’ following either a Splugorth experiment or a rare conjunction of Ormos’ three suns, after which the Splugorth and their minions effectively vanished. Whatever was the cause, remains a puzzle to this day.
The Ormos system is unusual in having at its center a cluster of three red dwarf stars. Fortunately, their combined radiation output is enough to warm the system’s lifeworld, Malatrax, to habitable levels.
Malatrax was evidentially used to develop and breed a new biowizardry-hyridised slave species, the Dekeos, who were being bred in numbers before being sold offworld. After the ‘Night of Fear and Darkness’, the Dekeos found themselves free to build their own civilization, using what scraps of technology and knowledge the Splugorth had left behind.
Besides the Dekeos, Malatrax is also home to several million Nurillan Plant-People who were imported to maintain the many farms feeding the Dekeos breeding efforts. When the Splugorth abandoned Malatrax and the Dekeos began to expand their numbers beyond the set slave-harvest limits, the Dekeos took over more and more of the food production, especially livestock-raising. The slow-moving passive Nurillans do not get involved much, or at all, with Dekeosan society, and since time immemorial the Dekeos always associated the plant-people with food, so the giants respectfully leave the Nurillians to the business of maintaining farms and orchards, and respect the fallow lands where Nurillians ‘drop out’ to become one with the soil and forests.
Malatrax was recently investigated and invested by the United Systems Alliance which was surveying the area and was leery of having a Splugorth outpost so close to prospective USA territory. They were thus surprised to find the Splugorth gone for over a century and a thriving free society in place on the planet-moon. Contact and trade have been established with the inhabitants.
Though technically not a protectorate, the region around Ormos is patrolled regularly by the United Systems Alliance and most offworld trade and contact from Malatrax is through the USA.
The USA is still watching and monitoring the Ormos system against a return of the Splugorth...or whatever might have driven them from the system.

Solar System (Ormos)
Number of Stars: 3
Types of Stars:
-Red Dwarf(Ormos-a, Ormosa)
-Red Dwarf(Ormos-b, Talmos)
-Red Dwarf(Ormos-c, Kaymos)
Number of Planets: 3
-Asteroid(Vormex) ---- Vormex is the largest of a number of asteroids circling the Ormos Trinary. The planetisimal is notable for the wreck of a Kittani cruiser half-buried on it. Half of the hull is missing, and it is not entirely clear what brought the ship down.

-Gas Giant(Teleax) ----Large gas giant. Malatrax is the largest of its five moons and is habitable.
*Malatrax---System Lifeworld
*Dokan---Veiled in a thin carbon dioxide ‘fog’. There are signs the Splugorth were prospecting Dokan for minerals(most notably Pitchblende, Gold/Silver, and Cobalt); mine workings are evident in several locations, but work evidentially hadn’t preceded far before the effort was abandoned.
*Phostar---This moon has a thin atmosphere and plenty of open surface water, but no life. There are indications the Splugorth were developing Phostar as a food-production or another slave-breeding colony, possibly of amphibious species. The remains of three bases remain, two as empty shells stripped of equipment, and the third a cratered ruin, apparently destroyed from within by demolition charges.
*Heredes---A volcanic moon, similar to Sol System’s Io. Large quantities of pitchblende and titanium make it attractive as a mining world, though requiring special measures to block the radiation from the spewed-up uranium particles.
*Molgan---Airless and rocky, similar to Sol System’s Ganymeade. The USA is negotiating to establish a base there to take advantage of large reservoirs of permafrost ice under the rocky surface.

-Gas Giant(Chromino) ----Jupiter-sized gas giant with 2 sizable moons, Daltmak and Reaz. Daltmak has a a dense methane atmosphere, but little surface water, while Reaz has a thin atmosphere and thick coverings of water ice.

Planet(Malatrax)
Malatrax is a planet-sized moon of the gas giant Teleax. There is some evidence that it was deliberately terraformed in the ancient past, though whether it was by the Splugorth or some other party remains unknown.
Life on Malatrax must be accustomed to protracted periods of reduced sunlight when the moon becomes ‘stuck’ in the shadow of its host gas giant.

Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 13,200 km
Gravity: 3.2 g. Offworlders more accustomed to lower gravity will require assist- exoframes or gravity compensators to get around more easily.
Temperature: Temperate, shading to Warm/Tropical
Unusual/Special Features:
-Odd Orbit----Malatrax’s orbit around Teleax occasionally ‘stalls’ it relative to the three suns in a position in the lee of the gas giant, resulting in extended night phases when the moon receives little or no sunlight.

Atmosphere:
Dense breathable terrestrial nitrox mix. The atmosphere is dense enough to serve as a global ‘blanket’ during the week-long periods every two months that Malatrax spends in reduced light behind Teleax.

Terrain:
Varied; 4+ terranes.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Molybdenite
- Gold/Silver
- Colombite
- Zinc
- Calcite
- Ruby
- Platinum
- Samarskite

Hydrosphere:
66% open water surface coverage

Biosphere:
Dense----Malatrax supports a varied global ecology, roughly equal to Earth’s Cretaceous Period, as well as a number of obviously Splugorth- imported species, such as Kryygorth Shellbacks, which are a major part of the Dekeos diet. Demonrunners were introduced, but, despite their megadamage physiologies, never truly adapted to Malatrex’s high gravity for some reason, and only a dwindling population, kept as pets, remains.

Civilization:
Settled; recognized as the homeworld of the Dekeos.

Population:
494 million Dekeos, 70 million Nurillan Plant-People

Technology:
Steam Age. The Dekeos have steamboats, trains, and telegraph systems, and are beginning to electrify their communities. The Splugorth left very little of their technology behind, it either being taken with them or destroyed. The Dekeos have been learning basic principles of technology from what was left. Occasionally a rare low-powered magic item or high-tech piece like a hand computer or laser drill is found; these items are prized as much as collectors’ items as for the knowledge they represent.
Since Contact was made, and Dekeos allowed to travel offworld, there’s been an increasing amount of imported high-tech and technowizardry, mainly quality of life items, personal electronics, and medical technology, though weapons and heavier equipment are sharply restricted by both sides.

Economy:
Agricultural----Giant bodies require plenty of food, and most of the population(even with the Nurillans assisting) is engaged in raising crops, livestock, and fish-farming. Notable foodstuffs include the production of gargan, a thick dark high-calorie yeasty beer-like drink, various cheeses, and shalbec, a fatty bratwurst-style sausage made from a mix of Shellback and local sauroid meats.

Wealth:
Average, but there is a sharp disparity in the distribution of that wealth, the magickan-class controlling most of it.

Government:
Mageocracy----Dekeos politics are dominated by those Dekeos who have reconstructed enough knowledge of magic to become spellcasters(‘magickans’). Knowledge of magic is closely controlled by those in power, and the magickans are effectively guild masters that oversee organizations that rigorously vet new talent into their ranks and restrict access to magic teachings. It is a growing matter of concern among these self-appointed guardians of mystic lore that many Dekeos who travel offworld to take service with the USA are availing themselves of the much more free access to magic scholarship available in the Alliance.

Law Level:
Overbearing---The current regime of mage-strongmen rule with a hard hand. It was worse in the past, but recent reforms have attempted to ‘soften’ the harsher aspects of the mageocracy and appease the growing mobs of angry common Dekeos.

Popularity: Angry--- Long-brewing trouble is threatening to boil over as the rank and file Dekeos express their resentment of the heavy-handed rule of the magickans.

Stability:
Long Standing, but recent events have threatened the continued existence of the current regime. Whether the magickans can, and are willing to, reform their rule fast enough to placate the population and save their positions(and lives), or if this will simply feed the thirst of the mob for real change, remains to be seen.

Dekeos Giants
“Those smaller arms are capable of some mighty fine smaller work, and those bigger arms hit like piledrivers. Fully suited up in custom EBA so’s you can’t see the smaller upper torso, a Dekeos looks like a ‘bot with mandible arms sticking out of its head.”

The Dekeos are arguably an extreme Human-variant sept(though they are no longer capable of interbreeding with baseline humans) that is the product of Splugorth biowizardry.
United Systems Alliance marines who landed on Malatrax at first believed they’d stumbled across a massive biowizardry surgical assembly line combining the decapitated bodies of jotan with the laterally bisected upper torsos of regular human beings, until they learned that the Dekeos could reproduce naturally.
The giant physiology with regards to blood pressure and food intake dominates. A point of concern is the smaller upper digestive tract of the Dekeos being able to take in enough food regularly to feed the giant metabolism; Dekeos tend to favor concentrated high-calorie, high-protein foodstuffs. Most of the space in the upper human torso that would go to supporting organs goes to a thicker spine and reinforced bone structure.
Dekeos are potentially smarter than the average Jotan, but lacking the cultural upbringing of the Earth Giants, do not have the same innate proclivity for working metals and blacksmithing, though the Dekeos, in trying to reverse-engineer left-behind Splugorth technology, have established a good technical school program to compensate. Growing up in a heavy gravity field, however, they are stronger and more durable. They also naturally reproduce faster than Jotans.
While Malatrax is believed to be the original breeding ground of the Dekeos, it is also believed that the Splugorth who abandoned the planet took enough Dekeos as breeding stock to start up other colonies elsewhere.
With tensions rising at home, more than a few Dekeos have taken advantage of visiting spacers to migrate offworld, seeking new homesteads and fortunes elsewhere.
Jotans encountering Dekeos react to them the same way pure-base elves react to radically-modified variants of their own species like the Calians; with full horror and disgust.

Alignments: Any
Life Span: 250 years
Size: 19-22 ft tall, 800-2,000 lbs
Gender: Heterosexual
Dekeos enjoy a higher rate of reproduction than normal Jotan. Their birthrate is nearly twice that of the slower and less fertile Earth Giants.
Physical Description/Appearance:
Resemble the upper half of a normal human being jointed waist to neck with the body of a humanoid giant. Some sub-sept ethnic minorities of Dekeos have thicker upper torsos nearly as wide as the collar bones of the lower torso.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Similar to baseline human beings with regards to passions, obsessions, and general attitudes. Tend to be a lot less innately cruel and aggressive than the Jotan.
Having grown up alongside the Nurillans, Maltrax-born Dekeos regard the plant-people with quiet respect; there’s little real active interaction between the two peoples and most of the time the two peoples ignore each other as parts of the landscape, each doing their part in the food production cycle; the Nurillans tending fields and orchards, the Dekeos removing wastes, pests, and supplying fertilizer in return for harvested crops..and protecting the Nurillans from danger and guarding their ‘retirement groves’. A few Dekeos, mostly magic Mystics, specialize in communing with the Nurillans, living on the farms and serving as communicators between the two ex-slave species.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6+3
ME: 3d6
MA: 2d6+2
PS:(Upper Arms) 3d6+9
(Lower Arms/Torso) 5d6+13(and considered Supernatural)
PP: 4d6+4
PB: 2d6+2
PE: 4d6+20(and considered Supernatural)
SPD: 3d6(x3 in lower gravity)
(ISP): By Psychic Class
(PPE): 1d6x10
Hit Points:----
SDC:----
MDC: P.E.+1d6x10+100, +1d6 per level of experience. Bonus SDC from physical skills will be in MDC.
Horror Factor: 14(15 for Jotan who know what they’re looking at)
Natural Abilities:
-Takes HALF damage from megadamage fire, none from regular fire.
-Excellent Night Vision; can see in total darkness out to 200 ft.
-Increased Sense of Awareness; Dekeos have developed a mild extrasensory awareness of their environment and their relative position in it: +1 to Initiative and 65%+5% per level of experience Sense of Balance(handy in an environment where simple falls can be damaging).
-Other Bonuses: +2 save versus Horror Factor, +1 APM, +2 Pull Punch and Roll.
Psionics: Standard
Magic:
Magic is a real thing on Malatrax, with a knowledge of magic and ability to cast spells being the general path to power and influence. Dekeos will be interested in magic symbiotes, tattoos, and potions as well, having had some exposure to knowledge about them with what the Splugorth left behind.
Cybernetics/Bionics: None. While fascinated by technology, Dekeos are less enthusiastic about sticking it inside themselves. Offworld Dekeos MAY consider, if made necessary, medical prosthetics, but only as a last resort. Augmentation for the sake of augmentation is considered to be off the table.
Available OCCs:
Any, except power armor and robot pilots.
Magic is a pursuit that interests many Dekeos, given its influence on Malatrax. Most common on the Dekeos homeworld are Mystics, Conjurers, and LeyLine Walkers. Summoning/Shifting magic is unknown on Malatrax, as is Elemental magery. Witchery is right out and would be banned anyway by the magickans. Those Dekeos offworld can have access to other schools of magic; technowizardry and combat magic are popular fields of study.
Though able to possess psychic abilities, Dekeos CANNOT be Master-class psychics; their potential tops off at Major, and those limited to magic OCCs that possess them.
RCC Skills:
Language/Literacy: Gobblely and Dragonese(+30%)
Skills of Note:
Mechanical and Electrical skills get a bonus of +5%
Culture:
After the Splugorth left/disappeared, the Dekeos built their civilization from what was left behind. Early on, a few Dekeos learned to channel their natural propensities for mysticism or to channel magic energies aided by fragmented texts and artifacts left behind by the absent Splugorth and their minions. These self-taught magic-users became the magickan-class, and they took over rule of Malatrax for centuries. Powerful magic guilds became part of the means of policing and restricting the availability of magic knowledge.

The Nurillans of Malatrax
As has been noted, Malatrax supports a population of Nurillan Plant-Peeople, who were abandoned along with the Dekeos by the Splugorth. For the most part, the plant-people almost vanish into the landscape, as they have no interest in playing politics, tinkering with technology, learning magic, or interacting much with their neighbors. The Nurillans quietly go about their business growing things. The Dekeos generally sit back and let them do their own thing, stepping in to do the occasional landscaping, pest and flood control, and heavy lifting when it comes time to harvest crops. Dekeos mystics, though not interested in politics, still command considerable economic clout as being the effective overseers in residence of Nurillan-managed plantations, and regularly commune with the plant people and serve as their representatives to the Dekeos Mageocracy.
The Nurillans never ask for much; some help on the farms and land set aside for the plant-people who tire of laboring and moving about, and wish to take root.
In return, the Dekeos regard their Nurillan neighbors with quiet respect and affection, given their considerable contributions to the Dekeos food supply and economy. During the dark periods on Malatrax, the Dekeos make sure that their dark-dormant neighbors are kept warm and watered until sunlight returns to the planet. Harming a Nurillan on Malatrax carries considerable and severe penalties that both the general Dekeos population and the magickans agree as necessary.

[taalismn]

Daltor-----(USA Trade Affiliate)(Extradimensionally located/ Sobel Sequence)
“They’re giving rights to the damn kivvfa?! What next, they going to make the bloody golems human-equal?!”

“Don’t think the elves of Daltor are any less prejudiced, bigoted, or mean-spirited than the local humans. They’re also just as quick to take up the physical arts of magic onc e the humans proved their usefulness, though they seem to prefer glass golems to metal ones. And their alchemy can brew up some nastiness....no wonder the most-hired forensic alchemists and food-testers on Daltir are elves.”

“Well, seems our good relations with the young queen of Zeralan are contingent on our assigning Corporal Walens to the liaison group...the queen insists that he be available for ‘personal consultations’. For all his past trip-ups in his military record, I do believe that a consort’s coronet is in the young man’s future.”

“The Daltorians are doing some interesting things with both Living Magik and golemancy...our own people are eager to get inside the guilds and observe and ideally learn from them. Just from talking shop with their local equivalents, our magefolk have picked up some really intriguing ideas.”

Daltor is a tradeworld of the United Systems Alliance’s network along the Sobel Sequence. Daltor is a large(‘huge’) terrestrial planet with a dense breathable atmosphere and a surprisingly low surface gravity. Days and nights are nearly twice as long as baseline Earth’s, but the planet has a thriving local ecosystem. It is a retrotech world, but one with magic. The local sentients appear to be late immigrants, rather than locally-evolved, though neither of the two species has any definite history of having originated elsewhere. There are also some indications that the Daltorians had past contact with Atlanteans and their followers, as some family lines claim to have Amazon blood in them and demonstrate Atlantean iconography.
.
Daltor can be considered to be a ‘Palladiumite’ world in that two species, humans and elves, share it. The elves are a slow-breeding minority and generally live apart from the humans, though past suspicions and prejudices have been on a decline(but aren’t entirely gone) since a number of vicious racially-motivated wars (besides the slightly more explicable ones over territory and resources) a number of centuries ago. Since then, the two humanoid species have afforded each other their space and privacy, easy enough given Daltor’s large size and many still largely undeveloped expanses of territory.
Magic is very real on Daltor and is a fact of life in its many societies. While elves are considered to be the masters of the ‘natural’ schools of magic, humans are regarded as the artificers of Daltorian magicks, experimenting with practical industrial applications of magic. Golemancy has launched an industrial revolution of sorts on Daltor.
The USA has established close trade ties to several of the kingdoms of Daltor. The equatorial Kingdom of Zeralan, for example, known for its ‘Wells of Magic’, is very open to the Usan offworlders, and both local and offworld scholars and magic-workers happily meet to compare notes and share their experiences. Offworlders are considered something of a novelty on Daltor, especially exotic and strange foreigner with different sorts of magic and industry. Though there have been some attempts on the part of the locals to kidnap, extort, or assassinate offworlder visitors, most of the time offworlders are left alone as long as they don’t upset the local status quo or side with the wrong people. Still, however, there’s been some leak of knowledge and lore, and offworlder ideas are the subject of interest and spirited discussion in a number of Daltoran philosophical and radical activist societies.

Solar System(Sacalai)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars:
-Blue Dwarf
Number of Planets: 7
-Asteroid(Woolsa)---- Woolsa shows signs of possessing concentrations of Murnite----A temperature-resistant mineral that occurs in fibrous form like asbestos. Murnite is, however, non-toxic, making it attractive as thermal insulation in body armors and bio-mods. Sacalai’s high solar radiation output, however, makes approaching Woolsa difficult, hampering any potential future mining operations.

-Asteroid(Venra)----Notable for its reddish color, this planetisimal trails Daltor on its orbit, and may have once been a moon of it before something pulled Venra off and into its own course.

-Terrestrial(Daltor)----System Lifeworld

-Exotic(Thundran Gate)---- Wormhole junction. The USA has established a space station(PSS-SPH-7 Orbis-class Large Orbital Habitat) to facilitate travel via this dimensional nexus.
A.) Location: Between planets in a solar orbit.
B.) Size: Giant---Battleships and Dreadnoughts can enter the wormhole with room to spare.
C.) Frequency: Regular---1d6 times per day
D.) Direction: Two-Way---Traffic may proceed freely in both directions, at the same time
E.) Range: Interstellar---Connects to a desert system some 18 light years away that has an interdimensional link along the Sobel Sequence.
F.) Transit Initiation: FTL Drive---The starship has to have an existing FTL drive or specific type, usually contragravity, which must be adjusted to special settings, and engaged as the ship enters the wormhole.
G.) Duration: Instantaneous
H.) Special: None

-Gas Giant(Coplan)----Small cold gas giant. It has several thin dust rings. There are hints of a thin primitive ‘floater’-based atmospheric ecosystem in Coplan’s clouds.

-Gas Giant(Myndaros)----Large gas giant, observable from Daltor with their primitive telescopes and scrying crystals. It has some 14 minor satellites, mostly rock and ice bodies. Similar to Coplan, there are indications of a scant upper-atmosphere biome, though whether it is related to Coplan’s is unknown and one subject of possible future study by the USUniversities’ exo-science programs.

-Terrestrial(Sarn)----Miniscule ice and rock worldlet. The USA has established a deep space observatory on the planetoid to scan the rest of the universe that Daltor is in. Some Daltorian scholars have been invited to spend time on the station working alongside the Alliance scientists.

Planet(Daltor)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 38,000 km
Gravity: 1.05 g
Temperature: Temperate, shading towards tropical. Daltor has vast equatorial desert regions that are especially hard to cross, and small ice caps. Perforce, until fairly recently, trans-equatorial travel between hemispheres has been by water or by arduous land routes along the hospitable coastal regions.

Unusual/Special Features:
-Moons(4)--- Feyl, Xholis, Lilton, and Maltha. There’s hardly a night that doesn’t see the landscape bathed in reflected light from at least one of the four moons. Those nights that the moons are in simultaneous maximum wane are understandably known locally as ‘Thieves’ Nights’.
The USA has bargained for rights to establish a transit and trade station on the largest moon, Feyl.

-High Ambient Magic Field--Roughly equal to the Palladium Fantasy World. There are regions of higher magic(but NOT ley lines or nexi), including magic springs, ‘energy wells’, and Elemental fumaroles(Fire), springs(Water), pitch seeps(Earth), and blow holes(Air).

Atmosphere:
Dense breathable terrestrial nitrox mix.

Terrain: Varied, with Unusual Mineralogy; Daltor is rich in Xanthine, Kisenite and Solanium.

Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Tin
- Copper
- Pitchblende
- Zinc
- Talc
- Asbestos
- Titanium
- Emerald
-Xanthine
- Kisenite
-Solanium

Hydrosphere:
62% of the planet’s surface is covered in open water

Biosphere:
Dense; roughly equivalent to Earth’s Tertiary period. There are some large saurian and reptilian species but they are facing competition from increasingly aggressive mammal species, especially since the humans and elves have begin culling the larger and more aggressive sauroids near prime habitat territory and migration routes(sauroid-whaling a major local industry, as petroleum-based technology is still in its infancy).

Civilization:
Settled

Population:
3 billion ( 78% humans, 21% elves, 1% Kivvf-Ty)

Technology:
Roughly equivalent to Victorian-era Earth, with a good dose of magic and ‘steampunk’ technowizardry. Besides the creation of Living Spells, golemancy is also an industry on Daltor. Steamships and a few airships are being experimented with. Golem-powered land-trains are a common sight on Daltor, and are especially important in stabilizing overland trans-desert travel.
There has been some trade with offworld, but nothing significant in the way of technologies. Some common technowizardry has been traded, as well as quality of life technical knowledge shared. There was some concern that shortly after trade began, revolvers became a thing in local Daltorian weaponry, and it was feared that somebody may have given the locals acccess to technical information on better firearms, but it was discovered that the revolver design originated with an Elven assassins’ guild and was an indigenous development(“Oh, good, it was local assassins tinkering and not us bootstrapping the local arms industry...that’s a relief!...oh, not really.”).

Economy:
Commercial---The bloom of industry and faster, more efficient, travel has made global trade on Daltor a more important factor in the overall economy.

Wealth:
Rich; The proliferation of industrial golemancy, living spell magic, and nascent ‘steampunk’ technowizardry has created a largely smogless industrial revolution that has generated great wealth in the kingdoms of Daltor.

Government:
Aristocracies and Mageocracies. The most powerful monarchies on Daltor tend to be mageocracies.

Law Level:
Lawful on average; there are regions where law and order is stretched to the breaking point, and areas where strict authority governs(usually biased against the Kivvf-Ty).

Popularity:
Ambivalent---The distribution of wealth isn’t even, there’s some resentment of the living spells and golems threatening traditional livelihoods, and of the power of the aristocracies and guilds over the common folk.

Stability:
Unrest---While there are a few kingdoms of true harmony and unity across the social classes, there’s growing murmurs of discontent with the present state of affairs; a lot of the lower and middle class feel left out of the global prosperity. There are equal amounts of resentment of and sympathy for the Kivvf-Ty.
Large-scale wars are in hiatus on Daltor, though the major power blocs maintain professional armies and there are occasional skirmishes between nation-states. Instead, convoluted diplomacy([War by other means’) is favored, though there’s a strong liking for assassination(and the fact that some of the most lethal assassins are deliberately-created Kivvf-Ty doesn’t help the reputation of the Kivv any).

Kivvf-Ty---’Spell-Folk’
“Bring her out, boy; we know all about the corrupt mage at the yonef works creating kivv for clients! You have an unregistered, unbound, unclamped fleshspell! Bring that she-thing out here right now and we’ll go easy on you on the inquiry stand! Resist, and we’ll see you before the Morality Board on charges of spiritual corruption!”

“Focused, driven, virtually tireless.....I wish my normal workers were half as efficient as the Kivv I have working for me. One can do the job of any ten human workers, and the guilds know that. Of course, if they get distracted from their purpose, the kivv can get completely corrupted to the point fo uselessness until they somehow find their purpose again, which means until they do, I have to complain to both the labor guilds for deliberately leading my kivv astray, and also complain to the spellcrafting guilds for selling me easily-bolluxed merchandise. Though I sometimes wonder if the labor guildsmen and the kivv-crafters are really working together to extract as much of my silver as they can.”

“Golems and Living Spell-bots. Anybody getting ‘R.U.R.’ vibes about this place?”

“Had the opportunity to travel with a Ty-troupe in the equatorial regions. For a fee, the group would travel to a community and the chief mage-wrangler and his assistants would let one of the dozen living spells in the entourage do their thing...might be a rainmaker spell allowed to run naked through the farmers’ fields or a crop-fertility dance-spell traipse through the orchards, or a healing spell visit households behind some priests and ride in a healing spell with their prayers. The group I was with treated their spellfolk pretty well...at least when others weren’t looking, but I’ve since seen groups that regarded their kivv-ty as little better than living tools, kept locked up when not in use.”

“Shall I prepare plans for an Underground Railroad express route, sir? Just in case we decide to go into the liberty and emancipation business here?”

The Kivvf-Ty are the result of native Daltorian mages creating Living Spells. Once successfully accomplished, the procedure leaked out and was taken up by other mages, spreading across the globe.
The Kivvf-Ty have a checkered history in relation to their Human forebears....prized as servants, cherished as companions, yet despised as abominations, especially when the Living Spells gained positions of prominance in society. Kivvf-Ty have been persecuted, tortured, and publicly executed in ways no human arguably would be, just for their very nature. In some Daltorian cultures, Kivvf-Ty are not permitted to own or wear clothing, especially in public and are little more than slaves with less rights than animals. This has become engrained in some Kivvf-Ty sub-cultures, even when public law has been relaxed(conversely, some Daltorian ethnic septs require Kivvf-Ty to be COMPLETELY covered in public).
Rumors persist of hybrids borne of the union of normal humans and Kivvf-Ty. Such rumors shade heavily to the scandalous.

The elven-folk of Daltor generally look askance at the Kivvf-Ty, though it is rumored that they had a hand in their creation. It has also been variously rumored that the elves have tried creating Kivvf-Ty as bribes for corrupt humans, elven Kivvf-Ty to bolster their numbers, and hybrid human-elf Kivvf-Ty to serve as bridges between the two peoples. One more recent rumor claims that a popular dark elf queen was deposed because it was discovered that she was really a Kivvf-Ty creation.
The USA recognizes Kivvf-Ty in the same way as they recognize sophont AIs, and treat them as equals. Some USA citizens. are already suspected of helping Kivvf-Ty escape out of bondage and smuggling them offworld.

Less intelligent and non-sophont animal living spells. ‘yonef-vey’, are also created; magical beasts of burden and other applications are part of the industrial revolution on Daltor.

[SolCannibal]

Pardon the ignorance, but where can one find info on Living Spells?