Takara Prime

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Geography

Takara Prime is divided into two main continents with various islands and archipelagoes. Each of these continents was home to one ethnicity of the Takarran people. The eastern continent was the homeland of the Purple Takarans, and the western was the homeland of the Red Takarrans.

Life

Takara Prime is the home-world of the Takarrans, an amphibian people long and bitterly divided into two warring ethnicities. Later, it was also the home of the clandestine war-robots that killed off most of the Takarrans. (the Defendrons and the Cryptobots)

History

Separated by geography, the Takarran people were divided into two warring factions. The western Red Takarrans lived in a relatively egalitarian society where each Takarran voted on elected officials and the weightier issues based on their “estimation”, a numerical score each Red Takarran was assigned by a coalition of the government and other prominent organizations. The Purple Takarrans lived in a far more hierarchical empire ruled by those who possessed the “Sparks of Honor”, a set of powerful talismans (originally forged of precious metals, and later imbued with AI technology) that typically passed from vanquished to victor in contests of battle to the death. These two factions waged long and bloody wars from the time they discovered long-distance ocean travel until the apocalyptic war of Crypto-botics, when the majority of Takarrans on both sides were wiped out by war-robots disguised as innocuous pieces of technology.

In GSC 179 explorers from the PLAS discovered the planet, covered in large, but seemingly abandoned technologically developed cities, with the few surviving Takarrans living primitively in the wilderness, mortally afraid of technology. See: Exodus

Following first contact, many of the surviving Takarrans were rescued by the Planetary League Alien Assistance Agency (PLAAA), as the planet was taken over by the Cryptobots eventually leading to the Second Robot War.

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Berwynne's Reach

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Berwynne's Reach is a binary star-system in the middle of the Sagittarius Gap, far from any other stars or inhabited planets.  Millions of years ago, an asymmetrical supernova near the current location of Paradise tore a rift in space-time (later to be known as Berwynne's Rift) that leads almost directly to the Berwynne's Reach system.  

History

First reached by Ichigo Berwynne in GSC 160, Berwynne's Reach was a promising locale as a jumping-off point for journeys to the Sagittarius Arm, and the Centaurus Arm from the original human core-worlds.  In GSC 168, the city of Berwynne's Gate was founded as the capitol of the new Planetary League colony on the surface of Kempe (named for Margery Kempe), the lone terrestrial world in the system. Kempe was also the home of a large and well known temple of Eris.  Later the system capitol was moved to Dunningston.  The System also contained significant asteroid belts, and several other planets.

Berwynne's Reach quickly became a major hub for trade, and for colonists leaving for the frontier.  As the Sagittarius and Centaurus arms developed through the third and fourth centuries of Era-1, Berwynne's reach prospered.  A few dozen star-gates were built leading to major systems, and a large number of space-habitats sprung up.

During the Great Reckoning, most of the star-gates were destroyed by the defenders of the Reach in order to prevent the Holy Empire of Man from attacking the system, which had become a major evacuation point for the old-core systems.  This left only Berwynne's Rift as a feasible route of attack, and this was constantly guarded by the remnants of the Planetary League fleet that had sought refuge there.  

Over time, the memory of the war faded, and Berwynne's Reach became a major center of commerce during Era-2.  The remnants of the Planetary League, and various rebel elements used it as a center of organization, although officially the system's government was politically neutral.  Berwynne's Reach became a haven for pirates, bounty hunters, rebels, heretics, and other assorted riff-raff.  The Yatagarasu (aka the Star Crows) had a substantial presence within the system, and often used it as a base of operations.  Berwynne's Reach remained independent throughout Era-2, although the HEM often laid siege to it, and actually succeeded in briefly occupying the system during the War of the Empires.

Businesses

Mr. WOW!, inc., maker of Mr. WOW! soft-drinks was headquartered on a large space station orbiting Kempe.

Points of Interest

Berwynne's Gate is an arcology on Kempe, and was briefly the capitol of the system.

Berwynne's Gate

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Berwynne's Gate is an arcology on Berwynne's Reach.  Located at the opening of the fertile Highland Valley, the main structure is built between and into two cliffs.  The smaller, attached structures incorporate atmospheric conditioners with mixed-use retail space.  Berwynne's Gate was originally designed for around 100,000 permanent residents.

Founded in GSC 168 by Ichigo Berwynne to serve as the capitol of the Planetary League colony on Berwynne's Reach, it served as a commercial hub long after the capitol moved to Dunningston.

Berwynne's Gate, shortly after main construction concluded in GSC 185

Shoji

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First visited in GSC 203 by an expedition led by Zoe Bonnard, Shoji (From 諸寺 in Japanese, meaning various temples) was a barren, airless world a little larger than Earth.  It was named for its many sites of natural, if desolate beauty.  Shoji also had many rich veins of valuable minerals, and the Planetary League decided to terraform and settle it.

Shoji lacked an active core, so an electromagnetic ring was constructed around the planet (an immense undertaking that required decades to complete), and atmospheric conditioners were set up.  Various mining interests came for the resources, and tourism to see the planets various natural wonders formed the backbone of the colony's economy.

Years passed, and Shoji flourished, a complete biosphere was established, large cities sprang up, and many industries came to call Shoji home.

In GSC 836, an event happened that would forever shatter the tranquility of Shoji.  A group of bio-prospectors, laden with samples from Mefitis, on their way to a Cosmid laboratory accidentally contaminated the planet with a variety of diseases from Mefitis due to poor containment practices. 

The Mefitis Plague ravaged the population, turning most of the inhabitants into mindless, shambling zombies.   Various attempts were made to contain the contagion, including such drastic measures as nuclear and chemical weapons.  All attempts failed, and the once thriving world was left in ruin.  The planet was placed under strict quarantine, and its name was changed to 所持, meaning possession, but which is also written and pronounced Shoji in English.  The Planetary League maintained a naval blockade of Shoji to enforce the quarantine, until all ships were recalled late in the Great Reckoning.

Shoji became a chaos world early in Era-2, and the Galactic Republic destroyed the planet after the War of Galactic Unification.

Dogur-dann

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Dogur-dann started out as a terrestrial world, with an advanced civilization (similar to Earth in the 1990s).  Another star passed close to their star, pulling the planet out of its orbit, to wander interstellar space.  Luckily, because of their advanced technology, the Dogarri (the local technological species) had advanced warning of the impending disaster, and prepared the best they could.  This was mainly accomplished by burrowing underground, and learning to live off their planet's geothermal heat.  All life on the surface froze, and even the atmosphere condensed into ice, but the active core of the planet kept the Dogarri alive.

On frozen Dogur-Dann, the Dogarri burrow deep beneath the surface to survive on geothermal heat.

On frozen Dogur-Dann, the Dogarri burrow deep beneath the surface to survive on geothermal heat.

This is the state Dogur-dann was in when it was discovered by the Planetary League, near the colony world of New Promise in GSC 138.  Trade and diplomacy was established between the main factions of the Dogarri and the Planetary League under the newly passed Alien Assistance Act.  Eventually, the leading factions of the Dogarri joined the Planetary League, while others remained independent.

Most of Dogur-dann was conquered after the end of the Great Reckoning by the Holy Empire of Man.

The Dogarri rebelled and joined the Galactic Republic during the War of Galactic Unification.

The Lucifer System

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The Lucifer system was named after its tragic secret was discovered by explorers from the Planetary League.  Later, the Lucifer system was the location of an important battle in the War of Galactic Unification.

Tragic Secret

The first scout from the Planetary League reached the Lucifer System in GSC 190. The scout noticed that Lucifer 4 seemed to have the right conditions for life, and left a beacon orbiting Lucifer 8 to alert future explorers. On GSC 201.24, Captain Zoe Bonnard and the PLS Excelsior arrived in the system and made a series of discoveries.

Weak radio signals around the system belonged to a number of simple exploratory probes.

One planet had a small research outpost that still contained the remains of an exploration team.

There was a black hole about as massive as a planet that orbited in the star's habitable zone.  Apparently someone on the planet had discovered how to create a black hole artificially, and the creation had swallowed the planet and all its inhabitants.

System Details

Lucifer is a middle-aged orange star (K-class).

Lucifer Prime:  a rocky, Chthonian planet close to the star, lightly explored with a few probes.

Lucifer 2:  A rocky planet.

Lucifer 3: Ice giant world.

Asteroid ring

Lucifer 4:  Once inhabited by a technological civilization, it was swallowed by an artificially created black hole.

Lucifer 5: Rocky, airless world, had an inhabited research outpost before the 4th planet was destroyed. There were no survivors of this outpost.

Lucifer 6: Gas-giant, had a few probes.

Lucifer 7: Ice giant.

Lucifer 8:  Gas-giant, with many moons.

Neo-Polynesia

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In early Era-1, with ocean levels rising on Earth, many Polynesian cultures were losing their homes.  As the Pacific ocean rose, islands flooded and people were displaced. 

When the planet of Paradise was discovered, the Planetary League set aside part of that planet as a resettlement area for those people, and as a cultural preserve.  Numerous archipelagoes and no significant continents, along with a warm, tropical climate made Paradise the perfect place for this project.  Numerous plants and animals were brought along by the settlers, as well as their cultural traditions. 

Mars

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The first planet to be colonized, Mars early became the second most populous planet after Earth.  Mars was one of the founding members of the Planetary League.

The Mariner Valley Incident in GSC 16 was a huge landslide that killed many colonists, and an important early event in the history of the Tardigrades

One hundred years after the Mariner Valley Incident, a large, bronze sculpture, called "The Bell of Remembrance" was placed at the site.

Mars was the birthplace of Amadeus Krieg.

History

GSC 58, The Cydonia Incident: A group of Markovian researchers was caught performing unethical experiments, turning public opinion against the Markovians.

During the Great Reckoning, Mars was conquered by the Holy Empire of Man.

During the War of Galactic Unification, Mars joined the Galactic Republic.

Due to the slow process of terraforming an entire planet’s atmosphere, large-scale urbanization preceded blue skies on Mars by thousands of years.