PLANETS AND PLACES
Argo: a very Earth-like world located in Sector 10, this planet is a vast waterworld and is a prime destination for Fleet R&R. Argo has immense stormy oceans covering much of its surface, but its diverse aquatic life is a major draw for tourists and colonists alike.
Astrography in Sector 10: MORE HERE SOON
Atlantis A: in 2101 AD, the Cuiver Foundation went far beyond the borders of human space and established the Atlantic League among the ninety-four planets of the supergiant Hastor and the seventeen planets of Hastors' companion star, and assorted stars in the adjoining locality. Since Atlantis A was a dynastic monarchy, nobody paid it much attention until 30 years ago, when the Dewan'n Slaver Empire ruthlessly attacked the League. Utilizing nuclear and biological weapons, the larger Empire triumphed over the smaller League in a lightning war which left Atlantis stripped of all its territories (Atlantis B and C) and the planet Atlantis A itself balkanized. Still disorganized today, Atlantis A is violently anti-alien and the four major nations on the planet are Galma, Argoz, Beruna, and Taifa. All have actively allied themselves with the Sector 10 government.
Atlantis B: once every three years, three of Atlantis B's four large moons conjoin with Atlantis B's star, producing hundred-foot tidal waves. Daredevil surfers brave these monster waves in the most grueling surfing competition in charted space. A "good ride" in the competition lasts four hours; it usually takes three such rides to win. A complete ride, from the traditional starting point at Scratch Bay, can exceed eight hours, but few surfers ever accomplish this feat. Competitions are not judged solely on endurance though; personal style and defense against predators are also significant factors.
Atlantis C: the surface of Atlantis C is 93% water; only a few atolls break the surface of the planet. The only colonists are employees of corporations participating in ocean farming and mining. Skrit, uincellular protein creatures linked together into floating beds kilometers long, have several commercial uses and is harvested only on Atlantis C. During the season, which lasts three-fourths of the year, the tropics of Atlantis C are battered by huge hurricanes. Winds in these storms average 120 miles per hour and gust as high as 250 miles per hour. Thus, most inhabitants on Atlantis C hide on the ocean floor; Tooker City is located 7,500 feet below sea level! The only permanent surface facility, Scratch Bay Starport, is built on a 15-square-mile island, beyond the reach of most storms.
Balthor: this world is a classic Earth-like planet but immigration to this world has recently been halted by the Otoni Governor due to the recent find of an extremely large spacecraft which crashed in the vast forests of the central continent some 20,000 years ago. The Balthor Archaeological Research Expedition is currently unearthing the space vehicle but no signs of survivors exist as yet. A young astronomer from the Mount Balthor Observatory (the only other human habitation besides Limai Spaceport), Lian Webster, has postulated that the beings known locally as Lumpies are the descendants of the alien crew. If so, these creatures deserve unrestricted protection by the Otoni government. Lumpies have grey skin, two arms, four legs, and are very muscular. They have an average height of 5'4" and are very gentle, inquisitive, and bright (but they don't communicate vocally). Ms. Webster's assumption must be given further examination, however, before the Governor's office will make any official announcement.
Bor: when a Otoni Survey Scout landed on the planet Bor, he noted that the humanoid natives were hyper-polite and showed no sign of xenophobia (an odd occurrence indeed!). According to the local Boreans, there has been no war on Bor for over 4,000 years and the planet itself is unremarkable, with no oceans or sea and no large mountain ranges. There are also no large predators of any kind on the planet. The tech level appears to be early 1900s but when Otoni Scout asked when their first horseless buggy had been invented the officials told him 89 years ago and there had been only one upgrade of the vehicle since that time! For nearly a hundred years, Bor hasn't advanced one tech level! Apparently technology has been stunted due to the lack of necessity for it. There is no theft, arson, lying, or any other serious crime on Bor. Although it is a lovely pastoral world, the serious lack of technology hinders any real industrialization.
Branx Homeworld: this alien race is a large rock-like humanoid race standing nearly twelve feet tall. They are from a high-gravity environment and make them extremely valuable as ground forces for the Sector Marines. Their recent low-population growth rate has caused serious debate within their government. Branx have no serious disputes with neighbors, but have minor internal squabble with anti-government elements whose recent use of nukes has shocked the central government.
Darkover: an ancient planet orbiting a dying "blood-red sun", this planet is the only human-habitable of seven planets orbiting a fictional red giant star called Cottmans' Star. The planet is dominated by polar icecaps and glaciers that cover most of its surface. It has been inhabited by a offshoot of humanity for thousands of years. The insular government of the planet has only slowly warmed up to outreach efforts by Sector 10 officials. Almost 200 million people inhabit Darkover, many of which have psychic abilities.
Faraway: while populated by human colonists, every native of Faraway is called a crashlander and every off-worlder a flatlander. This unique twist of vocabulary came about when the colony ship SS Hope with 4,553 colonists aboard, crashlanded on the continent of Barsoom, after suffering a major drive failure. The 2,000+ survivors proceeded to name their makeshift town Crashlanding City but after eight years and several particularly hard winters, the crashlanders realized a rescue ship wasn't likely to be sent and set about taming their world. When off-world contact was finally restored during the Sector 10 formation, crashlanders put off the first human diplomat by calling him a flatlander and so it has been ever since.
Fleet HQ: MORE HERE SOON
Fog: colonized directly from Earth, this planet has undergone a recent upheaval. Five years ago a group of socialist terrorists seized the capital city of the planet Fog, took the government hostage, and proceeded to execute the citizens until their demands were met. Fog's population was arboreal, living in spacious tree houses far above the swampy carnivore-infested surface of the planet. The terrorists exterminated the citizens by setting fire to their tree homes and shooting anyone who tried to escape to the adjoining trees. The people either burned to death or fell into the grim swamps below, where their bodies were devoured by the ravenous predators. Over 90% of the population was massacred in this way but Sector Marine forces arrested the perpetrators and sealed off the world.
Heblon: a heavily populated world threatened by the Invid advance. Headquarters of the Heblonese Navy, the largest military factions fighting alongside the humanity against the Invid. Population 15 billion sentients.
Iwo Jima: this premier training world has a heavy jungle canopy. It is also the location of all combat training for the Sector 10 Marines. Every recruit spends at least a year on this world, learning about weapons, combat tactics, hand-to-hand combat techniques, and survivalism. For many years the marines have used the Iwo Jima to train their most elite armed forces.
Kalgan: a pro-Sector 10 world, Kalgan is home to the famous Dragonriders of Roke, an exclusive group who regularly keep Kalgan's skies clear of maneating vanisoars and squook, both of which can pick up a full-grown man with their talons. The majority of Kalgan's five billion inhabitants live on Roke, a large continent-sized island in the central ocean.
Keiar: a balkanized world with a long history of warfare, Keiar was destroyed ten years ago during it's Final War. Long-standing grievances between four powerful nations (Kerkyra, Perimor, Velathys, and Ni-Moya) culminated in a global bloodbath in which specialized combat constructs, bio weapons, 'super soldiers', and high-tech off-world, weaponry was used. Of the five billion inhabitants of this subsector capital, fewer than 200,000 survived to reach off-planet destinations.
Lorca: this planet was colonized by a wandering Otoni theater company that crash-landed on this strange world. Lorca is strange because it has no standing oceans or seas, all water is concentrated in underground seas. Travellers landing on Lorca must buy and always wear a face mask. All face masks are made by natives of Lorca and each one has a specific name. The current ruler is the man who finds and retains the Almighty Slayer mask. Other masks include the Wisdom Mask, Trader Mask, and the Fighter Mask. Lorca's current population is 3 million.
Lysert Homeworld: located near the giant star Beta Maximus, this planet is the homeworld of a friendly cat-like humanoid race, the Lysertlings. It is a class-M world, with a population around 3 billion sentients. It was raided many times by the Dewan'n Slaver Empire but eventually the planet joined the Sector 10 government and all attacks against the world stopped when the Fleet began patrolling the system with warships.
Mairsuk: during the process of becoming an interstellar society, Mairsuk suffered a self-inflicted nuclear war which devastated large sections of the planet and forever altered the environment. After three hundred years of recovery, the survivors of the northeastern continent (Vashoon) formed the first reliable government and adopted a constitution with the basic tenet that "No city, no town, no community of more than 1,000 people or two hundred buildings to the square mile shall be allowed to exist anywhere in the United Provinces of Vashoon". Survey scouts have speculated on the reason for this clause and can only assume that the UPV seeks to avoid further nuclear strikes by dispersing concentrations of civilians. Since it was admitted to the Sector 10 alliance thirty years ago, Mairsuk has enjoyed a spectacular increase in off-world trade, which has started a technological revolution in the industries on the planet. Finally, a major Baslani enclave has been established on the mountainous southern continent and is doing well.
Mehira: Natives of the planet Mehira are very similar to humans except they have rather pointed ears and a long flowing tail. Governed by a ruling Council, Mehirans are true empaths and as such it is too painful to live around those who are in pain, or dying, or even terribly unhappy. Over thousands of years Mehirans have been forced to evolve a society governed by strict laws as well as etiquette. Mehirans listen for others feelings, so as to avoid causing anguish or embarrassment. They let each other feel their emotions and the only time it's permissible to mask emotion or to refuse to receive is when the sender is in terrible distress. Even then, it's not possible to block it out completely. The ability of Mehirans to feel the suffering of others makes them unwilling to cause unhappiness. Thus there has been peace on Mehira for centuries. Although Mehirans are nonviolent and law-abiding, there are always some deviants and criminals. The Catchers exist to track them down. A Sector Scout landed on Mehira ten years ago and signaled a Sector 10 warship skimming the local gas giant for First Contact. Since then, Mehirans have been enthusiastic members of the Sector 10.
Meramar: is inhabited by a humans who colonized the planet over 3,000 years ago after passing through a time-wormhole. Natives of Meramar are all members of ancient warrior families, accustomed to fighting their way to what they want thru blood and war. A very harsh world, all families live in immense stone castles to protect themselves. With modern weapons, these castles and the Meramar way of life would be meaningless but all inhabitants have agreed to limit themselves to the weapons of the first settlers. Meramar is an independant world and the 200 million inhabitants intend to keep it that way.
Minicor Minor: this non-habitable planet is now a mining world that was annexed by the humanity because of its easily accessed mineral resources. Its ecosphere had badly deteriorated as the planet aged so humanity wasn't forced to gut a nice habitable world in its place.
Otoni III: this is also a non-habitable mining world, with huge underground reserves of petroleum, coal, natural gas, and industrial-grade crystals. The planet was annexed by humanity and large orbital oil tankers can be seen here often. Otoni III has large virgin oil fields which has generated a lucrative export business with Earth: the hunger for petroleum has never abated on humanitys' homeworld even though it ran out a century ago. Although Earth now uses the precious fluid only for the production of plastics and pharmaceuticals, Earth produces a lot of plastics and pharmaceuticals.
Pentarus V: location of wormhole MORE HERE SOON
Sanctuary: MORE HERE SOON
Sector 10 Alliance: MORE HERE SOON
Tandu III: MORE HERE SOON
Terb: MORE HERE SOON
Torodon: MORE HERE SOON
Zytan System: on the fourth planet of the Zytan System there dwelt a race of intelligent lizards, the Qati, who were in their early atomic age when a human colony was set up on the seventh planet. The colony Esteel was a difficult world to tame and the Qati were more than delighted to trade physical labor for the secrets of making spaceships from the humans. This went on from 2124 AD to 2240 AD, when Esteel had a population of 20 million. Humans had also colonized three nearby inhabited moons and several rocks in the nearby asteroid belt that replaced a 6th planet. Eventually, the Qati became quite avid colonizers and rather sophisticated in the ways of space and they began having reservations about the presence of humans in their solar system, for these humans were from another star and were occupying a planet which otherwise would have been Qati. War broke out and after a number of crushing defeats, and a few surprising victories, the final blow was put on the War of Zytan when the the Esteel battleship ESS Audacious (massing 80,000 tons and traveling at 800 gees) smacked violently into their major colony of Daar es Suun, killing over a billion Qati. After this impressive disaster, nobody, human or Qati, was very willing to press their point further. Today, Esteel is heavily industrialized and a very pro-Sector 10 Alliance world.