[WB] Hephaistus Planetary Database

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PLANET – SHAL’TARRA – KOLESH HOMEWORLD – WORLD OF FLESH

-Satellite image of Shal'Tarra-
Here, have an Easter egg​

–PLANET GEOGRAPHY–
Shal’Tarra is the barren homeworld of the enigmatic Kolesh, a mammalian race that has mastered bioengineering to the point that something organic and mechanical are nearly one and the same, fusing metals and flesh. Where other species became prolific in material sciences and physics, the Kolesh spent millennia researching and mastering the biological building blocks of organic life until their machines and tools became almost indistinguishable from a living organism. While the appearance of their cities on colonized worlds -which appear to sprout from the ground in an amalgamation of flesh, metal and chitinous growths- are off putting to many other species of the galaxy, the Kolesh don't mind the often grisly looking sight of their transformed landscapes, having become accustomed to the appearance and some of their race even finding the sight of purely metal structures unusually sterile in their own right.

The planet surface of Shal'Tarra consists of multiple large continents of rocky, mountainous terrain, turning to arid desserts at the center of the barren landmasses. The majority of plant and animal life on the planet lives on the smaller islands and coastline of the red, nutrient rich oceans covering the planet. Kolesh civilization began from the edges of these life giving oceans where few rivers fed into them from the mainland, eventually expanded along the great ravines of the surface that protected them from the more extreme weather conditions that hit the inland regions. Since then, the dominant Kolesh species has transformed much of the planet.

Huge underground passageways now crisscross the deserts and mountainous expanses to connect cities across the great barren lands, dug out by large wormlike creations of the Kolesh Geneticists. Waves of their large organic machines still wander the surface fertilizing more areas of the planet for expansion of their empire.

-Drone image of a Kolesh facility built along the edge of a ravine city-​

–CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY–
The Kolesh are a bipedal species which have reddish hairless skin with long gangly limbs. Their arms nearly touch the floor when they hunch, wrists ending with wide flat hands still prominent from when their evolutionary ancestors dug burrows. Their most prominent facial feature is a starfish-like protruding appendage on the center of their face which doubles as both a nasal passage and mouth, flanked with small sunken eyes and ears which tuck into the side of their head. These characteristics explain the reason for a keen sense of smell among the species but outweighed by a poor eyesight in comparison to other races, which has caused them to rely more on touch and smell rather than their visual sense.

The Kolesh's mastery of bioengineering has been mostly reserved for making new creations to serve a specific purpose rather than altering themselves, keeping any alterations of their own genetic material to a minimum. The one major change made among the Kolesh physiology is to give themselves what can only be described as a 'port' along the nape of their neck which gives them the ability to interface themselves with some of their more advanced organic machinery. More common tools and organic machines do not require such a connection to use, the Ports only intended when needing to take control of the machine such as vehicles or weapons. This means of utilizing organic matter and linking with their creations has caused some confusion to outsiders as the space suits and armour that the Kolesh wear gives an altered appearance of their natural bodies. Visible musculature and bone frameworks mold to the wearer, making it easy to mistake them for a completely different species while wearing the parasitic pieces of technology.

--unknown Kolesh device with port connection–​

Personality wise the Kolesh are best described as narcissistic, lethargic, perfectionists. The species' influential Geneticists always believe they can complete any task with one of their creations and give little consideration of the organic machines they build but for the tasks they can complete. Factories are filled with a lumbering biomechanical subspecies, built specifically to take care of the jobs the Kolesh don't personally want to do, the organic machines receiving a kick of dopamine whenever they complete a task, performing on instinct and drip fed from a nutrients sac that are regularly refilled. Unnecessary features such as pain and long term memory have no need in the limited brain function of the more complicated organic machines, many other Kolesh creations just consisting on collections of carefully crafted cells working together.

The Kolesh's use of organic matter in their technology has created an interesting effect on how they perceive sentience, in which living creatures are seen only as incredibly advanced machinery much like one would compare sentient AI to a coffee maker. The Kolesh think no more of their seemingly living tools as one would consider a blinking light on their computer a sign of awareness. Of course they still see themselves at the top of this hierarchy, always looking down on any species that find their mastery of organic matter to be off putting or an existential crisis.

-A Kolesh living machine wandering the halls of a facility-
Here, have an Easter egg​

Kolesh machines are commonly grown and mass produced in massive vats of stem cells, special enzymes and chemicals carefully fed into it to produce the desired outcome. This manner of creation is used for nearly everything, even spacecrafts are grown to have skeletal structures as their framework with engines utilizing the same manner of thrust as void living creatures. Food and consumer products are grown in giant factory vat farms, other organic machines constantly producing enzymes and chemicals for medical, material and many useful purposes. Some of their machines appear to be more alive than others, such as the crafted organisms of their void suits which form a symbiotic relationships with the Kolesh user, covering the wearer in a second skin and producing oxygen through the CO2 that they exhale. The organic technology is used in every aspect of Kolesh technology and society. Sinewy wires traverse the structures of their cities, feeding the necessary nutrients and electrical charge for bioluminescent glowing lights and bulbous button interfaces. The Geneticists of their species copying many unique and useful aspects from the genetic material of natural species.

The Kolesh are always interested in gathering new DNA from far off colonies or new races to experiment with and find more ways to boost the efficiency of their many living machines, utilizing the many unique chemical reactions that take place in living beings across the galaxy. They are known to trade often with the Archive Collectors* to gain access to their many thorough databases of generic material they hold on their library worlds. Another aspect of the Kolesh developing machines based on the best parts of generic code of other sentient species they trade with is thecreation of uncorroborated rumours that surround the enigmatic geneticists. A fear has developed among some that the Kolesh capture races and mutate them into the same monstrosities that work in their facilities. This however goes against the bioengineers mandate of creating their own organic machines from scratch. It is much easier method for them to grow something new with all the features they could desire rather than reorganizing the functions of something already in existence.

-Kolesh device for *^$%#^&>>>>>>./?//#$@ unknown purpose-
Here, have an Easter egg​

It is unknown what caused the Kolesh to take this unusual course of technological evolution, though many have theories. The major leading theorem bases their branching technological path on two key reasons, however it should be understood that the information is inconclusive and would require more research and knowledge the Kolesh are unwilling to give. Firstly, due to environmental pressures on their society the Kolesh had to resort to incredibly experimental methods of research to increase the efficiency of food production, this leading the way for heavy genetic or biomechanical research as they began growing their protein based foods in vats and using the same techniques in other branches of science. Secondly, that the Kolesh were initially part of a symbiotic relationship with another lesser species on their planet much like ants and aphids or clownfish and sea anemones are on earth. Once they genetically mastered the functions of their symbiotic partner to fit within their own interest of their evolving society, the Kolesh had no need to keep the other lesser species around and spread out to create symbiotic species of their own making to complete other tasks as well. Once they discovered how to copy the techniques that allowed living organisms to function and develop, they began twisting those genetic processes for their own purposes into the gory looking organic machines working on the Kolesh worlds and colonies.

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Footnote:
*see related material on the Archive Collectors and their library worlds​

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ANOMALY – THE ANCHOR – SECTOR E14 QUARANTINE ZONE EPICENTER

-Satellite image of the Anchor Anomaly-
Here, have an Easter egg​

-DESCRIPTION-
The 'Anchor' as it has become known is a hazardous anomaly which has the dangerous effect of pulling in passing vessels who have entered it's area of effect while in any form of FTL travel. Any ship caught in this gravitational syphon will find it's trajectory rerouted and kicked out into sub light, orbiting or crashing to the anomaly's surface with propulsion engines remotely shut down and malfunctioning. It is only sized with a radius of 50km, making it comparable to a large asteroid or a small planetary satellite. It’s surface structure is made up of numerous spacecraft collected over an unknown amount of time, piled up on each other to hide whatever might make up the actual surface of the anomaly which is buried beneath layers upon layers of ancient and modern vessels. The ability to determine how much of the anomaly's volume is the original structure has so far been impossible due to the sheer amount of wrecks it has pulled in to add to the anchor's mass. Even small asteroids have been caught in the unusually high gravity of the anomaly to come crashing down to the surface, it’s near earth gravity not expected from it’s small celestial size. It is undetermined if this is an intentional effect or just a symptom of it's gravitational manipulation.

​

To make matters worse the anomaly is always on the move, altering speed and direction throughout the galactic sectors, making it hard to predict it's area of effect. It's random changes in course are seemingly unrelated to any known stimuli, many trying to find some pattern or correlation of it's trajectory to galactic phenomena so that it can be safely avoided. It is collectively agreed upon that this constant change in course means the anomaly cannot be a natural formation, most likely moving with some yet unknown form of propulsion. It's syphon range makes up multiple light years, estimates putting to around 3 light years around the anomalous source. The anchor has been present for over centuries, no present civilization truly knowing it's origins. At this point it is treated as a random natural phenomenon, it's area of effect avoided by those who know about it. The anomaly's exact location is hidden inside a massive shroud of gases which creates a large uncertainty to it's possible area of effect, however some minor predictions of it's movements can be made based on the shifting of the huge cloud of gases that hides the Anchor.

- Image from research team of new ship entering the anchors pull-
Here, have an Easter egg​

The large nebula which the anomaly resides in masks it from outside scanners and interferes with any attempt of a proper recon mission of the Anchor. The information on the structure is limited due to the seemingly impossible task of escaping it's pull to relay any data once a vessel has been caught in the one way trip to the anomaly's surface, most signals unable to penetrate the dense gases of the surrounding nebula. Any and all in depth knowledge of the anomaly was gathered from the unfortunate team of the Stellaris, a research vessel that was able to troubleshoot a method of transmitting its findings out of the dense nebula when they got pulled in by the anchor and trapped on the surface during a separate research project in the sector. Once a spacecraft joins the ship graveyard any large propulsion engines of all makes or models are scrambled by the effects of the anomaly and unable to overcome the powerful pull of the Anchor even if they were able to begin operating again, preventing any from leaving even if they might survive the turbulent crash to the surface.

-Image of derelicts orbiting the anomaly in the surrounding nebula-​

-RESEARCH DATALOGS*-
The surface is composed of piles of crashed spacecrafts, their variety in design and size as immense as the mountains they create. The proportions of some of the alien vessels on the Anchor are gargantuan, one of the derelicts that was discovered at least a kilometer wide and many more long. Massive lakes of oil and hydraulic fluid can be found, accumulated from numerous wrecks. The atmosphere is a mixture of multiple gases from all the wrecked ships and highly unbreathable, the research team having to rely on their still operational life support from the Stellaris. The team also explored some of the caverns created by the interlocked spacecrafts, delving at least 1500 meters on one of their expeditions before they had to turn back, with the wrecks still continuing downwards.

One of the team's more surprising discoveries was of survivors from other wrecks. They made contact with a settlement of scavengers made up of multiple species from numerous vessels who managed to survive on the Anchor for a number of years. They survived by stripping wrecked vessels for useful technology before others could reach it. The scavenger settlement resided inside a crashed colony ship which gave them the basics for food and water production while they salvaged parts of use from other wrecks, staying under the radar of more malevolent forces that they warned the Stellaris crew about.

- Image from research team of stripped derelict 500m below surface-​

The research team were informed of the presence of drones made from advanced alien technology that traversed the surface of the anomaly, the only known creations that still had operational propulsion. They were an unwelcome discovery, the mechanical drones systematically tearing into old derelicts and new wrecks alike for parts and scraps, taking away the materials to some yet undiscovered location of the Anchor. Theories assume they may be part of the same predatory system of the Anomaly that traps those nearby, breaking down whatever is pulled in for a mysterious purpose. It’s unknown how these drones are able to operate while others cannot, neither the scavengers or the research team able to get close enough to study one at close range. Unfortunately no more recordings from the research team were received shortly after their initial encounter with some of the Anomaly drones.

- Image from research team of Anomaly drones-

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Foot Note:
* All information is extracted from recordings received from the Stellaris research team.​

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HABITAT STATION – DULOCA GRAND FABRIARCHA STATION – CENTER OF ECLUSIAN TRADE EMPIRE

- Image of Eclusian Capital Station, Duloca -
​

-DESCRIPTION-
The Duloca Grand Fabriarcha Habitat station, or more commonly referred to as just the Duloca Station is the Capital of the Eclusiarch empire, a expansive empire governed by the space faring Eclusian species. The Eclusians themselves have lived in the void for so long and for so many generations that they have lost the ability to survive in the gravity of habitable planets, only able to live in the low gravity environments of their own creation. This however has not stopped them from reigning over a massive empire spanning many worlds and systems, consisting of numerous subjugated species who have barely entered the space age before the Eclusiarch empire came along, while the Eclusians reside within large habitat stations. The Duloca Grand Fabriarcha Station acts as their imperial palace and seat of power within the governing body of the empire.

The Eclusian themselves are a frail humanoid race with bluish gray skin, their body including four arms and a tail which allows them to navigate low and zero gravity better than most species. The prominent features on their face is their nose, which while not protruding far from their head seems to nearly split their face in half due to how tall the bridge of their nose rises over their thin mouth. Their head also includes wide bony nodules that sprout from the side of their heads above their ears and meet on the back of their head like a fan, almost creating a physical crown on their heads. This portion of their body is often decorated with numerous accessories of jewelry and tattoos. Eclusians tend to be rather thin and physically weak, preferring to keep away from other imposing species and relying on the might of their spacecrafts and ingenuity rather than involving themselves in any closer forms of combat.

–EMPIRIAL VASSALS–
Created by their lack of presence on any subjugated planet the Eclusiarch empire has an unusual relationship with their vassals, maintained by their technological capabilities and the means in which they isolate their vassals. The subjugation process itself is usually quick and painless for the empire, showing up with a powerful fleet in the system of a prospective and carefully selected race who often times have only just reached the space age of a civilization. Time is taken to open communications with the new vassal to announce that the planet and all its people are now citizens and under the control of the Eclusiarch Empire. Any aggressive actions taken by the conquered species are put down quickly by orbital bombardments when it rarely comes to that, most often the presence of the orbiting fleet is enough to hinder the residents of any dangerous course of action.

Swift negotiations ensue in which a small group of planetary representatives are brought up to the new trade station which has already been towed into orbit by the fleet, the representatives informed of their new expectations as trade partners, which is often agreed with rather quickly when they realize the potential gains of being connected to a galactic trade network. As well, any potentially useful schematics of the vassal's independent technology is taken by the Eclusians for their own purposes. Beyond that the Eclusiarch empire couldn’t care how the residents of any singular planet organize themselves, as long as they continue to trade with the orbital stations connected by space elevators built along the equator of the planet. The Eclusians rarely ever interfere with the inner workings of their subjects unless it could potentially affect their arrangements such as global war or a cataclysmic natural disaster. While they themselves cannot reach the planet surface there have been cases where the Eclusians have had to mobilize their fleet to reinstate control or even send loyal vassal troops from other planets to deal with issues on the surface of a disgruntled planet.

- Image of Eclusian Planetary trade station with attached space elevator. Noticeable changes and additions have been made by planet vassals to the station's original design -
Here, have an Easter egg​

Each subjugated vassal species is controlled by the orbital stations connected by huge space elevators connecting them to the planet surface. Each planet is run by an Eclusian Fabriarcha, similar to a governor, who is in contact with the planetary government and controls the flow of trade of the orbital stations while overseeing the station crew who often comprise a mixed portion of the vassal species and Eclusians. Since they stay out of their vassals' issues as long as trade continues at their orbital stations most species barely notice a difference under Eclusian rule with many of the vassal species never even physically seeing an Eclusian in their lifetime. In fact, given the boosted technology offered to their vassals some planets begin flourishing as galactic trade and travel is opened up to them. Others however do not do well under the restrictions set by their governing trade Fabriarchas, growing distraught with hatred towards their conquerors as the Eclusians make sure any vassal species never forms their own fleets or trade stations, unable to flourish independently.

The Eclusiarch Empire does not however completely stifle the rise of it's vassals as individuals from subjugated planets are known to rise in Eclusian society, able to represent their home planet in one of the many guilds of the Eclusian trade hubs, though the Eclusians are careful to make sure they themselves keep a majority in any decision. On any Eclusian habitat station there is a small population of individuals from subjugated species who have decided to travel or reside off world, even moving to the home worlds of other vassal species. Loyal Vassals have even been granted the ability to colonize other worlds in specific cases, though the process is carefully managed and overseen by the Eclusians themselves.

–ECONOMY AND TECHNOLOGY–
The Eclusiarch Empire have a powerful economy considering their whole empire is centered around the creation of their own internal trade market between conquered planets. The empire taking a small cut from everything bought, sold and transported to other worlds from their stations to fund their mighty fleets and supply their habitat stations. The Eclusian Trade fleet used to transport goods across their empire even rivals the military fleets of some other galactic species.

- Image of Eclusian solar collecting array. -​

The Eclusian species themselves operate many industries in space, ranging from asteroid mining, ship building, gas mining in dense nebulas or massive solar collectors orbiting close to a sun, selling the excess to their vassal planets. In contrast they have very minimal food production on their habitat stations, relying mainly on their vassal planets to supply food and agriculture for the whole empire.

- Image of Eclusian mining colony. -
Here, have an Easter egg​

Some question begin to rise as to how any species with FTL travel would choose to live in the void for long enough that they are unable to return to the gravity of a planet. Most predictions assume it was not a choice at all. Historical information procured from the Eclusians themselves and other accounts point to an story that the old planet bound species split off from their origins eons ago, either destroying their predecessors in some ancient war or losing their home world to natural disaster, details suspiciously absent. Whoever remained was left to survive in orbital stations and mining colonies for numerous generations without artificial gravity generators before finally achieving faster than light travel and cross the great expanse of the galaxy, but by then it was too late to return to the way they lived before the disaster. One of the first worlds they arrived at with another civilization growing on it formed a mutual relation to the- at the time- nomadic Eclusians, supplying food and goods to the space bound people in exchange for technological advancements and access to the Eclusiarch asteroid mining network. The Col'darri* became the first vassals of the Eclusiarch empire as they spread out and began to begin relations with other species, until the Eclusians were strong enough to have no need of asking. The Col'darri are still a loyal partner of the Eclusians who have colonized over a dozen planets inside the imperial control of the Empire, often times the Eclusians first choice for when ground troops are required.

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Foot Note:
*see related material on the Col'darri and their society​

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PLANET - SALDAURA - STERILE TOMB WORLD

- Satellite image taken from orbit of Saldaura-
Here, have an Easter egg​

-PLANET GEOGRAPHY-
Salduara is a desert tomb world with 15% of its surface covered in massive cities that are all completely abandoned and falling into ruin. The first human ship to discover it 57 years ago found no living creatures or remnants of biological matter of any kind on land or in sea, which for a breathable atmosphere is highly unusual. The place is eerily silent, no animal or insects to be found, the only source of sound comes from the ever constant winds that whip through the columns of abandoned structures and over the massive sand dunes. The entire surface of the planet has been overtaken by rocky terrain and sweeping deserts of sand which have invaded many of the ruined cities where in some locations only the peaks of buildings can be seen sprouting from the desert surface. Areas of dead forests and fossilized flora can still be found, their rate of decay greatly decreased due to the absence of even microscopic lifeforms to break down the remains.

Ancient tech still litters the city streets but it is all far too old to be restarted or properly examined, having crumbled and fallen apart. Some sections of the cities are flooded after sliding into the oceans, others covered and overtaken by the growing deserts, each explored location only showed signs of decay and ruin of centuries. Based on scientific geological research it is estimated that whatever occurred on this planet to eradicate all life happened over 3 millennia ago. There is an obvious point in the geological record in which the nutrient rich soil caused by the remains of vegetation was quickly replaced by layers upon layers of sand. The instantaneous speed at which it occurred disproves many theories of natural disaster or climate effects and there is no indication that anything other than biological material was effected, no scarring on any buildings or structures, no signs of irradiation*. It’s as if the planetary evolution of this solar body was seemingly reset to before carbon and hydrogen atoms began to form the first signs of basic life.

- Image taken from research team during first landing -
Here, have an Easter egg​

-SPECIES HISTORY-
The inhabitant species; the few records actually discovered and translated disclose them as the Bolcha**; were clearly advanced given that the cities they built are constructed of a highly durable material which allowed the structures to survive even after thousands of years of degradation with many skyscrapers still standing. They also began colonies on other planetary and satellite bodies in the solar system, though these outposts were not fully self-sufficient yet or had any signs of a developed FTL travel. The Bolcha physiologically were an avian species, standing on average at 7 feet with long double jointed knees and a short beak. The massive cities they lived in pertained to the avian species having a flock mentality, though any hypothesis of the Bolcha culture is difficult to prove and ultimately an exercise in futility as any surviving documents are not enough to establish a working theory. Only barely legible murals and sculptures of robed figures remain on the planet to give any visible idea of their society. More importantly, what brief records that have been uncovered and translated from the outer colonies speak of no impending catastrophe or celestial events, it’s as if this biological destroying phenomenon was both unpredicted and instantaneous. However it’s known that the effect of this disaster was only on the planetary scale.

- Image of city street in what is estimated to the industrial sector of the area -​

Studies into the ancient colonies on some of the other planets and moons in the system show that they were active beyond the point of annihilation. Information gathered from data vaults speak of a mass panic spreading among the colonies after contact was lost with their home world. The annihilation event sent a cascading collapse of all colonies due to their reliance on supplies shipped from their home planet but some unknown individuals still had the time to build protected data vaults before the final days of their species which form the only recorded information from the Bolcha. Sadly, the records hold no knowledge regarding the cause or source of what destroyed them, focusing only on personal records of the briefly surviving colonists and a general history of their species. There are accounts of some of the colonists heading back to their world on whatever ships were available only for them to discover the barren place that remained and who would not last any longer than their counterparts on the colonies. There was nothing left to keep them alive past a short period of time beyond the destruction of their world, trapped within the system with no FTL and no other planet able to support life.

- Image of derelict colony on secondary planet of the system where the data vaults were found. Image taken by a researcher as supplies were being sent down from orbiting vessel -
​

-SALDAURA PHENOMENON-
Nowadays, Saldaura is still left abandoned, avoided by most space faring species but for small groups of research teams, scavengers and relic hunters who occasionally form expeditions for a worthy treasure or any clue to what happened here. Some trade routes that pass by the sector make an effort to give the solar system itself a wide berth, believing that the cause of the annihilation phenomenon might still be lingering somewhere. Even amongst the most skeptical crew a deep level of superstition surrounds the planet, particularly from those who step foot in the abandoned cities. Its eerie silence and lifeless, sterile atmosphere invokes a level of paranoia into those who linger near its vacant colossal structures and dead landscape for too long. This phenomenon, the Saldaura effect, which has been named after the planet, refers to the multiple cases of mass paranoia, feelings of isolation and other psychological effects that affected the research teams as they investigated the planet. Individuals reported at times they could hear the sounds of busy streets, listen to footsteps while investigating abandoned locations or find other members of their team staring blankly over the empty city skyline until being roused by other researchers. The ruined planet has no known permanent sites that have been established due to the uneasy quiet and psychological effects, condemning it to remain lifeless as not even pirates and outlaws use the planet or it's derelict colonies as a haven.

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Foot Note:​

* If the planet was hit by waves of radiation it would have had a half life and rate of decay shorter than any radioactive particles known to galactic knowledge.
** The records discovered were from off-world colonies, protected within data vaults built to survive multiple millennia.

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PLANET - JULIANA'S REPRIEVE - THE FROZEN JUNGLE WORLD

- Satellite image of Juliana's Reprieve -
Here, have an Easter egg​

-PLANET ECOLOGY-
Juliana's Reprieve is a cold place covered in thick sheets of ice and snow where the temperatures never reach above freezing for a better part of the planetary orbit at the equator. What makes this planet stand apart from the numerous other frozen solar bodies that inhabit the galaxy is the hardy, cold-adapted vegetation that covers the surface of Jule’s Reprieve, still able to survive in the freezing temperatures through internal thermal generation, incredible insulation, and highly efficient solar collection during the non-hibernation seasons. All of the plant life on the planet have evolved some form of technique to survive the inhospitable surface with species burrowing their roots deep beneath the surface, feeding off the thermal energy of underground heat vents. Many varieties of flora spend the coldest times of year hibernating, closing themselves in to better insulate from the dangerous temperatures.

- Image of vegetation in hibernation during a blizzard -​

This unique form of flora has led to all forms of life to evolve and thrive, surviving within the dense jungles that inhabit the less frigid areas of the planet. The presence of the dense flora has also created a breathable atmosphere and their own warm spots on the surface which helps the entirety of the biomes to survive, creating better environments for even more creatures to evolve and survive. Over many millennia, more complex organisms now live on the frozen surface, which would have remained uninhabited on other worlds if not for the unique flora that forms the basis of the planet’s ecosystems. In the jungles and forests entire colonies of small fauna burrow into the larger plants to hibernate, living and nesting within the plants themselves when they are unable to withstand the surface temperatures.

- Simulation of a variety of the plant life found on Juliana's Reprieve -​

The surface of the planet is able to flourish with life mainly due to the heavy geothermal activity across the planet, which has caused massively complex cave systems and underground landscapes to form and supply minerals and nutrients to the surface through geysers and naturally formed heat vents. It is believed that these caverns are the origin of life on Jule’s Reprieve where just as many species of plant and animal still exist within the cave systems, digging through and traversing the labyrinthian caverns. Through research it is hypothesized that the first forms of flora to grow upon the surface sprouted forth from the cavern walls and finally breached the surface where over centuries some flora developed means to grow and survive without relying on a connection to the geothermal energy of the cave systems.

- Image of human facility in geothermal cave system -
​

-PLANET STATUS-
Jule’s Reprieve has no sentient species amongst its variable and versatile ecology, however many space faring races have an interest in the plants and ecosystem of Reprieve for their own purposes. The planet is under the control of the human federation who have multiple colonies and research bases established on the planet, often experimenting with transplanting the vegetation of Reprieve to other harsh frozen planets to help colonize them. Multiple of the federation’s outposts and colonies are both above and below the planet’s surface to use the natural geothermal energy to heat the complexes they built.

- Image of federation space port near planetary equator -​

While initially only categorized under a serial codename, Jule’s Reprieve eventually gained its proper name from an early expedition vessel that crashed upon the surface. While crash landing upon a frozen world is usually a death sentence for any unfortunate individuals, the crew of the Juliana were able to survive due to the shelter and warm pocket that the jungle they crashed in provided from the cold temperatures. Even through the terrible storms that cut across the planet’s surface the Juliana's crew were able to utilize the thermal insulation of the surrounding plants to keep themselves warm long enough to fix their comms and wait until rescue could arrive, providing the planet with a proper name and the discovery of it's unique flora.

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PLANET - WOXON - COLLECTORATE HOMEWORLD - THE PRIME ARCHIVE

- Orbital image of Woxon, highlighting the direct datapaths that crisscross the planet between major cities and spaceports to share analog and digital information quickly amongst their archives -​

-PLANET GEOGRAPHY-
Woxon is the homeworld of the Xallwin, a highly advanced reptilian species who hoard knowledge and information, known colloquially as 'collectors'. Their planet is a temperate climate with heavy cloud cover, dotted with multiple oceans that leave large swaths of tropical islands and swampy low land continents where the Xallwin initially resided and flourished. The advanced race have since largely terraformed the planet over centuries to maximize their effective use of the land, producing nutrient rich foods and quality goods. Scattered across the planet are the massive megacities where the majority of the Xallwin populations reside, working diligently to maintain and pour over the information they have accumulated from across the galaxy. Surprisingly the Xallwin capital itself holds fewer residents than other major cities on the planet, most of it's area used for the gargantuan quantum servers and libraries that the Collectorate hold in reverence, every aspect of the city made to maintain the library and the information it holds.

The Xallwin homeworld and other colonized planets have gained the nickname of archive worlds, consisting of gargantuan quantum computing servers, libraries and advanced forms of instantaneous communication to hold and transfer all the information they collect amongst themselves. Most aspects of the Xallwin society are centered around the collection of information to an almost fanatical degree.

- Image of Xallwin capital city on Woxon -
​

-XALLWIN TRAITS-
The collectors themselves are a stout reptilian species that stand a couple of feet shorter than the average human, with long snouts and brightly coloured scales. The hue of their scales has since lost its natural tones as the Xallwin have turned to altering the colouring of their scales for decorative and cultural purposes. The Xallwin society is comprised of numerous clans who each hold different ideologies that a Xallwin will devote themselves to at a certain age. However at some unknown time in the species history, the clan of the collectors gained immense influence and became the leading ideology of the now commonly known Collectorate. They gather information almost religiously, believing that in the searching and gathering of knowledge they will come to learn what they refer to as the 'ultimate truth'.

The Collectorate gathers any and all knowledge they can get their hands on, found to even dive into the culture practices and entertainment media of other species, always on the search for new information and knowledge in any form. The have gathered specimens of species from all over the galaxy to put into reserves and zoos, archiving every piece of art, culture and media they come across and hoarding the information for their own purposes. Their mission has served them well, as the Collectorate is known to utilize some of the most advanced and sophisticated technology in the known galaxy, rarely sharing their highly sought after discoveries with those who would want access to their archives, creating a large market for knowledge to be traded.

- Image of Xillwan archive database, one such massive chamber of many that are maintained by drones on the collector's planets and stations -
Here, have an Easter egg​

-COLLECTORATE INFLUENCE-
While the Xallwin are stingy with the knowledge they have gathered, they are still known to trade schematics and technology for rare and interesting information when they deem it sufficient. Almost every galactic power wants some form of rare technology from the collectors and willingly trades information and advanced research to the Collectorate for access to part of their wealth of knowledge. The human Emperium, for one, learned numerous terraforming techniques from the Collectorate, trading for them all known scientific research humanity had possessed at the time*. While a heavy cost, it allowed the Emperium to spread their control over numerous planets in the sector. Other races, like the Kolesh, eagerly trade for new genetic material the Collectorate has found from their most recent expeditions to undiscovered galactic sectors.

The presence of the Collectorate has created a massive industry of information gathering. Many freelance ships from numerous races work to gather rare and unusual things for the Collectors from artifacts to scans of spatial phenomena, who often pay handsomely for the new data and knowledge. There is an entire galactic industry around the cataloging and retrieval of newly discovered species financed by the collectors. The powerful collectors have stations scattered across the known galaxy to gather information and send back to their archive worlds for cataloging, most species eagerly allow for a Collector station to be commissioned within their space due to the huge gains they often get from having the massive information hubs nearby.

-Xallwin Collector station Lagrade, a major trade and information port located near Human Empirium space-
Here, have an Easter egg
-----------------------
Footnote:​

* It is unknown what specific information the Collectorate gathered from the Human Empirium's research that they deemed sufficient to grant the terraforming techniques, and it will most likely never be known as the Xallwin were uninterested in enlightening the Emperium of that information.

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PLANET - HURSAL - THE DEEP FOREST WORLD

- Satellite image of Hursal -​

-PLANET GEOGRAPHY-
Hursal is a lush temperate forest planet located just outside human Imperium controlled space. It's most iconic characteristic is the dense forest that covers nearly the entire planet's surface; factoring out the planet's poles and seas. Because of the dense vegetation covering the actual geography of the planet, the terrain is not well known. Any terrain from mountains to lakes have been overtaken by one form of flora or another with only the highest peaks or largest lakes able to be seen reaching out from beneath the coverage of dense forests. A Heavy moisture content in the atmosphere has created a very misty and overcast weather system across the planet as it dispenses fresh supplies of water to the plant life. Most flora has evolved to live in dim lighting conditions due to the often cloudy weather as well as living beneath the canopy of the more massive trees that consume most of the direct sunlight, only a few rays of light making it through their thick branches to the layers of forest below.

- Image of research team approached by Hursal fauna in the first layer of a forest -​

The planet is home to the highest density of biomass in the explored galaxy, with deep jungles, tall forests and thick swamps. Numerous lakes have been overtaken by mangrove-like forests, their trunks sinking deep into the water. In some cases the water forests have been found to stretch a few kilometers off the coasts of the landmasses in the flora's efforts to encompass the entire planet. Exploring the planet is difficult to achieve given the few locations to actually land a shuttle safely. The best approach taken by research teams is to set down on an lake and approach the forests through the water trees, weaving between the trunks and roots before they can make land. Hursal is still home to a few settlements however, mostly research outposts and a few prospectors in search of mining locations; no easy feat due to one of Hursal's most unique characteristics.

- Image of Hursal Mangrove-like forest -
​

-PLANET ECOLOGY-
Tree life on Hursal is in constant battle for sunlight. Many species of flora became parasitic, growing over other vegetation to choke them out or climbing their limbs to reach the canopy and leech off their parasitic hosts. This cycle of growth has caused the major species of trees to grow in layers on Hursal, a manner in which the canopy of older trees are taken over by newer vegetation that begin to grow densely and forms a base for new trees to use as a foundation for their roots. Then they mature and form a new canopy that is able to absorb the majority of sunlight before a new layer begins to develop and the cycle continues. With each cycle of growth it causes platforms of land to form where the mixing of canopy and root systems has occurred, creating dense patches where dirt and land is created for more vegetation and fauna to live.

These platforms can stretch for kilometers and build atop one another to create numerous layers of life. As many as 8 layers of land built on top of each other have been discovered in the denser parts of the planet's forests where numerous species of flora and fauna live, and there is no reason to assume there might not be deeper sections somewhere else on the planet. This cycle only exaggerates the problem with trying to distinguish the terrain beneath the trees as it begins to become impossible to tell with scans how many layers of plant life has grown atop each other. Someone can travel hundreds of meters down into the deeper sections of the jungles before they would even reach the true ground of the planet.

- Image taken by research team in the second layer of a forest, displaying the roof that has grown above. -​

The lowest layers of the jungles are ancient, having grown and matured centuries before. Since then the trunks have fossilized into pillars supporting all the layers above. With the amount of debris and dirt held above, the lower levels of the jungles are nearly undistinguishable from massive caverns where rivers still run through to hidden lakes or the seas of Hursal. Near the bottom of multi layered regions where no direct light reaches the bottom, greener vegetation is replaced by moss and fungi feeding off of the humid environments and whatever debris falls that far below. Weak areas of lower levels are not always able to support the ever growing mass above them which causes catastrophic collapses to occur. Huge holes form where entire sections of forests collapse and cave in upon itself to the planet's surface deep below, restarting the centuries long process over again for new trees to sprout from the debris pile.

The animal life of Hursal is just as varying as the flora in which they reside. At the top layers many avian species have developed, living in the highest branches and taking to the air. Land animals live on the numerous layers below, many of them good climbers so they can ascend or descend to the layers above or below for better hunting. Many different species are found on each layer of jungles, growing only more alien the deeper one travels within the forest. At least 6 layers down where sunlight stops being able to reach one will find more strange creatures, the animals growing pale and blind where light is unnatural to them, thriving off of the massive fungus and moss that grows in the deeper sections. Even more unique to Hursal, some species of mobile flora have been found. Most are slow moving carnivorous flora that feed off of whatever they can catch, setting pheromone traps or other methods to lure in prey.

- Sketch made by a researcher in the lowest section of a jungle, the old trees now fossilized into position -

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PLANET - CYGIS 01- CRYSTAL FABRICATION WORLD - CRYTHEREAL CONTACT LOCATION

- Orbiting image of Cygis 01 -​

-PLANET GEOGRAPHY AND FIRST CONTACT-
Cygis 01 is a barren primordial world orbiting the star Cygis on the edge of Emperium territory. The planet itself is a nondescript and uninhabitable, where rivers of lava streak across the surface and has high volcanic activity. It orbits closely to the Cygis stars, it's common features and minimal importance to Emperium control leading to it only being referred to by it's designated planetary code. The only defining characteristics of the planet is as the point of first contact for the Crythereal species and it's temporary purpose as a crystal fabrication planet for the mysterious entities.

The Crythereals were first discovered 75 years ago on a tangential course through human Empirium space in the Cygis System, where a fleet of solid crystalline spacecrafts entered orbit and began construction of massive crystal fields on the planet surface. Contact was difficult, and the peculiar species had little interest in any interactions with carbon based lifeforms, preferring to keep to themselves with no awareness or possibly no concern that they were within Emperium controlled space.

The few contact efforts which were made found the species have little to no methods of coherent communication, the only way they seemed able to express themselves to humanity was by briefly manipulating the emotional states of those they encountered into strange patterns with an unknown method. Most volunteers would become delirious or unstable for a period of time, altering their emotional state in wildly rapid pattern, yet who would return to normal after a short period of time out of contact with the Crythereal. Participants recalled feeling a wide range of emotions in short time frames, and were sometimes able to decipher a general want and need of the alien communicator based on how they were forced to feel and connected with the being. A basis of communicating might have eventually been formed if the research wasn’t scrapped and the Empirium dictated that it was best to leave the species be once they began to leave human space after a few months on Cygis 01 due to their substantial technology advancement and unpredictable nature. Efforts from other research teams are still ongoing to properly communicate but at a much slower pace without the Emperium's backing, who have diverted most of their interest of the species to examining the abandoned colonies and the remains of harvested crystal farms on the barren world of Cygis 01, which left more potential technological research.

Since then, more Crythereal crystalline fleets have been spotted in the sector from somewhere along the edge of the galaxy. The major groups travel gradually towards the galactic center, following the spiraling arm of the galaxy with numerous detours and unpredictable stops. Their motives and origins still unknown today, though some theories suggest that the Crythreal originated in a distant and dense nebula along the galactic rim.


-SPECIES DESCRIPTION-
While the Crythereal species was first identified as crystalline and is still referred to as by some, it is in fact a misnomer. The species themselves are in fact energy-based with no physical state and use the crystal vessels to house their non physical forms much like a vehicle or environmental suit. They are able to leave and move about outside their crystalline constructs but with difficulty and no method of interacting with physical things. This was first discovered when crystalline figures; commonly referred to as golems; were found stationary and inactive until the resonating energy fields of Crythereals housed themselves within, causing an internal glow to be seen from inside the normally dull crystal formation. The crystalline golems that they pilot serves the purpose of interacting with the physical world, taking on unique designs with few common traits among each one, in some cases taking on the form of other species while others are basic geometric crystal shapes with no recognizable basis for their aesthetic design. It has been observed that Crythereals hold a preference to their own personal vessel based on the unique energy readings housed inside the golems and a distinguishable hue each energy being gives off while in the crystal formations, indicating some sense of individuality amongst the energy beings.

- Collection of images showcasing the varying designs of some crystalline golems. -
​

Having no physical form, the Crythereals have little attachment or connection to any specific location and are constantly on the move, their colonies on barren worlds usually only remaining for a couple decades at most to grow new crystal vessels and collect energy into their crystalline generator farms before moving on to somewhere else. The planets they temporarily occupy are hot, barren worlds which match the requirements for them to easily synthesize the crystals used for their technology and golems. Alternately they have also been known to linger within nebulas and spatial ion storms where they can move about easily without their crystalline vessels.

- image of Crythereal crystal farm-
​

-TRAITS AND TECHNOLOGY-
Crythereals are able to construct highly complex formations with their synthesized crystal farms, creating intricate energy weapons, spacecrafts and shield generators that resonate with their own energy to form powerful effects. This makes the remnants of their abandoned colonies highly prized by other species who look to research the advanced crystal formations left behind, even as the remains are deemed unimportant by the Crythereals themselves.

From observation and the minimal contact made, it is unknown if the energy based entities are a collective consciousness or an individualistic species based on the many contrasting characteristics seen. Trying to understand the social characteristics or hierarchy of the Crythereals is nearly impossible as there is no basis to compare their behaviour off of, and even the gathered information is contradicted by other evidence. As they travel together in large fleets, each ship, golem and planet colony taking a unique form of their own liking and specifications. There are also numerous cases however of multiple beings who will all combine into one crystal spacecraft and their energy will coalesce into a singular energy resonance, and yet later separate back into individual energy readings when piloting a golem to traverse the physical location of a planet. This creates a strange hybrid between a collectiveness and individuality as far as the current understanding of their species is.

-image of a Crythereal spacecraft-​

As the fleets have slowly progressed through the galactic sector, some small bands break away from major forces to start their own smaller groups with separate paths. Others groups that have broken off from major Crythereal fleets have even halted their gradual trip along the milky way’s galactic arm all together, housing themselves on planets or nebulas of their choosing. Even decades after the first fleets began passing beyond the galactic sector of known Emperium space, splinter groups that separated from the main Crythereal fleets are still able to be found wandering the territories of numerous empires. Their own enigmatic motives separate from the major crystal fleets that still progress onwards to the galactic center.

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ANOMOLY - GOLIATH ENTITY- LVING WORLD

Orbital image of the Goliath entity
Here, have an Easter egg​

-'PLANET' GEOGRAPHY-
While not actually large enough to be considered on scale with a planet, this satellite sized solar object is in fact a massive living creature which was found orbiting a gas giant and residing in the planet's orbital rings. The Goliath, as it has been termed, sustains itself off of the materials and gas clouds that circle the planet and it's many moons. The Goliath has not reacted to the presence of small crafts in the area to many crew's relief, most manmade vessels too small to even be noticed by the creature's sensory organs.

The gargantuan alien has a body made up of one massive core with multiple appendages that it unfurls from its many humongous maws to collect material by using it's appendages like a giant screen and then slowly drag back in to consume. The Goliath will go into a dormant state after feeding, conserving it's energy as much as possible. The creature propels itself through the void with a yet unknown form of movement, researchers only able to make estimates based on observing other space bound species such as the void whale*. The first theory of movement that cropped up assumed the creature would expel gas to push forward, but was quickly discredited when the Goliath's expulsions were studied and found to not be enough to result in the creatures change in speed through the years of study. It is more commonly believed now that the creature utilizes some manner of solar propulsion like a solar sail or uses a quantum effect that allows it to manipulate gravitational waves around it. Though none of these can be proved without a deeper understanding of the creatures biology.

Orbital image of the Goliath entity during one of it's feeding phases​

-'PLANET' ECOLOGY-
The Goliath's surface is home to many macroscopic bacteria and organisms that traverse it's body. These symbiotic creatures usually range in the size of animals and act in the same manner and with the same purpose that microscopic organisms and bacteria act in the human body. Creatures range from large blobs of cells to fully evolved animals that perform multiple functions while living on the surface of the Goliath.

While not recommended for safety reasons, some species interested in research have built temporary outposts on the Goliath's body during dormant phases. They traverse this dangerous location to harvest samples of the creature’s flesh, collect the rare gases expelled from its body or to conduct other research on the massive being. Setting foot on it is extremely dangerous as everything from the "vegetation" to the ground itself can react to one's presence in any number of ways, tendrils and fleshy appendages ready to reach out and grab hold of passersbyers or collapse beneath them into passageways that lead deep within the Goliath. Most exploration is done with drones, multiple being sent within orifices of the giant alien entity to delve within the creature, finding large cavernous openings filled with bile or other biological matter.

Terrestrial image of the Goliath entity taken by a drone
Here, have an Easter egg​

-GALACTIC IMPACT-
Terrestial scans of the Goliath are unreliable, unable to penetrate the tough surface or not precise enough to diversify the biological material founs from the readings, meaning most research is forced to be done with physical samples from the Goliath. Based on observation the entity seems to have intelligence on par with most sentient animals, researchers waiting to develop a proper brain scan before they can further estimate it's intellect. Based on cell samples, some research points to the creature being ancient, having been living around the gas giant for multiple millenia. Even more intriguing or possibly concerning is to the fact that the organism might still be developing and growing. Into what is unknown and it is impossible to guess what time frame the creature will reach its maximum size due to it's unique alien biology, though estimates put it at hundreds to hundreds of thousands of years.

Many believe the Goliath is still in a pupal or larval stage of it’s life, and there is no way to know what it will become or how advanced the Goliath will develop both intellectually or physically. Fragments have been observed breaking off the creature's exterior, adding to the rings of the gas giant and further developing the theory that the Goliath is still growing. Scans and samples from the fragments have similar physical characteristics to an egg shell or molted skin.

orbital image of the Goliath entity taken during one of it's molting phases​

No one knows it's true origin, but most believe the Goliath's last stage of development will allow it to leave the gas giant like a nest and travel to other systems, most likely left here by an older version of it's species. Others have theorized the creation is some abandoned project of the Kolesh empire* who are active in the galactic sector that the leviathan creature is found. Those theories are unfounded however with most believing the creation is beyond even the Kolesh geneticists’ abilities. It is the only one of its kind found in the galaxy, many questions remain as to its origin, reproductive cycle, and other strange behaviours of its biology.

-----------------------
Footnote:
* See related material on the Kolesh Empire and their society
* See related material on the Void Whales and Kartarak Herders​

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PLANET - CENTRESS - ARKOSIAN HOMEWORLD

- Simulated image of the planet Centress from Arkolian description -​

- PLANET GEOGRAPHY -
Centress* is the home of the Zenophobic and intolerant Arkosian home world hive. The planet is a dry world, with wind swept deserts and large savannahs that span many continents. Most forms of life on the dry land developed underground, escaping the heat and arid environment to where water pools into aquafers and underground rivers that drain to the expansive oceans. Few significant mountain ranges on the planet leave little cover from the climate, further pushing all developing races underground.

- SPECIES HISTORY-
The Arkosian species are an insectoid race with hard chitinous shells and that evolved and developed underground in huge hive cities. They are strongly traditional and revel in their cultural ways, making them highly zenophobic to any species who don't follow similar ways of thinking. Originally, Centress was covered in hundreds of different quarrelling hives who functioned in hierarchies similarly to ants from Earth.

- Image of the Interior of Arkosian asteroid colony -​

The moment the Arkosian hives developed space travel they quickly created many colonies within asteroid belts and moons of their solar system. Specializing in carving out intricate cave systems the Arkosian found themselves right at home within the carved out asteroids, farming fungi and other unique techniques to contain a breathable atmosphere and create familiar environments for themselves. The insectoids spread across their solar system and soon to nearby sectors of space, able to easily colonize most locations due to their ability to convert any barren rock into a housing for an underground colony. Sensitive to light, the insectoid species has little interest in planets that don't have dense cave systems to hide within.

- Image of Arkosian asteroid facility found in Empirial space -​

The home world of the Arkosians and it's surrounding systems are now ruled by a single massive hive who have little interest in leaving their planet and surrounding systems, focusing their interests inwards on perfecting their society and avoiding any interactions with the rest of the galaxy. The Arkosian hives that have reached out and spread to multiple sectors of the galaxy are actually separate entities who fled from their home system when an ancient pack was broken and the current home world hive eradicated every other known colony. Over centuries, the technology and cultural differences of the two separate groups developed so differently that the space bound and home world hives could be classified as separate societies.

- Image of Arkosian fungal farm which produces colony oxygen -
Here, have an Easter egg​

- NOMAD HIVES -
The Nomad Arkosian hives are known in some cases to convert asteroids into makeshift space crafts, creating megastructures of metal mingling with hard stone walls. They tend to keep to themselves, hiding amongst numerous asteroid belts in solar systems which have caused some of the empire to nick name them "roaches" as entire colonies have been found inside systems controlled by other species unbeknownst to them. They have achieved this by specializing in advanced technology that allows them to hide themselves from sensors and other communications within the debris of asteroid belts, a survival tactic the space bound hives shared with each other to survive the ever constant hunt from their home world counterparts.

- Image of the Arkosian asteroid spacecraft -
Here, have an Easter egg​

Even now the space bound hives are still on the run. Often when a colony is discovered they will disperse somewhere else to avoid the knowledge of their location making it back to the home world hive. Their situation has caused unpredicted living standards in the nomad hives, where multiple hive queens live together in clans, forced to work together under the threat of the home world hive catching up to them. This has caused the nomadic insectoids to operate similar to pockets of individuals rather than the collective of the home world hive that spans across planets. Even though the Arkosians may sound simple, the few individuals who have been granted permission onto asteroid colonies for diplomatic purposes have reported magnificent structures and sophisticatedly efficient technology which rival even collector* technology in some aspects of their society and sciences. Little is actually known of the home world hive other than their unwavering naval strength and power, which allows the species to keep their worlds in check and prevent even highly advanced galactic species from wanting to interfere with the insect’s territory without recourse.

-----------------------
Footnote:
* No species is permitted within Arkosian controlled space; which has been marked on all galactic maps as a quarantined zone; so all information is second hand information from Arkosian nomads.
* See link for the Collectorate and their archive worlds.​

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PLANET - FARSAKUR - NUKLURU' HOMEWORLD

Here, have an Easter egg​

- PLANET GEOGRAPHY -
Farsakur is a damp, temperate world of numerous low lands and marshy islands. The planet is more hilly than mountainous, many of it’s biomes dotted with large shallow lakes and swamps which hold rich biodiversity. Vegetative forests and grasslands give way to large tundra towards the poles where harsh winds whip across the terrain. Most fauna is found near the equator, where many species are amphibious in nature to counteract the shifting terrain which is prone to floods. Giant lily pad-like flora form floating islands on the planet’s swampy lakes and oceans which serve as a foundation to their own ecology growing upon them.

- SPECIES BIOLOGY -
Farsakur is home to the Nukluru’, an amphibian species who evolved on the planet as the dominant species. The web footed Nukluru’ look vastly different depending on their sex, males distinctly smaller with more vibrant skin tones and travel on their front hands like quadrupedal creatures compared to female bipedal Nukluru’. The glossy skinned amphibians are a pack species, a dominant female often leading multiple others who each have many male partners. Male Nukluru’, while still sapient, have a noticeable difference in brain development, initially used like beasts of burden by their counterparts.

Nukluru’ lived in the many swamps of their home world before they developed a society that saw them prosper into a space aged civilization. On a galactic scale, the Nukluru’ are a rather inconsequential species, only large enough to have colonized a few systems of grassy or swampy planets that meet their needs. However, they are still influential and strong enough to remain independent among the many federations and empires that fill the galactic sector. There are many species much like the Nukluru’ who slip into the cracks of the diverse galaxy, however, they are well known for a splinter group of Nukluru’ who operate independently of their colonized worlds.

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FLEET - KARTARAK HERDERS - THE MOVING MARKET

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- FLEET DETAILS -
The Kartarak fleet is a collection of Nomadic Nukluru’ ships, still associated with and on good terms with the Nukluru' government but operating separately from the rest of their species. They follow the path of Astracetus, more commonly known as void whales*. While many nomadic fleets are often desperate refugees or rundown exiles of a species, the Kartarak fleet is a place of influence and trade. Their ships are well maintained while the fleet population live well due to the rare luxury goods they deal in. Void whales are an uncommon species and they are sought after by many pirates, researchers and rich species for the numerous commodities and materials that can be extracted from them.

- Image of an Astracetus -
​

The Kartarak fleet protects their herd of void whales, allowing them to flourish into a massive size while extracting rare materials from their remains and expulsions. The Nukluru’ are naturally skilled at animal husbandry and the Kartarak herd is the largest known herd of void whales in existence. The Kartarakuru’ are specialists in the behaviour and biology of the void species, their understanding of the whales physiology is only out classed by knowledge of their own. The whales will travel across the galactic sector between nebulas, gas giants and other feeding grounds to sustain themselves. The kartarak fleet usually only follows the massive creatures but have been known to influence their destinations and travel paths if they begin to linger into dangerous territories or the sectors of malicious species.

- Image of an Astracetus flanked by Kartarak ships -
Here, have an Easter egg​

Kartarak ships mimic the same FTL that the void whales have evolved to remain hidden in the pod. The method of travel is a rather slow form of subspace travel in which the creatures are able to slip in and out of between destinations. The fleet maintains a careful harvesting of void whales to keep the population steady, only going after old whales that are left behind by the rest of the herd. Each harvest of an aging void whale is enough to keep the fleet going for another ten years at least with luxury commodities and that is not counting the other goods the fleet extracts from a living void whale during their lifespan.

The resources allow The Kartarakuru’ to live decent lifestyles in their fleet ships, where they sell the raw material and process numerous goods out of them, with Male Nukluru’ doing much of the laborious tasks onboard. The commodities draw in a large market to the fleet which only helps to boost the fleet’s economy, leading it to be titled “The Moving Market” by many species. Nearly every citizen of the fleet works in some manner in relation to the protection, extraction or sale of the commodities acquired from the herd of void whales.

- Image of a Market on a Kartarak trade ship -

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Footnote:
* Astracetus are the second largest void species known, only rivalled by the Goliath Entity. ​

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PLANET - SULFEX - HAXOLO SINGERS HOMEWORLD - TECH WORLD

- Satellite image of Sulfex -​

- PLANET GEOGRAPHY -
Sulfex is a warm world full of seas and interconnected lakes. Much of the land is fed by rivers that connect bodies of water like a massive web. The planet's environments range from humid, marshy jungles to frozen ice sheets in the far north and south. Even from orbit it’s surface is noticeably covered in bright city lights that appear like slashes following the many rivers and massive canal systems that join together important bodies of water.

- SPECIES BIOLOGY -
The planet is inhabited by the Haxolo, a six limbed race of salamander-like reptilians with long frilled external gills that make them slightly resemble a large axolotl from Earth. Being semi-aquatic they spend plenty of time in water, using it in their leisure time when they aren’t on land. Haxolo are often very curious and technically inclined, using their multiple arms to work with advanced tools and technologies of their making.

- Image of Haxolo government office -
Here, have an Easter egg​

One of the key features of the amphibious species is that they have very precise auditory senses and complex vocal cords allowing them to communicate with a wide band of vocalization that often sounds akin to music. The slightest change in the tempo, pitch, or tone of their song can all have such large differences of meaning that it is difficult to decipher for any but other Haxolo. The aquatic nature of the salamander species has caused the formation of split dialects of Haxyul and Fevsyul or ‘Water speech’ and ‘air speech’ respectively, in which the process of their songs propagating through either liquid or air can change the meaning of their song. The binary languages are spoken by all Haxolo and some conversations can only be had in one environment or the other, else their true meaning is lost. Some of the frequencies that they communicate with are inaudible by other races but interspecies communication is still manageable, though most Haxolo find the act restrictive and difficult to express themselves with clarity.

- SOCIETY -
Haxolo individuals live within a technocratic society in which scientists and well educated philosophers make up the majority of government. All government bodies operate underneath an advanced AI called Soul, a complex processing intelligence stored within the capital. The government still functions as a democracy, but their primary political leader is the ever present Soul, who assesses the best course of action to produce the desired outcome of the votes and decisions of the rest of the governing body. The AI's policies are then enacted the government for the progress of the Haxolo species.

- Satellite image of Haxolo city -
Here, have an Easter egg​

Among the many other technologies of the technocratic society, one of the most foundational alongside Soul is the advanced network referred to as Harmony. It is an advanced information sharing network that forms a partial hivemind. Most citizens are connected to it by implants, linking them with the minds of multiple Haxolo and allowing them to mentally interact with the network and in some cases even connect with Soul. From Haxolo interviews It has been described as an ever present song humming in the back of their mind that they can harmonize with to connect with all the collective voices of their people.

While their technological advancements would often lead to a heavy influence of cybernetics like many other species of the galaxy have before, Haxolo’s relationship with water and moist environments has found few of them going through the process of cybernetic enhancements. Instead their entwined relationship with technology has taken on a different yet just as invasive path. Some Haxolo have digitized themselves to live and work within Harmony. These individuals are dubbed ‘Fevsolo’ and give up their former physical lives to live within the collective network of the species. Haxolo Starships are piloted by collections of Fevsolo, allowing the vessels to be manned by fewer individuals focusing on maintenance.

- Image of Haxolo colony and canal under construction -
​

Their Harmony is stretched across many worlds, joined together by subsystems of the Soul AI installation residing on Sulfex. Many believe the Haxolo are on the cusp of completely merging into a full collective consciousness if they continue to proceed down their path of technological integration. Though few can agree if it will be for good or bad.

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PLANET - OLPAR- COLL'DARRI HOMEWORLD

- Image of Olpar from orbit -
Here, have an Easter egg​

- PLANET GEOGRAPHY -
Olpar is a warm continental planet full of extremely flat regions of grasslands contrasted with numerous mountain ranges. The mountains feed the multitude of rivers that spread across the expansive prairies and savannahs across the planet, cutting canyons into the land and running out to the oceans. It is home to the Coll’darri, a mammalian species who hold some of the most intense and grandiose sporting events in the known galaxy. Coll’darri cities are filled with public spaces and massive coliseums to host the many competitions that the populations hold. The viewings and tourism of their events bring a large boost to their trade with their Eclusian* overlords.

- Image of Eclusian Trade station attached to Olpar space elevator - ​

- SPECIES BIOLOGY -
The Coll’darri are covered in short fur with long slick tails, their heads housing sharp teeth and pointed directional ears from years of evolutionary development for the predatory species. Their primitive tribalism coalesced in the deep investment they have in their respective teams and sports. They are a bipedal species who have an intrinsic competitive nature, always developing themselves to be the best in one skill or another. Personally, many Coll’darri are known for being socially intense, which can be quite off putting to some more meek species.

- COLL'DARRI SOCIETY -
Sports and competition make up a large portion of the everyday life of the Coll’darri. Competition is the life blood of many Coll’darri to the point that every industry has their own sponsored and endorsed games played by employees. From the smallest companies to the largest corporations, all play in their respective brackets against each other in one type of game or another. Transportation industries hold a multitude of races showcasing their newest equipment, while software companies compete to develop programs for set tasks. Even local communities will often hold competitions for skilled tradespeople to prove their worth in their field of expertise.

- Image of Coll'darri city celebrating recent sport competition -
Here, have an Easter egg​

The sportification of Coll’darri life has lead to unique societal factors in the regulation and transparency of companies, so that corporate statistics are available to the public to prove themselves as working within the rules of their trade. Even employees in varying fields have databases of information to house their stats and previous victories in whatever events they may have taken part in. This aspect of Coll’darri society has led to an entire industry of groups that organize and regulate industries and the events taken part in. In many cases these organizations are the most powerful collections of Coll’darri in their civilization. From actual sports to employment, leisure and even warfare, Coll’darri can be found competing with each other, an attribute which has been present in their society since even before the presence of the Eclusians.

- ECLUSIAN INFLUENCE AND HISTORY -
The Coll’darri were the first race to encounter the space faring Eclusians and develop a trade partnership with them. Nowadays the Coll’darri are the most prominent and loyal vassals of the Eclusiarch trade empire but it was not always so. As the Eclusians traded advanced technologies for resources from the Coll’darri, some of the mammalian species felt they were becoming too dependant on their trade partners. It led to a long period of strife on Olpar, as many conflicts were sparked between separatists, who wanted to lead themselves from the Eclusians trade stations and make their own way, and the loyalists, who saw prosperity brought to them under Eclusian rule and pushed to maintain that order. The loyalists eventually won out as Eclusians granted their first vassal further technologies and benefits that gathered support for the loyalist party. However the separatist party were not wrong to be wary, as the Eclusiarch empire’s gifts made the Coll’darri more dependent on their trade overlords and their technologies over time.

- Old Art piece of Coll'Darri civil war -
​

Generations since then the Coll’darri are now the right hand to the Eclusians trade empire, being granted multiple colonization rights to planets within Eclusiarch space. The Mammalian species are also the hammer of the Eclusians, armies and shock troopers transported and used in any situation deemed necessary to the Eclusians. No other vassal species in the trade empire have since been granted the same degree of benefits the Coll’darri achieved in the past.

-----------------------
Foot Notes:
* See related material on the Eclusiarch Trade Empire and their society.​

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PLANET - DUOTEMPUS- TERRAN IMPERIAL COLONY - TWO SEASONS WORLD

- Image of Duotempus during Starfall -
Here, have an Easter egg​

- PLANET GEOGRAPHY -
Duotempus is a temperate climate world on the rim of Terran empire controlled space with a variety of naturally versatile flora and fauna. Its surface has minimal tectonic plates, resulting in a reduced amount of mountainous areas and windswept regions of flat plains. It was colonized by the Terran Empire and required minimal Class-E non destructive terraforming to make the planet fully habitable for colonies while having minimal effect on the native life of Duotempus. This specifically included the addition of crops and animals native to human worlds for the new colonists. It has since become a highly industrialized world of the Empire Rim, low on agricultural products due to a unique phenomena of Duotempus.

- Image of Duotempus' capital colony Sighiem's industrial facility -​

The planet goes through two separate seasonal patterns that make its weather highly unpredictable for mass farming. As well as the regular cooling-warming periods that most colonized worlds go through based on the planet’s tilt and solar position, Duotempus has another cycle for a spatial event colloquially called Starfall that occurs on a nearly annual cycle and affects the planet’s climate.

- STARFALL DESCRIPTION -
During part of the year Duotempus moves through a condensed microcrystal field in the system that travels in an unusual solar orbit, and when it is intercepted by the planet, reacts with the atmosphere and causes material to rain down as particulate. The Starfall phenomenon is broken up into seasons of Cascade; as the planet passes through the crystal field and the strange material reacts with the atmosphere, forming bright patterns in the sky that linger in the air; Cluster; as the finally cooled materials collects together and falls to the surface like a powder similar to snow; Dispersion; as the clustered material eventually breaks apart and evaporates into the atmosphere forming cloud patterns, and Clarity as it breaks away from the planet’s atmosphere.

- Image of the sky on Duotempus during the Season of Cascade -
Here, have an Easter egg​

While Clarity is a calm period and the climate during this season is comparable to regular weather patterns on most Imperial occupied planets, each of the other seasons of the cycle affect the planet in different ways. Cascade brightens the sky for days on end, making it appear as daylight from the constant glow in the sky and reduces moisture in the atmosphere. Cluster carpets the ground in the fine sparkling particulate and is the period of time when many facilities gather and process the crystal material, as it’s more condensed and easier to collect than through space mining. The microcrystals have many uses in electronics and manufacturing, making them highly profitable for the colonists to set up large scale collector facilities across the planet. Finally, the cloud cover of the Dispersion season cools the planet, making for colder periods and causing higher precipitation.

- Image of colony processer collecting micro particulate in the crystal flats -
Here, have an Easter egg​

The micro crystals when settled on the surface take on a texture of dust, which while very profitable once processed and one of DuoTempus’ primary exports, cause many issues with machinery and colonist respiratory systems during the season of Cluster. The natural flora and fauna of the planet have developed unusual habits due to the binary manner of the changings seasons as Starfall does not occur in sequence with other weather patterns. If the normal planetary seasons occur during a single annual period of the planet, a full cycle of the starfall phenomena is completed in 0.87 of a Duotempus year, so the two cycles rarely sync up and Starfall progressively shifts throughout the years. A full measurable cycle of the two seasons occurs approximately once every 87 years when the weather and starfall seasons realign once more. To deal with the out of sequence phenomenon, Colonists keep track of the planetary weather and starfall collectively, meaning time of years on the planet are distinguished by a binary name - Cascade-Winter, Clarity-Summer, Cascade-Spring, Dispersion-Winter, etc for colonies in the temperate regions of Duotempus. As the Starfall seasons shift through the years the weather on the planet changes over time. Dispersion-Winters are unbearably cold with high precipitation, while other seasons like Cascade-Summers are periods of celebration and a common time for planetary tourists to visit Duotempus.

While difficult to explain well, most colonists use the analogy of an analog clock with two hands moving at slightly different speeds for the planetary seasons and Starfall seasons respectively, in which each quarter of the circle holds names for the pair of seasonal patterns.

- Image taken during Cluster-Winter, showing the shine in the snowfall from the crystals -
Here, have an Easter egg​

- CRYTHEREAL INFLUENCE -
Duotempus was also the site of another unusual phenomena decades before. Crythereals* had passed through the system and made one of the planet’s moons a temporary outpost on their ongoing journey to the center of the universe. The event was unusual as Crythereals most often occupy volatile planets perfect of crystal growths, far from any colonized worlds. It seemed however the ethereal beings could not pass up the chance to utilize the unique microcrystals of the Duotempus System Starfall for their own purposes. While the Crythereals eventually left, the abandoned crystal growths they often leave behind had patterns and powerful characteristics unlike any other construct of the mysterious beings.

-----------------------
Foot Notes:
* See related material on the Crythereals​

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PLANET - AETHER PRIMUS - GAS GIANT MINING WORLD

- Image of Aether Primus from orbit -
Here, have an Easter egg​

- PLANET HISTORY -
Aether Primus is a gas giant at the cross section of multiple empire’s controlled space. Its atmosphere is a thick mixture of gaseous elements that creates a naturally perfect combination for processing into fuel. This much sought after characteristic has made Aether Primus the center of many skirmishes and border conflicts between the terran empire and other powers of the galaxy through history. Presently the planet is under the control of the Collectorate, who decades past negotiated terms between each empire, granting partial access to the planet under their watchful management from the lunar stations orbiting the planet. The powerful Collectors have on many occasions stepped into smaller conflicts as a mediator as the skirmishes were interfering with the collectorate’s grand designs of galactic information gathering.

- Image of cargo vessels docking at Collectorate mining station -​

Aether Primus has also affected the galaxy in another point. The gas giant is the origin of the most common pest of spacecraft and stations. The Zenustra is an amorphous creature with pale wings of stretched flesh that squeezes itself into tight spaces and sustains itself on the fluids in the bowels of the ship’s engine and service corridors. Its shape allows it to maneuver well even in zero g environments, making it particularly difficult to wrangle. The Zenustra species was discovered on board a mining freighter only after the ship had already docked at a trade hub station, allowing multiple creatures and spawn to spread onwards to other stations and ships across systems, cementing its status as the galactic pest.

- Computer Scan of Zenustra pest -​

Here, have an Easter egg
- PLANET DESCRIPTION -
The Gas Giant’s atmosphere consists of multiple layers of flowing clouds of gas and most uniquely is the formation of giant floating islands of frozen hydrogen that float on the barrier between the lower atmospheres. Larger islands can be hundreds of kilometers wide formed from numerous islands that have collided and shifted together, though more often the lower atmosphere is scattered with uncountable shards of broken up islands. Surprisingly, in this harsh environment flora and airborne lifeforms have developed amongst the unconventional land formations. Many of the organisms of Aether Primus roost on the floating islands for short periods of time while spending most of their time and many planetary cycles hunting in the great expanse of the cloudy gases for nutrients and prey.

- Image of extraction plant on Aether Primus -​

Through a combination of seeds being spread by animals and the common occurrence of collisions and separation of islands, many have common ecosystems of the most resilient plant life. Every form of life is forced to be incredibly versatile in the harsh environment of Aether Primus, having at times to float between islands for months on end and needing to be able to survive the alternating temperatures as the land floats all across the planet between the equator and poles. Most danger is the intense storms that cut across Aether Primus. Massive mega hurricanes sweep across the planet constantly, always having to be avoided by industrial miners. These dangerous storms play an important role in the ecosystem as the largest airborne fauna follow behind the storms, feeding on the mixed gases that are stirred up from the lower, dense atmospheres. This also attracts many of the predatory lifeforms, turning the wake of the storms into massive feeding grounds for both aethervore and carnivore alike.

- Image of extraction platform moved out of Aether Primus storm from orbit -

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* See related info on the Collectorate empire
​

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PLANET - RILIS 4 - TOMB WORLD

- Satellite image of Rilis 4, noticeable asteroid belt formed around planet -​

- PLANET DESCRIPTION -
Rilis 4 is a continental planet with unremarkable barren landscapes covered in long winters due to heavy amounts of debris particles in the atmosphere. It once had a moderate climate filled by multiple unique biomes, which would have been appropriate for colonization by many of the known sentient species of the galaxy before it was reduced to the current state of decay. Ruined cities scatter the planet surface and the ecology has been reduced to only the most basic lifeforms and vegetation slowly reclaiming the dead world. It was originally mistaken for a lifeless world and categorized under the standard system’s solar name. But upon further scouting the planet was correctly categorized as a tomb world when the ruined architecture of the previous species and the still active residents were discovered.

- Image of first ruins discovered by research team on Rilis 4 -
​

- PLANET HISTORY -
Within the blasted out craters and ruined cities the planet was still occupied by simplistic warfare AIs and combat drones taking part in battle. Skirmishes between ancient robotic combatants continued to occur long after their original creators were gone. The opposing central AIs were still instructing the numerous combat drones under their control to the grinder of a front line. Any ground gained by either side was never held for long, as both armies would stop advancing once they reached a specific location of the battlefields and eventually be pushed back in an ever constant back and forth. Upon investigation into the last orders coded into the AIs, both were instructed to take and hold a specific location at the center of their front lines, never moving beyond the stated location once secured, always waiting for further orders until the strategic location is taken back by the opposing force.

It is assumed that the location must have held significant tactical or societal significance for both opposing factions to set it as a strategic marker. Scans of the contested region revealed the foundations of numerous large structures in the area, but they have been battered down to craters and debris fields from decades of combat. Whatever significance once held by the contested location has been blasted away to dust, never knowing what the AIs intend to claim even from records of their data cores. Other theories suggest the marked location was only the last stated front lines before the inevitable death of the planet’s species.

- Image of shutdown combat drone still posed for combat -​

The warfare AIs controlling the combat did show signs of adaptive behaviour over the decades. The drones and war machines discovered showed signs of alterations and jerry rigged constructions to replace the ever dwindling combatants. They might have originally relied on automated mines and processing facilities to replenish their forces, but as the processing machinery broke down or became the target of strategic strikes from the opposing AI, the most recent droids showed signs of being scrapped together from other destroyed machines, barely able to operate while still desperate to continue the battle. While the AIs were advanced enough to repair the available war machines with whatever failing equipment was available and develop alternate strategies of battle, they were unable to alter their base code of warfare and left to endlessly fight over blasted out craters and the dead world while waiting for new commands.

- Image of rudimentary combat drone made from jerry rigged parts -​

While the AI fighting was focused on one continental region, the rest of the planet is still scarred with massive craters and numerous biohazardous regions that wiped out the rest of the populations. Scans of the planet's asteroid ring indicate it used to be part of a single satellite body that used to orbit the planet, destroyed in the wide scale conflict that took place. The planet is constantly assaulted by meteors falling out of orbit, still scarred by aftereffects of the planetary conflict.

- CURRENT PLANET CONDITION -
Shortly after discovery by the known galaxy, the AIs were shut down by the Collectorate* after being observed for a few years of research. Estimates state the AIs would have continued the conflict for another couple centuries before running out of material or maintenance to continue the relentless fight while their cores were held within defended and well maintained bunkers. Little is know of the species who originated on the planet. Fossils and mummified remains from discovered shelters show them to be a reptilian species of some sort. Little cultural relics have been discovered in the decrepit ruins, and the AIs data cores held only tactical information. The planet has since been deemed a quarantine zone by the Collectorate until all potential dangers are removed and all knowledge has been processed for the Collectorate archive worlds.

In present times, Rilis 4 is a common place of scavengers to land, hoping to slip past the remaining Collectorate research forces to try and gather ancient technology and artifacts from the tomb world. Their intent to sell back to the archivists or eccentric collectors on the black market. No plan is in place for any species to colonize the planet given the state of its ravaged landscapes, numerous biohazardous regions and constant bombardment of meteors from orbit.

- Image of a continent covered in bomb craters which are slowly being reclaimed by vegetation -

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* See related info on the Collectorate empire​

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ANOMALY - CELIA SYSTEM - LOST JETTA STATION

- Satellite image of Jetta Station - ​

- DESCRIPTION -
The Jetta station is an old Terran Empire research station that had lost contact for centuries in the distant imperial system, Celia. After contact once again, the current citizens barely represent humans anymore after generations of bio enhancements and genetic experiments they forced upon themselves to survive their inhospitable environment. The station itself orbit’s the system’s sun on the border of an asteroid belt, distant from any planet. However, with no habitable planet in the system, its location was mute relative to the crew's survival. The Celia system only offered material resources from the barren and desolate worlds and other solar objects in the system.

- HISTORY -
The Jetta station was originally a biolab for the Terran Empire, accompanied in the distant Celia system by multiple mining colonies in the asteroid belt that relied on constant resupply from inner imperial systems to remain sustainable. Among many other systems on the outskirts of Imperial space, Celia lost contact with the rest of the empire during the ancient FTL crisis, before first contact with other species had been achieved. The horrific insurrection reprehensibly damaged the buoy network that FTL travel of the time relied on, causing a cascading series of failures that left all but the major imperial systems out of contact from each other. Only those systems with advanced communication systems were able to reestablish connections to the inner systems.

The FTL ships of the time had no methods of tracking current locations in hyperspace without external reference points, making their FTL systems unreliable and deeply dangerous to use without the buoy network. FTL technology had been sent back to the first days of colonization, while the inner systems were struggling to hold together. Warp points had to be created anew from multiple complex calculations and trial and error tests. Many outer colonies were left to fend for themselves for untold decades while the FTL network was slowly rebuilt. The colonies that survived had to become self reliant as the empire lost control and was thrown into an era of strife and conflict. For over a century relations were strained and fractured until the remaining terran planets rejoined together as a federation of independent systems, allowing for the necessary infrastructure of the interstellar power to be rebuilt. As communication was reestablished with the surviving independent systems, many of them had little interest in rejoining the empire that left their people stranded, and many more were lost to time after falling into ruin after the collapsed hyperspace lanes, bringing the effort to estasblish the new terran interstellar federation to a crawl. Since then, the buoy technology had been replaced by a more advanced and reliable method of FTL travel that allows for the ability of ships to track their own hyperspace location.

Celia is a uniquely distant system on the edge of the former empire’s border. The knowledge of the colony's location was also lost among the countless surveyed systems during the empire’s downfall and over the passage of time. Since the FTL collapse the residents of Jetta station, commonly referred to as Stationeers, had resorted to utilizing the genetic experiments being conducted in the system for their own needs. After organizing with the isolated mining colonies, the Jetta Stationeers used the available inner system ships to become self-sustaining. The Celia mining colonies supplied much needed resources while Jetta station’s advanced biological research allowed them to develop agricultural facilities and other necessary sectors of society, at a great sacrifice to themselves. The Stationeers eventually built more structures to spread across Celia, living on artificial gravity stations and the barren planets of the system for generations until being rediscovered by the federation exploratory fleets.

- Historical image of a breach being repaired on Jetta Station - ​

- CULTURE -
Stationeers were forced to undergo intensive biological mutations to deal with their hostile living conditions until eventually the genetic tampering became an ingrained part of their society. Each Stationeer is biologically enhanced at birth, their cells prepared for the multiple mutations they will endure throughout their life. While many begin life still looking human, Stationeers receive constant alterations to their body as they grow up, preparing them for specific tasks aboard the stations later in life. Some still resemble terran humans while others barely look humanoid. The most advanced bioengineered individuals are those designed to work in vacuum, their entire bodies conditioned to act like natural vacuum suits. With dense exoskeletons, eye lens, and additional lungs all enhanced to filter their bodies oxygen for hours on end without additional support. Other individuals are very thin and short, their bones flexible to allow them to squeeze and maneuver in tight spaces within the stations. Every Stationeer is born with a future vocation already in mind for them.

- Image of Stationeer bioengineered for surviving in vaccuum while she conducted routine maintenace -
Here, have an Easter egg, I need to fill the space​

However, the experimental use of bioengineering was not an easy path for the Stationeers and still had many disadvantages for the residents even when the process was stabilized. By making individuals more specialized to some tasks over others, they lost their versatility. The intensive genetic alterations has also shortened their life spans relative to terran due to the unstable and rushed processes their bioengineering was based on. Multiple of the station residents share only vague resemblances to each other, their necessary jobs shaping their forms into unique shapes. The stationeers use of bioenhancements has remained deeply ingrained in their way of life, even after the necessity for it had passed with the reestablished connection to the Federation. That still was not enough to remove the cultural impact their bioengineering had had after the centuries of use.

- SOCIETAL IMPACT OF RECONTACT -
The Jetta Stationeers still consider themselves separate from the Terran federation, their time of self-reliance and sustainable operations gave them little desire to become a permanent member of the Federation. The Celia system operates as an independent group, many not even considering themselves human anymore. That does not however mean the Jetta Stationeers are not cooperative. With the assistance of the federation and their massive library of techology the Stationeers have perfected their bioenhancements, minimizing the remaining genetic issues. Regaining FTL has also allowed the Jetta Stationeers to integrate and expand to more systems of the Federation, their technological developments quickly catching up to the rest of the Federation. The years of technology the stationeers had missed out on came rushing back into their systems causing a time of enlightenment and advancement for the Stationeers who had long relied on the outdated tech scavenged and meticulously maintained for generations, only able to develop new technology for themselves in a limited degree due to their focus on survival.

Presently, Stationeers can be found living and working within the Federation, often being contracted to work on projects in hard vaccuum or maintenance orbital installations due to their specializations. Some keep to their own colonies in their independent Celia system, though their numbers are starting to shrink as there has been a cultural push within their society to integrate back into the rest of humanity. Younger individuals who have not yet started the final irreversible processes of bio enhancements will leave their stations rather than committing to more rounds of the growth baths necessary to complete their transformations, seeing little need without the reliance Stationeers once had. These individuals who come to Federation space still standout amongst terran humans due to the intensive bioengineering committed during birth, but after their system was recontacted the necessity to resort to such measures have been drastically reduced, and less of them continue the full process each year.

The alterations of their body has socially shifted their perspective on their bodies. Even Stationeers living in Federation space consider their physical form as something not permanent, the station dwellers more likely to perform available genetic modification to themselves for cosmetic purposes that other terrans may find unappealing.

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* See related material on the FTL Catasrop#&%!---- sã [LINK CORRUPTED]​

> COMMUNICATION ENDED