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[WB] Sci-Fi in the Sol System

Alvis Alendran

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Okay, so if you talk to me with any kind of frequency, you know I've been building this. But I've never actually put any of it up for public viewing before. So I'm going to apologize in advance here, because this setting is a little...broken? Right now anyway. There's not a huge amount of cohesion in the timeline in a lot of different ways, or at least not with huge degrees of detail. It's mostly just setting up the various planet clusters with an overview of how life works on that place, as well as a bit of history. So, let's start with some tech...

More basic setting tech information is as follows:
Power generation is taken care of with widespread deployment of fusion power. Solar is still in use in some place where it is more opportune, like withint he inner system. The closer to the sun you get, the more effective solar becomes.

There is a kind of FTL travel, and that's done by catching a tachyon stream and sailing on. Literal sails are deployed, and the ship is placed under the effects of a tachyon field, removing the need for concerns such as time dilation, and also the vast strain the ship would be under. Deceleration is handled byt he destination typically, with a countering stream of tachyons hitting from the opposite side, slowing hte ship down. Sudden stops can be achieved with explosives charged with Tachyons, often disrupting hte tachyon field and bringing hte ship to a halt, or at least a massively lowered speed, manby times used in the form of mines by defensive forces to prevent enemy ships from approaching at FTL speeds.

Food is mainly taken care of through high efficiency Hydroponics and vat-grown meat. More traditionally raised or grown foods are considered luxury items.

Every citizen of a planetary cluster is provided with rations of hydroponics, meat, a space ot live and free access to local education. All free of charge. Employment is primarily a voluntary process, with working for cash a way to advance yourself, or at least let you upgrade your diet significantly.

Medical care is available, with emergency care freely given, as well as lower end cybernetics to replace missing limbs, or clone-grown replacements. Basic genetic therapy is also available to treat genetic illnesses, like diabetes. Alll of which is freely offered.

More advanced genetic therapy and cybernetics are available, typically at cost, sometimes very great cost, though the cost and quality of such varies from place to place, with Venus being one of the most advanced and proficient locations for both practical and cosmetic gene therapy.

Space Weapons Technology

Kinetic Cannons – The most basic and widely used weapon system for capital warships. At it's heart, a kinetic cannon uses coil gun technology, short barreled ones primarily used for broadsides weapons, allowing traversing turrets to engage other ships. The large spinal mounted cannons become more powerful rail guns, beginning to accelerate projectiles to more significant fractions of light speed, and delivering impacts of staggering power.

Lasers – Short ranged comparatively, due to diffraction effects, lasers are still in wide use. Nearly all point defence networks make use of lasers, the near instantaneous striking of each shot makes them devastating in this role. Sustained fire will eventually cause damage to the emitters, reducing range and accuracy until the emitters must be replaced or repaired. Most lasers function within the Red Light range, a reliable range of light that results in less wear on the emitters. While much more expensive, some emitters are built in the Ultraviolet range of light, which provides dramatically more range and power, but requires much more frequent maintenance. Exceedingly rare and expensive, and constructed almost exclusively in the Plutonian Cluster, there are a handful of X-ray based laser weapons produced, and these weapons are the very best of their class produced.

Plasma Cannons – Plasma weapons are a variation of kinetic cannons, using coil gun technology to accelerate a small magnetic field generator. These field contain a high pressure field of plasma. On impact with a solid target, the plasma comes into contact with the material and transfers all of it's accumulated energy into the target. Each shot must be prepared, the field generator is coated with materials that are rendered into plasma through powerful lasers. While powerful, this process does slow the overall rate of fire of the weapons.

Missiles – Smaller guided warheads that are mainly used by and against Short Ranged Craft. A dizzying array of these weapons exist, variables in range, power, and speed profiles are common, and a variety are carried depending on the required targets. Smaller capital ships and destroyers often carry bays of such weapons, intending to sweep swathes of the Short Range Craft from space. Countermeasures for these weapons are a mixed thing, offering a combination of thermal deflection and ECM emissions, while not completely effective they often give a chance for evasive maneuvering to be effective.

Rockets – Used exclusively by Short Ranged Craft, these unguided weapons are fired in swarms. Often too small to deliver much noticeable damage, they are nonetheless able to weaken armour for other strikes, and provide saturation fire against point defence networks.

Torpedoes – Built on the same principles as the smaller missiles, these weapons are built to damage capital ships. Though smaller in variety than missiles, there is still quite a variety of torpedoes in use. Often much heavier in armouring to help survive enemy point defense systems, these weapons carry a variety of payloads, from simple explosives, to atomics, all the way to fantastically expensive anti-matter weapons. Most capital ships carry a supply of these weapons, launching barrages of them to overwhelm point defence networks and deliver damage from unexpected angles.

Particle Beams – Rarer than other weapons, these beam cannons can be devastating, though many of them are rendered far less effective due to the magnetic shields on heavier craft. Many battleships mount several of these on turret mounts to deal with corvettes and frigates more effectively.


Infantry Equipment

Armour
Standard Body Armour – Well covered in ballistic plates made from a combination of ceramic and metallic plates backed with a flexible body of impact resistant materials, military body armour renders a soldier largely immune to civilian weapons. Basic suits still carry re-breathers to allow some resistance to gas hazards, and with the addition of a sealing helmet the armour can be sealed against vacuum environments. Magnetic boots allow passage along the exterior of most structures, as well as allowing limited movement along walls. More advanced models of armour are more resistant to incoming weapons fire, with more advanced protective materials being used, and often incorporating a suite of electronic tools into the helmet, allowing more intensive information to be acquired. Some few suits can also mount Electronic Warfare Suites, allowing them to attempt to interfere with enemy troops. Prohibitively expensive suits can be mounted with active camouflage systems, allowing them to be more effective as scouts and snipers.

Exoskeleton Frame – Combining normal body armour with a powered frame to augment the strength of a soldier is a tactic that dates back centuries. Often employed to bring heavier weapons to bear, these suits are frequently used as a stopgap measure between normal infantry and Powered Infantry. While they can bring far more firepower to bear, they lack much in the way of any additional resilience, as well as being limited in operational life by the need to carry battery units to keep the frame moving.

Exoskeletal Armour – The first class of Powered Infantry, these suits are very close in size to the wearer, adding only a few inches in each direction. Still, these few inches make a very great deal of difference. Armour strong enough to sustain far more punishment, even the most basic of suits still amplifies the strength of the wielder two to one. More advanced models carry onboard electronic suites suited for uplinks with satellite units and to share tactical telemetry with friendly units. Some may even mount on-board weapons, though these are typically limited in scope due to power or ammunition limitations.

Battle Amour – Considerably rarer than Exoskeletal Armour, but much larger, these suits typically add nearly a foot of size to their wearer, being as large as they can before they are considered piloted rather than worn. Amplifying the strength of the wielder by a factor of at least four, these suits create an Infantry soldier more on par with light vehicles. On-board electronics make soldiers like this an easy fit for command and control roles, while platoons of these troops can act as a mailed fist to smash aside opposition. Carrying heavy weapons that Standard Infantry would use as support weapons, they are a threat to nearly anything they face. Basic models still rely on battery power, these models are often limited in their ability to mount additional weapons and systems. More advanced models will mount small onboard generators, ranging from small 'micro-nuke- fission reactors, to portable fusion plants. It is these units that will typically carry several additional weapons system, such as shoulder or arm mounted lasers.

Titan Armour – More of a piloted craft than armour, these suits range between twelve and eighteen feet tall, and dwarf even many armoured vehicles. As it is a single pilot, and humanoid in shape, military organization place them with infantry. Even the most basic unit mounts an onboard fusion plant, providing ample power for the suit and all of the weapons and electronics they carry. Running on pure mechanical force, these suits are capable of flipping smaller tanks, and delivering punishing barrages of fire, while maintaining the mobility of a humanoid form. Titans are expensive and difficult to maintain, so it is rare to see more than a few within infantry companies. However, in large scale engagements, platoons, or even companies of these suits may take to the field in a concentrated wave of destruction.


Weapons Technology

Cannons – A catchall term for any weapons that still rely on some kind of chemical propellent, cannons are alive and well on the battlefields. Most use caseless rounds, providing greater ammunition capacity than might be expected, while there are still some rare cases where a casing is used for a particularly volatile propellant. Nearly all civilian weapons are cannons, with a very select few being energy weapons. Cannon weapons can be found in a staggering array of varieties, varying in rate of fire, size of projectile, and speed of each fired shot. Cannon weapons are readily available in nearly any place within the system, making resupply a simple matter.

Kinetic – Coil and Rail gun types of weapon, kinetic weapons are widespread throughout the system. Unaided troopers can typically only carry the lightest of these weapons due to their recoil force, but Powered Infantry make widespread use of them. There are a few more advanced coil weapons that require an external generator to run, but rather than firing a simple slug, they fire a hypervelocity lance of molten metal at their target. Expensive, difficult to maintain, and slower to fire, these weapons are still considered to be some of the most feared and effective kinetic weapons deployed.

Laser – The most common energy weapon to be deployed by infantry, lasers have been in use for centuries. Most are optimized within the Red Visible spectrum, keeping power and maintenance requirements low, though some are build on shorter wavelengths for more powerful beams and longer range.

Shardgun – These weapons uses Ablative Laser Propulsion to shoot streams of hardened glass or resin ‘needles’ with a terrific rate of fire. These shards tear into flesh and other soft substances with brutal effect, and can even slice through light armour with sufficient weight of fire. The weapon’s ammo is composed of solid blocks of such material, from which an internal laser grid cuts each individual needle at incredible speed as it is fired. Although preformed ammunition bricks are issued, most shardguns are also capable of creating fresh ammunition from any appropriate materials. The weapon hoppers contain a powerful furnace that will vitrify materials placed inside it over a set time period – the most favoured substance being common mineral sand.

Plasma – Plasma weapons are a variation of kinetic cannons, using coil gun technology to accelerate a small magnetic field generator. These field contain a high pressure field of plasma. On impact with a solid target, the plasma comes into contact with the material and transfers all of it's accumulated energy into the target. Each shot must be prepared, the field generator is coated with materials that are rendered into plasma through powerful lasers. While powerful, this process does slow the overall rate of fire of the weapons.

Grenades – Whether thrown or launched, the use of an explosive on the battlefield has not lessened. Infantry usually carry several grenades to battle, used in clearing rooms of opposition, dislodging entrenched foes, or damaging hardened targets. A wide variety of grenades are available for infantry, from simple fragmentation bombs, to concussion bombs, up to more exotic weapons such as small fusion grenades, there is a weapon suited to any situation.

Launched grenades are commonly seen as an additional add-on to other weapons in the form of an under-barrel attachment. In other cases the launchers may be stand alone units, drum or belt fed, and can often provide quite a weight of fire. Far more varied in types than thrown grenades, these weapons can be found in AP roles, as well as other classes as well, such as Squash Head rounds designed to attack armoured vehicles and buildings.

Rockets – Fulfilling the same role on the battlefield that they have for nearly a thousand years, rockets provide heavy firepower at range, allowing infantry to fight outside their weight class.

Missiles – Simply guided rockets, missiles are as common as their unguided partners, with some requiring a target to be spotted in advance, while others may simply have their target designated by the launcher, though these missiles may have to contend with enemy jamming.


Small Craft:
Interceptors – Smallest and fastest of the Short Range craft, these craft rely on maneuverability for survival, but carry fierce dedicated weapons. Typically mounting a pair of cannons of some type, and usually two to four hardpoint to mount missile based weapons for more extensive dogfighting capabilities. Laser, particle weapons and solid projectiles all have a place, with some planets and organizations showing a marked preference towards a specific style of weapon.

Fighter – The middle ground of Short Range craft, these ships are not as sprightly as interceptors, but come much more heavily armed and armoured. Fixed mounts for twinned cannons remain, but this is often supplemented with another pair of cannons, often of a differing type to the standard mount, providing greater breadth of options. Four to six hardpoints are in place, depending on manufacture and design, provide access to missile based weapons, and a small internal bay provides heavy munitions for attacking ships far in excess of their size.

Bombers – Among largest of the Short Range craft, these lack the ability to effectively engage other Short Range craft, relying on heavy ablative plating to allow them to force their way through screens and survive point defense systems. Eschewing normal cannons, they mount a pair of small turrets to ward off interceptors as best they can, but they tend to be small output weapons. Up to eight external hardpoints allow them to mount a variety of attack options, but their true strength is in the huge internal bays. A single bomber carries enough munitions to damage a ship, while a full squadron can lay waste to lighter ships in a single devastating barrage.

Gunships – The most massive of the Short Range Craft, the Gunship is large enough to require crew in addition to a pilot. Powerful engines and strategically placed thrusters allow the ship to move quickly and much more nimbly than it's size might suggest. Heavy cannons are mounted, typically a quartet of them, with many carrying extra mounts below the cockpit. A large turret mount adorns the aft of the craft, typically carrying two further cannons on par with the standard quartet, though it is frequently given a monstrously power laser emplacement for added firepower far outstripping the damage capabilities of other Short Range Craft. Up to a dozen external hardpoints are present, allowing a variety of options, from missiles designed for dogfighting purposes, to rocket pods allowing a weight of unguided fire to be deployed, or even stand alone cannon pods. The internal bays are large, though still only on par with that of a bomber, despite the craft being more than twice the size and mass. Gunships represent a significant investment, and are not typically seen in any but elite military groups, though some have managed to crop in particularly well equipped pirate gangs.


Capital Ships:
Corvettes – The smallest craft in military service that comes equipped with a Tachyon field generator and sails, the corvette represents the backbone of the patrol and picket fleet. Nimble for a capital ship, corvettes often a great deal of mass devoted to engines, giving them the greatest combat acceleration available. Firepower on these craft is limited in some scopes, but typically do carry enough weaponry to threaten much heavier ships, particularly when they operate in small groups. The design of a corvette varies wildly, with some of them mounting spinal mounted cannons for maximum firepower, others maximizing their acceleration and maneuvering capabilities to bring masses of short ranged weapons, like laser and plasma weaponry to bear. Nearly every design however mount several bays of torpedo and missile weapons, allowing the delivery of swarms of lower speed projectiles into the enemy ships, or a method of dealing with incoming Short Range Craft at distance.

Frigates – Command ships for many picket fleets, and often one of the principle ships that are deployed for recon and investigation missions, frigates are still a more nimble craft than most, but are outpaced by corvettes. They are the smallest ship that can comfortably carry a force of Short Range Craft. Weapons arrays are varied, but frigates are heavily armed for their size, though they lack the heavy plating of larger ships to survive sustained barrages.

Cruisers – The primary workhorse of the battle fleets of the various clusters. Cruisers are a large ship, well equipped with a variety of weapons, and layered in heavy armour, often supplemented with additional ablative plates over critical locations, and frequently sporting powerful magnetic fields as well to assist in deflecting particle beam weaponry. Most cruisers carry at least a squadron or two of Short Range Craft, providing them with either additional defences, or a swift attack force. Each ship has enough size that it can mount two to three heavy spinal mount cannons, providing massive firepower on target, as well as an array of weapons mounted along the broadsides and dorsal mount to provide less damaging but more easily brought to bear weapons. Several large bays usually mount heavy torpedo weapons, useful for engaging ships beyond accurate projectile weapon range, or assisting in overwhelming enemy point defense networks.

Destroyers – A cruiser weight class that sacrifices much of the defensive aspects of it's nature to mount huge quantities of missile and torpedo weapons, providing long range striking capability, and the missile support allow them to engage vast numbers of Short Range Craft. They lack spinal mounted weaponry, but do have more tightly packed point defense systems, allowing them to defend themselves as well as other ships from incoming torpedo and Craft.

Battlecruisers – A heavier design of warship, typically used as a command ship for smaller fleet engagements, sometimes simply as a heavier ship to push through enemy lines. Typically half again the size of a standard cruiser, these ships are more heavily defended, and often mount either additional spinal mounted weapons, or sometimes simply larger bore weapons. Additional space is made for more Short Range Craft, with rare occasions allowing the housing of Gunships.

Battleships – Command and control vessels, these ships also represent some of the most lethal warships deployed. Each of them run at least two kilometers in length, and all of them mount at least one heavy spinal mounted weapon, running the full length of the craft, allowing projectiles to be accelerated to tremendous speeds. Broadside, dorsal and ventral weapons allow them to engage entire squads of lighter ships such as cruisers, and they very frequently carry large numbers of Short Range Craft to support their operations. Armoured as heavily as possible, these ships can absorb a huge amount of abuse, often continuing the fight even after suffering multiple hull breaches. Each of these vessels represents a significant investment of resources, though each cluster maintains a considerable fleet of these ships.

Carriers – Simply put, these are large hulled vessels primarily devoted to bringing swarms of Short Range Craft to bear. Maintenance and repairs are possible on site, with some of the more advanced models of carrier capable of constructing new craft. Lacking spinal mounted weaponry, they still carry smaller cannons, mounted along the flanks of the ship, as well as vast point defense networks. Carriers typically are only deployed in larger fleets, but may sometimes act as a command vessel in smaller fleets requiring Short Range Craft support.

Dreadnaught – The largest mass produced warship in use by the various clusters, a dreadnaught is a huge ship, the smallest among it's class running six kilometers long, with some of the larger ones doubling that size. The spinal mounted weapons on a dreadnaught can inflict tremendous damage, with only the most advanced armour types capable of sustaining even a single hit from such a weapon, and even those cannot do so more than once. Smaller weapon mounts adorn the flanks of these warships, some of which carry as much power as the spinal mount on a cruiser. Many dreadnaughts can carry large numbers of Short Range Craft, as well as enormous quantities of torpedo bays. Most do not carry missile arrays for engaging Short Range Craft, but notably Dreadnaughts created by the Jovian Confederation do so, reducing their reliance on point defence and support from their own Craft.
 
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On to some planets!

Mercury

Population: 30,243,484,000,000
Total Population, Including Orbitals: 30,243,800,540,000
Government: Corporate Republic
Orbital Facilities: Orbital Ring, Space Elevators, Refuelling Station, Heavy Shipyards, Repair Facilities

Mercury represented one of the most challenging worlds to colonize. The intense heat was a punishing limit that proved difficult to overcome. Still, the concept of incredibly abundant solar energy and monstrously high densities of heavy metals were appealing targets. Technology that was in development for the Venusian surface proved to be the key to unlocking the world.

Still, the development was not without some limitation, and living space was located deep underground. As minerals were excavated en mass, the interior space was filled with rotating habitats. Mercury is nearly unique in that it lacks reliance on the gas giants for Helium 3, as it is almost entirely powered through solar. Even it's local defensive ships are instead powered through high density batteries instead of more traditional fusion ships, leaving them much lighter, and typically much more agile, though also with much shorter operational time.

Industrializing Mercury proved a challenge indeed, though it was made possible on a wide scale by liberal use of thermal superconductor technology, employing it on a vast scale, previously unheard of on other worlds. This enabled the world to throw open the full bounty of the sun. It took very little time to have vast amounts of power available, and research technology on mercury focused not on efficient solar panels, but on increasing the energy density of batteries. They unsurprisingly surpassed the capacity of other worlds, becoming the leading experts in the field. With such huge arrays of power available for nearly no real cost, Mercury is also the only world able to produce anti-matter on an industrial scale. Particle accelerators have been constructed on a massive scale, circling the planet at the equator, fed by the power harvested from the sun to produce the required antimatter for export and production. Thus, Mercury primarily exports energy to the other clusters in the system.

Heavy metals are extremely plentiful here, and they are processed on site in vast foundries, but there was no way to expand such industry quickly enough to compete with the output of mining operations. Thus, they also exported raw materials to other clusters, with Luna being a primary buyer of their wares. This has led to a careful interdependency between the two powers, as Luna would suffer greatly without the output of Mercury, but Mercury requires the constant influx of Lunar money to continue to maintain it's trade for things like water, seeing as what little could be found in the polar regions was used quickly.

The orbital Ring around Mercury is a marvel of heat direction, the entire vast construct lined with thermal superconductors, sending the heat to the regions shadowed by the planet, there it's dissipated through huge radiators. Engineers from Mercury are frequently employed on other worlds to assist in new designs where thermal distribution is a priority. While most rings are connected to the surface through simple cable cars or similar, such was considered too risky with the intense heat, therefore the ring is only connected to the surface at a few points through large space elevators. This has led to a larger than usual planetary infrastructure for transporting goods. Much of it is subterranean to protect it from heat, as tunnelling is still less costly than redirecting and dissipating the heat.

The governing power of Mercury is vested in the Hermes Industrial Union, who do provide an elected parliament to have citizens voice concerns, but they own the monopoly on nearly all things on Mercury. While early attempts at control of all properties backfired badly when cost-cutting led to poor living conditions and wages, but a mass exodus form the planet, leaving their facilities desperately understaffed. Since that point, HIU has offered high wages and better than average living conditions for all it's citizens, keeping them interested in continuing to work. The Parliament has little true power, it mainly exists to work as a filter, distilling issues that require addressing before sending these issues off to the Board of Directors, who have the final say on changes to the world. Thus the power for more than thirty trillion souls rests ultimately in the hands of approximately twenty individuals, a fact not lost on many other powers in the system.


Venus

Population: 3,041,159,212,000 – Floating Cities, 388,410,000 – Orbital Ring, 30,697,289,750,000 - Habitat Cloud
Total Population, Including Orbitals: 33,738,837,372,000
Government: Constituional Democracy
Orbital Facilities: Orbital Ring, Orbital Defence Platforms, Refuelling Stations, Orbital Cylinder Habitats, Medium Shipyards

Venus was long considered a difficult target for any kind of habitation. While orbital work could be established, without a supporting infrastructure, any materials would have to be shipped in. From a scientific standpoint, there was always great curiosity about the planet, and several corporate endeavours funded the establishment of research stations in orbit to try and develop further technology to exploit the surface.

It took nearly three decades to develop the technology even for the most rudimentary automated units on the surface, and another before a properly usable vehicle that could be piloted by humans was developed. Once both of these factors were handled however, it opened the door to the wealth of Venus.

The initial gold rush of settlement efforts came in fast, the first of them being simply large metallic blimps with attached living quarters. These were cheap to produce, and simple to keep at high altitude, providing living quarters and easier access to hydroponics. The extreme pressures and temperatures were found to be useful for several industrial applications, leading to further expansion of the planet.

Venus had been established for more than a century when the Earth Alliance government collapsed. With all of the Clusters declaring independence, Venus was the planet that endeavoured to remain on good terms with Earth and Luna, forging the first of the new Interplanetary Trade Accords. Being the first gave Venus the leverage to secure an excellent deal for themselves, with Luna needing the resources of Venus to keep the forges burning. Thus with the new influx of wealth, the face of Venus changed.

The simple blimps were phased out, and a new type of habitat was conceived. Engineers from Luna and Io were brought in, and they designed the new phase of living among the clouds. Each one several kilometres across with a high standing dome to provide the atmosphere for both living and for lifting, the habitat itself was not built of metal, but metallic glass. Iron glass formed the structure, while the exterior was crafted of palladium glass. The structure gives the impression of being carved from silver crystal that shines in he Venusian sun.

Under the dome are grasslands and forest, environments carefully cultivated and sculpted for maximum appeal. In the center is a towering spire, home to only the most luxuriously appointed homes. As a matter of office, the elected overseers of each settlement have a place within the spire. Those who lack the funds to live in the spire have quarters below the park lands. These are no slums, still considered highly appointed compared to most other colony worlds.

There is still a small population that works on the surface, and such is the regard for them due to the hazards that they work in that each person is considered something of a celebrity. Unmatched pay makes them some of the wealthiest citizens as well.

The bulk of the population live in orbital habitats, close to 90%, and there are long waiting lists of those looking to transfer down to the planet proper. Securing surface employment, or specific employment on the floating cities is the fastest way to make it to such a goal.

Genetic tailoring has reached it's highest point on Venus, with the highest acclaimed genetic engineers being referred to as Gene Sculptors. To have trained within a Venusian Genetic Engineering Academy is to ensure one is never short of work. The degree of engineering done to the average citizen is higher than average, with many people investing in more cosmetic engineering. As a result, Venusian people are often used an example of physical beauty.

Aesthetics are considered to be a high goal, and most goods made on Venus are made with an eye to that, making exports a highly profitable enterprise.
 
More Planets!

Jupiter

Population: 104,531,100,000 (Jovian Band), 2,132,355,000 (Secondary Ring), 800,970,000 (Harvester Ring)
Total Population, Including Moons: 11,619,581,221,400
Government: Confederation
Orbital Facilities: Three Orbital Rings, several major colony moons also have orbital facilities

Jupiter represents one of the largest established nations in the Sol system, with it's massive array of moons, and incredibly abundant hydrogen reserves, it was a prime target for Colonization. The initial efforts were focused on the moon Callisto, which still remains the seat of central government for the Jovian Confederation. As more heavy industry was established, and working in partnership with Luna, the Jovian system set about creating what is still considered to be one of the great Wonders of the System, The Jovian Band. An orbital ring two kilometres across, and at a distance to provide a comfortable 1 G of gravity, the Jovian band is a construct that is almost impossible to conceive of the scale of. Nearly 700,000 kilometres in distance, it provides vast living space, as well as docking berths for incoming craft and a number of manufacturing and processing facilities.

Bridging the gap between the Jovian Band and the planet, there is a Secondary ring, much smaller in scope, but providing a needed halfway point. Just at the atmosphere, there is the Harvester Ring, the source of the overwhelming majority of resource extraction from Jupiter itself. This ring is more sparsely populated than other facilities, not the least of which is because of the 2.5 G gravity, making it very discomforting for anyone not suitably equipped for such a task. Some of the most advanced and powerful radiation shielding is employed on this ring, ensuring that personnel can function easily. Long time residents on the Harvester Ring very frequently undergo cybernetic and genetic treatments to better acclimate themselves to the harsh gravity, leading to a very distinctive subset of humanity. These 'Jovian Titans' as they are known to others, very infrequently leave the Harvester ring, finding all they need provided for them, and frequently have difficulty adjusting to the much lower gravity elsewhere.

With its vast number of moons, Jupiter is not a single homogeneous nation, but a confederation of smaller groups. Four major blocs exist, the Callistan Republic (CR), Europan Federation (EF), Ionian Union (IU), and the Ganymeden Alliance (GA). The four groups control the entirety of the system, excluding Sponde, which refuses to associate with any of the other blocs, declaring itself an independent power. With only five thousand inhabitants, this small body has been essentially ignored by the rest of the system, and has not been permitted to join the Confederation on it's own. The rest of the system shares responsibilities for maintaining the Jovian Band and the other orbital rings that surround Jupiter, as well as sharing defensive duties with one another.

The Jovian Confederation represents one of the more populous, and powerful nations within the system, with vast resources and manufacturing capabilities second only to Luna, they also maintain excellent sources of luxury goods manufactured within their nation, often exporting for commanding prices.

And the primary moons of Jupiter!
Io​

Population: 1,358,330,000
Government: Presidential Democracy
Orbital Facilities: Orbital Ring, Refuelling Station, Habitats, Manufacturing Units, Orbital Defence Platforms

Io represents the primary source of mass production in the Jovian Confederation, the most powerful of such sources outside of Luna. With the extreme conditions on the surface, as well as extreme tidal flexing of the surface, the entirety of the colony is in orbit. Surface mining is done through robotics, and the very occasional manned mission. The gravity of Jupiter pulls nearly a metric tonne of material off of the surface of the moon every second. A top priority was to find a way to effectively capture this material from orbit, and once it was done, the materials were sent to sorting and processing facilities to be condensed into pure, usable minerals.

The proximity to Jupiter necessitated powerful radiation shielding on any and all orbital facilities, though many citizens choose to play it safe, and opt for gene therapy to augment their resistance to radiation. Other turns to cybernetics, implanting sub-dermal radiation shielding, some as simple as resistant materials, others going as far as radiation deflecting energy fields, though the latter is fantastically expensive and rare.

Due to the colony being in orbit, the facilities have been established at Earth normal gravity. This has kept the build of the people of Io fairly standard without much in the way of deviation.

With such a vast manufacturing base, there was a tremendous demand for raw materials, and as such, Io was the source of a large number of colonial expeditions. Prioritizing raw materials, and later having these colonies begin to establish specialized manufacturing of their own, further cementing the prominence of the colony. When the Jovian Civil War ended, Io maintained control of most of it's sub colonies, forming the Ionian Union to ensure they were dealt a fair hand in affairs. The biggest losses were several research colonies that opted to throw their support to more intellectually minded blocs, forcing the IU to have to bargain for some of the more prominent technological advances.

Still, the IU is considered an integral lynch-pin for the Jovian Confederation, able to convert it's production from infrastructure to military staggeringly quickly, and arm millions in weeks.

Ganymede​

Population: 5,916,072,000,000
Government: Federation
Orbital Facilities: Refuelling Station, Space Elevator, Orbital Defence Platforms, Orbital Ring

Ganymede was the second moon colonized in the Jovian system. Established as a direct rival to Callisto, representing opposing interests from the beginning, these two colonies have strove for dominance for centuries. The largest moon in all of Sol, were it orbiting the Sun instead of Jupiter, it would easily be referred to as a planet in it's own right. The most populated body in the Jovian system, Ganymede boasts the greatest abundance of manpower in the system. Much of the populace idles, waiting for a profitable niche to arise for them to attempt to fill, which the Corporate Government takes full advantage of, keeping in demand tasks low enough to foster fierce competition among the populace.

Once thought of as a paper tiger, all bluster and no real capability to deliver on any threats, this illusion shattered in the wake of the Jovian Civil War. Opening the company coffers, monstrous quantities of cash were spent to Luna and several smaller manufacturing points, bringing sufficient arms to militarise roughly three percent of the population of the colony. Thus, bringing more than a hundred billion people to war, Ganymede became one of the leading military powers in the system.

When the dust settled from the Civil War, the Government counted the cost, in both lives and resources, knowing that the war had nearly bankrupted their company. While they might be able to unleash forces in numbers that were difficult to challenge, they could not sustain such an action alone. Thus came their entry into the Jovian Confederation to ensure that they would not have to again.

The moon itself has been transformed vastly from it's original form. The massive crust of ice has been mined out completely, turned into resources, while the surface is now dotted with arcologies and massive research facilities. Underground habitats have been sunk in, taking up a tenth of the internal space fo the moon, vastly increasing the living space of the Colony. Specialized in cutting edge technology, it was in the laboratories of Ganymede that the framework for artificial gravity was developed. After the civil war, Ganymede lobbied hard for the acquisition of Metis, one of the largest research colonies in the system, enticing them away from their Ionian founders. Once the colony was in hand, the facility was given express orders to finish the development of artificial gravity units.

Against all expectations, they succeeded.

This single discovery instantly assured financial dominance for the Ganymede Alliance, as the technology has proven nearly impossible to duplicate elsewhere, and artificial gravity has proven to be revolutionary for the use in military and top end luxury space craft. Eventually deciding that their company needed to expand their markets, they took to converting the colony of Pasiphae from a simple observatory to a colony equipped with artificial gravity. A proof of concept project, it was a success, bringing the colony up to the capability of a much larger body, house more than a hundred million inhabitants rather than perhaps a tenth of that had it been done with simple rotating habitats. Still, the cost of the endeavour proved prohibitive, even when the user controlled the manufacture of the artificial gravity units, putting a hold any further efforts for now. Still, some particularly wealthy patrons have expressed interest in such a concept on a small scale.

Europa​

Population: 1,161,535,500,000
Government: Federation
Orbital Facilities: Refuelling Station, Space Elevator, Orbital Defence Platforms

Europa was considered one of the highest priority for colony establishment to expand past Jupiter, seeking a source of abundant and usable water. Callisto could provide reasonable amounts, but Europa would dwarf that without effort. Thus, to establish colonies beyond Jupiter, Europa was established. Contrary to Callisto's approach, heating the ice, melting it away, Europa was established first as a mining colony, excavating a shaft down tot he liquid waters, and beginning mass extraction. Treatments plants were established on the surface, and prefabricated orbital habitats were brought in from Luna.

Before long the demand for water was increasing exponentially, with Europa needing more and more manpower and facilities. The treatment plants expanded again, and then even further, finally culminating in the establishment of the first on site arcology to accommodate the workforce needed to keep it running constantly. Over time new shafts were dug, and more and more of the waters were harvested.

The colony flourished, growing to house a large population and expand even further, more arcologies springing up, while the ice sheet was reinforced with Atlas Pillars to ensure it stayed viable. After so much water had been extracted, Europa has still barely lowered the total sea levels of the planetoid, promising centuries more productivity and promised prosperity for the colony.

It's status as a provider of essential resources has long given Europa significant bargaining power within the Jovian Confederation, and thusly given the Confederation power within the system. Despite this, the members of the colony have a reputation for resilience and stubborn determination. Due to the far lower than average gravity, many of the colony citizens have been subject to significant gene alteration to prevent their musculature from deteriorating, some augmenting this with cybernetics. Still, the citizens of Europa tend to favour slighter builds, and are often taller than those from Earth.

Europa has invested a great deal of effort into researching the processes to purify water sources, but also to ensure that undesirable impurities can be filtered out and preserved, as they are often mineral or chemical agents that prove useful and even valuable in some cases. While the basics of this tech is readily available, Europa does not export it's top quality purifiers, and anyone found to be smuggling them faces incredibly harsh penalties for doing so.

Callisto​

Population: 4,429,932,000,000
Government: Republic
Orbital Facilities: Orbital Ring, Refuelling Station, Orbital Defence Platforms

Callisto is the first colony in the Jupiter system, and has been a hub of culture and government since it's creation. Central to it's own Republican government for it's smaller constituencies, as well as housing the central parliament for the Jovian Confederation, Callisto enjoy a great deal of prestige amongst it's peers. The formerly icy surface of the moon has long since been melted through, and arcologies float partially or wholly beneath the waters of the moon, great networks of transit tunnels leading between them to facilitate easy access to one another. A single vast platform has been erected on the moon, held up by colossal Atlas Pillars that sit on the floor of the ocean, and stretch to the surface. On this platform, the primary connection to the Orbital Ring is housed, along with both government headquarters.

Callitso was the most populous moon for generations, until eventually being surpassed by Ganymede. Still, Callisto was the first to declare it's independence from the control of earth, asserting Jovian independence. All of Jupiter once fell under it's influence, but over time the other large colonies pushed for their own independence. The result was a civil war that rocked the Jovian system for nearly a decade. Only the encroachment of a military fleet from Terra made the colonies set aside their differences in the face of a common threat.

When Jupiter was secure once more, each smaller establishment was given the choice to align itself with one of the major colonies. To the surprise of many, Himalia, considered by many to be the likely leader of many of the smaller colonies, pledged allegiance to Callisto, thereby cementing Callisto as one of the most powerful blocs in the system.

With the most readily available source of Helium three in the system, Jupiter has been an economic powerhouse, and Callisto has been the site of nearly every negotiation for export of the product, further securing its position in both the Jovian Confederation, and the system as a whole.


Pluto​

Population: 5,988,056,046,250,000
Total Population, Including Moons: 6,006,863,383,905,000
Government: Technocracy
Orbital Facilities: Orbital Defence Platorms, Orbital Shipyards, Refuelling Platforms

Long considered the last goal of colonization in the solar system, Pluto was an ambitious project to consider for settlement. Very cold, and with abundant methane in the atmosphere and very limited gravity, it was seen as a likely source of heavy industry at the edge of the system. It's regular passage through the Kuiper Belt allowed it access to what amounted to asteroid mining operations, pushing mineral and ice rich bodies into the system to allow them to be processed more easily. Nearly seventy five percent of the interior of the planet was mined out for materials, but more importantly to provide space for vast arrays of rotating habitats, making Pluto the most heavily populated cluster in the outer system.

Methane cracking operations provide enormous amounts of carbon and hydrogen for their industry. While less efficient than starting with Helium 3, hydrogen fusion can produce such isotopes for later use. Vast arrays of cooling tubes thread through the planet and up the paths of the multiple space elevators that ring the planet, allowing the wash of thermal energy to dissipate.

The original colony was established for not only industrial reasons, but also for the purposes of research. Being as far out as they were, it was past the watchful eye of the Scientific Ethics Board, which allowed them a certain degree of freedom to pursue more esoteric and dangerous subjects. Though kept tightly under layers of security and secrecy, Pluto houses the some of the only known labs that still attempt to expand and develop AI technology. The majority of all usable AI systems are manufactured in the Pluto cluster, securing high profit margins for the governing body.

It is not a Corporation that runs the cluster, but instead a collective body of the leading scientific minds in the cluster, focusing on streamlining the process of developing new technology for use or sale. These scientists try to strike a balance between keeping the colony turning a profit enough to import rare materials and products that are not made on site, as well as keeping the vast populace happy. Very often, the happiness falls on the wayside in favour of scientific advancement. The general nature of the population tends to the side of more lawless than most other places, as the government pays less attention to them, and the law enforcement tend to be woefully understaffed to enforce such a huge population. Still, more habitats possess a fairly peaceful, if not somewhat rough lifestyle.
 
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