The Deep

**The Deep** is a region in the northwest of human space that is home to several highly populated planets such as Valhalla and Midgard, as well as advanced corporations like Deep Sky and Lionheart Industries. Politically, this area is controlled by the Republic, though the local government of the Deep has considerable autonomy and has its own police force.

## Overview

The Deep is a highly advanced region with planets that are all named for locations in Norse mythology. The Deep is one of the safest and most advanced regions of human space. Shipyards and outfitters in the Deep offer some technology that is unique in human space, such as atomic engines, heavy laser weapons, and ramscoops.

### Outfitters

* Ammo North
* Basic Outfits
* Common Outfits
* Deep Sky Basics
* Deep Sky Advanced
* Lovelace Basics

### Shipyards

* Basic Ships
* Betelgeuse Basics
* Lionheart Basics
* Lionheart Advanced

## History

* 2260 - A privately owned colony fleet begins traveling out from Sol looking for a place to settle far from Earth, and eventually founds the colony of Valhalla.
* 2280 - Valhalla establishes a second colony on Midgard.
* 2390 - Most of the habitable worlds in the Deep have been settled. They are all under the control of one megacorporation.
* 2450 - The first "Alpha War" versus a small group of genetically enhanced human beings, originally bred as super soldiers. The Alphas take over several planets and demand tribute from them, but are eventually driven back by a fleet of technologically superior warships from the Deep. The remaining Alphas go into hiding.
* 2550 - A coordinated popular uprising on several worlds results in the establishment of a democratic government in the Deep.
* 2560 - Rivalry between the Deep and the paradise worlds leads both to put large amounts of public money into science; the Deep focuses more on exotic materials, while the paradise worlds focuses more on searching for ever-more-perfect terraforming techniques.
* 2600 - The Deep and the Paradise Planets have grown into powerful, isolated enclaves of high technology.
* 2620 - The caravan era begins. Heavily armed and technologically advanced merchant fleets from the Deep begin traveling throughout the galaxy. Wherever they travel, they spur economic development and connections between planets.
* 2650 - The Deep government increases spending on a public space navy to counteract piracy.
* 2680 - Commerce is vastly unbalanced in favor of the Deep; as a result, some of the small corporate governments try to establish their own trade zone, essentially boycotting the Deep and their caravan fleets.
* 2740 - The Republic places trade embargoes on the Deep with the intent of pressuring it into becoming part of the Republic.
* 2780 - The Deep's government shipyards are spun off into a private industry, Lionheart.
* 2790 - The representative governments of the Deep and the Republic merge to form one galactic government.

## Notes

* It has been suggested by Michael Zahniser (in a devisive lore document) that the Deep was settled in the Middle Ages by humans that were transferred from Earth to this region by an unknown alien race.
* One of the Deep's most notable achievements is beam laser technology, that may have actually been gifted to them by the Pug.