Europa Prime

Departmento Cartographicae pict-file of Europa Prime, with the Torus Ring station clearly visible

## Planet

### Orb. distance

688x106 KM from Europa
2,72x106 KM from Thelyn

### Military Forces

Europan Armed Forces
Battlefleet Europa
Order of the Silver Hand
Ostrakan Skitarii Legions

### Ruler

Prime Minister
Conway Riley

## Location

### System

Europa

**Europa Prime** is a Civilized Jungle-world, the second habitable moon of Thelyn, the fourth planet of the Europa System, which is located at the edge of the Garon Nebulae in the Segmentum Tempestus. Europa Prime was first established as a naval resupply base for the Imperial Navy during the Garon Nebulae Crusade, but later became the capital world of the Europan Planetary Federation. It hosts most of the vital governmental institutions and serves as the center point of the whole stellar empire. It is also a home base of the Battlefleet Europa.

## History

### 495.M40 to 861.M40

The planet was discovered and partially terraformed during the ill-fated Garon Nebula crusade. The base was supposed to serve as a naval base, providing support to the Imperial Navy and later it was supposed to be a major Imperial hub on the sector. With the crusade grinding to a halt, and the subsequent retreat of all Imperial forces, the planet was left behind, and alone. Years later, this fact led to a declaration of independence, secession from the Imperium of Man and creation of the Europan Federation by the hand of governor Wilhelm Carther.

The following years were full of optimism and bright thoughts of the future. Prefabricated hab-block were removed and replaced with buildings that had aesthetic elements on them, instead of just function and cities grew rapidly, as hundreds of thousands of people didn't want to live aboard a starship anymore, but breathe fresh air with the solid ground underneath their feet.

### 862.M40 to 102.M41

After the initial boom, the growth stagnated but did not stop completely. With the colonization efforts going on, there were several significant falls in population as hundreds of thousands of people moved to settle down on the different worlds, but over decades the population returned to the mark of 3 billion, around which it is naturally kept.

### 103.M41 to 864.M41

With the Europan Federation expanding and developing, Europa Prime became a cultural center of the whole empire and the planet was at the top of its fame and prestige. Most companies have their centers here, various festivals are held annually with many famous people attending. The increment of wealth and unrestricted hedonism among the elites and further impoverishment of the poor inevitably led to a downfall.

### 865.M41 to 891.M41

With the proverbial scissors between both groups still expanding, massive riots broke out, where people protested in the streets while the wealthy kept attending their balls and parties like nothing was happening and with the first people being killed and building set to fire, the government had to act and series of reforms were introduced to stop further division of the society and to bring the elites back to more modest behavior. Some of the elites fled to Zoyra where they won't be so visible and by the end of the 9th century, things were going smoothly once more.

### 892.M41 to the Present day

With the creation of the massive Warp Storm relatively close, in galactic terms, the flickering of the Astronomicon and reports of unidentified vessels within the Europan territory, the government had to act and redirected a significant amount of funding to the military sector and cultural event ceased to be so frequent and so grandiose.

## Landscape & Nature

* Generally, the surface is mostly hilly, with frequent jagged ridges and covered in jungle with very dense undergrowth, which makes transportation very difficult outside maintained paths, roads, and highways. Twice a year there is also a rainy season lasting for 3-4 weeks, that causes widespread floodings, transportation even more difficult, as land-based roads become unusable and only elevated highways and maglev rails remain operational.
* In the mostly swampy equatorial area, a tree species called *Twilight Rorn*, that can grow massive, on average 250 meters tall, with tree trunks 40 meters wide and treetops so thick they create near-perpetual dusk. Bioluminescent plants and animal species are a quite common occurrence around these massive trees.
* Further north and south, in the temperament areas, the jungle and forests become less dense yet still difficult to navigate through. Swamps are less frequent, but steep mountain ridges more common. Subpolar areas are covered only by small plants, with tall trees mostly absent.
* The animal species are mostly harmless, with over 85% of all species being herbivores and even the biggest predators rarely attack a human.

## Population, Society & Culture

* The population is living mostly in cities and larger settlements, with only 16% of the population living outside the major towns and cities, working mostly as miners, lumberjacks, fishermen, and other localized professions.
* Due to the fact that Europa Prime is the cultural center of the whole federation, it is very cosmopolitan and there is no largely predominant culture, as people of all backgrounds and worlds come to visit or to live here. Spirituality might be a bit higher than average though, due to the strong presence of the Ecclesiarchy.
* The society is largely coherent, but the ghost of the past still haunts here, as the divide between the wealthy elite and the low and middle class is still noticeably wider than on other worlds, although no riots or strikes take place any more. The entertainment industry is still very significant but does not dominate the market anymore, as the defense industry, light and heavy manufacturing, chemical and aerospace industry started to boom, thanks to increased governmental funding. This helped to decrease the divide, as it created hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

## Notable locations

* **Aquileia** - The Capital city and the oldest and also the biggest city on Europa Prime. It hosts most of the governmental buildings, ranging from the Federal Council, though the Central Army Command to the largest cathedral ran by the Ecclesiarchy. The city was built to be aesthetically pleasing, with light, elegant architecture replacing the dull, utilitarian designs known widely to the Imperium. Majestic buildings are as common as tall spired made of steel and glass. The overall fragile appearance might be misleading, though, as the city very powerful void shield generators hidden, as well as thousands of bunkers, hideouts, and defensive positions that can be all manned and operational within hours.

* **Palanea** - The underwater city built on the seabed on one of the Europa Prime's oceans and one of the Keeling's insane project, that wasn't that insane after all. It was built as an opulent and luxurious city for Keeling's closest bootlickers and their families and since the beginning of the construction, parts of the city had to be sealed off, some were built anew, but this city still functions, although as a regular city, not only for the elites.

* **Eugenic Clinic** - Government-owned clinic that specializes in Eugenics, selective breeding of volunteering humans in order to improve their genetic disposition.

* **National Museum** - A vast complex of exhibitions and outdoor exposures showing the events and artifacts from both Imperial and Federation era.

* **Torus orbital ring station** - A massive space station circumventing the entire moon 700km above the surface and serves as an orbital dock, a shipyard, habitat and factory complex. It is similar to the Ring of Iron built on Mars, but is way less massive and not anchored on the surface.

* **Equatorial jungles** - With the periodic floodings and vast, shifting swamps, settlements in the area are often elevated above the ground, either in pillars or anchored to the massive trunks of the Rorn trees.

## Notable People

* **Wilhelm Carther** - Governor, and later the very first prime minister of the newly formed Europan Federation.
* '**Jonsu'** - Famous female folk singer. She was awarded citizenship for her charity work.
* **Alanis Van Assen** - Winner of the 82nd, 83rd, 84th, 85th, 86th, 87th, and 88th Hovercar racing championship.
* **Jennica Berger** - Founder of the *LadySized.Co* female fashion company, the biggest fashion company in the federation.
* **Elazar Naumov** - 7th Prime minister, under whose leadership the federation expanded to other planets in the system.
* **Malis V.** - Good talker and a well-known radio presenter. Upon his death, his mind was transformed and uploaded into a cogitator as a virtual intelligence and he remained in his position as a radio presenter since then.

## Armed Forces

Europa Prime is home to over 270 regiments of all sizes and types, yet some stand above the rest due to their qualities, equipment or training utilized the best on this particular world.

* **Europan Voidborne regiments** - Stationed on the Torus Ring Station and Europan warships, Voidborne regiments are trained in zero-g operations, ship boarding actions and ship defense as well. They are equipped with compact bullpup lascarbines, void-suit, mag-boots, carapace armor, and backpack-mounted maneuvering jets. In addition, they may carry melta bombs, breaching equipment, or other specialized gear, depending on the mission.
* **Europan Air Cavalry regiments** - Men and women of the Air Cavalry regiments serve as a rapid-response strike force specializing in the jungle and rough terrain warfare. Being an air cavalry, they perform short hit and run missions, patrols, or airhead securing to prepare the ground for further reinforcements. They wear regular flak armor and lasrifles, usage of heavy weapons is rather limited, as they are usually supported from the air by gunships, ground-attack aircraft, and bombers.
* **Europan Mounted Infantry regiments** - Serving mostly as a garrison and patrol force in the less-civilized areas and jungle settlements. In certain areas with very rough terrain, they use domesticated animals to move around quickly, otherwise, they use armored personnel carriers and armored cars as support. They wear standard equipment, flak armor, and lasrifles.
* **Europan Homeguard regiments** - Elite garrison troops and fortification experts. Each major city hosts at least a couple of these regiments. They are trained as a garrison force, so they are required to know the city in which they serve, usage of heavy weapons, guerilla warfare, and they are trained in the use of both prefabricated and makeshift fortifications and barricades. They wear standard equipment, flak armor, and lasrifles, although each squad has a heavy weapons team assigned to them and a special weapons specialist.
* **Europan 2nd Infantry Regiment** - The oldest regiment, with its legacy reaching far behind the initial colonization. They wear fancy, bright red uniforms, tricorne hats, and ornate rifles and serve mostly as an honor guard and ceremonial unit. For combat purposes, they are regarded as a reserve garrison unit.