Brayleigh

Brayleigh captured shortly after terraforming.

**Brayleigh** is a temperate E-class human colony planet, located near the edge of the Omega Centauri globular cluster, roughly seventeen thousand light-years from Earth.

## Overview

Brayleigh was discovered in 9163 CE by a small fleet of Orion War refugees, seeking a new home far from the conflict by hopping from system to system. Brayleigh was an excellent world for terraforming and settlement. Brayleigh was also very far from any foreseeable conflict, and it soon became the founding world of the Centauri Confederacy government.

Brayleigh joined the Confederacy of Humanity in 9286 CE, sadly dragging it back in to conflict during the Fornax War and the War of the Decamillennial Transition. Today, Brayleigh is a developed and advanced colony with a population of around seven billion. As the capital world of the Centauri Confederacy, the people of Brayleigh are well-educated and skilled, thus making the planet a prominent player human legislature, culture, and science.

## Physical

Brayleigh is about half the size of Earth with a diameter 6854.28 kilometers. Similarly, gravity at sea level is about 0.51192 G's. Atmospheric pressure at this altitude is only 84.839 percent than sea level on Earth.

The axial tilt of Brayleigh is only two degrees, thus seasonal effects are small. Brayleigh's day length used to be twenty-four hours and twenty-seven minutes, but after its terraforming, the planet's day has become seventeen hours and sixteen minutes. The orbital period of Brayleigh is 223.81 days, and the average temperature is seventy-two degrees Celsius.

## Life

Brayleigh was lifeless at the time of its discovery. With the exception of colonists, the first life to appear were several species of animals native to worlds near the Carina Nebula. These animals, which the refugee fleet had transported with them during their journey, were released near and inside the first human settlements. Initially, most animals struggled to adapt to their new environments, and a few species became extinct. Eventually, some with human aid, animal populations migrated to more preferable locations. Today, almost all of the Brayleigh's life can be found along the planet's many large rivers, lakes, and oceans. Some plant species have adapted to more inland regions, but extreme locations such as deserts, mountains, and tundras remain devoid of life. From space, these barren regions appear are large brown spots.

The most dominant animal species of Brayleigh are the *Braylia Bos*, commonly known as the Brayleigh Bull, furry, muscular cow-like creatures similar to highland cattle of Earth. Like many other species, the Brayleigh Bull was first introduced in farms and pastures outside of small towns. Since they were easy to tame and were very strong, the bull quickly became a vital asset in agriculture and transportation. Their population rose drastically, and today their numbers are near 550 million. Although Brayleigh has advanced to the point where beasts of burden are no longer necessary, the Brayleigh Bulls have stayed as a symbol of Brayleigh heritage and culture. Today it is common to find Brayleigh Bulls as part of rural families, whether it be for farming usage or merely as a pet, as well as breeders who will sell them to more rich households who use the bulls as a sign of wealth.

## Wars

Brayleigh has survived many major wars, including: the Orion War, the Fornax War, the War of the Decamillennial Transition, and the War for All. Brayleigh and the Centauri Confederacy had a small impact on the outcomes of every conflict, since they isolated themselves and participated as little as possible.

### Orion War

The Orion War is famous in Brayleigh history as the sole reason for the planet's colonization. However, due to the planet's peaceful outlook, the Orion War is simultaneously infamous as one of the worst periods of the human space era.

Brayleigh played a very small role in the entire war. Not only was Brayleigh a weak civilization during the conflict, but the planet and the Centauri Confederacy kept themselves secret from the larger Confederacy of Humanity until after the war had ended. Efforts were focused towards improving themselves, but in the rare event that the Giokans would discover them and attack, a small but weak fleet was planned to be assembled. This fleet barely began construction by the time they received the news that the war had ended, after which the fleet was scrapped.

### Fornax War

Brayleigh and the Centauri Confederacy were much more prominent in the Fornax War. Like the Orion War, Brayleigh despised the conflict. Brayleigh funded and led numerous relief and reconstruction projects across the nearest parts of the Milky Way Galaxy . Brayleigh even proposed sending their most skilled diplomats to convince the Molkor to end their conquest, but they were never given serious attention.

The Centauri Confederacy became a target of refugees left in the wake of the Molkors' destruction. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded Centauri worlds in just the first decade of the war. Initially, this concerned Centauri politicians, since such a large influx of refugees could draw Molkor attention. In response, a limit of one million refugees a year across all Centauri worlds was put in place. Citizens were outraged at what appeared as an act of ignorance, and fierce riot movements demanding the refugee limit be lifted emerged within Brayleigh's capital city. With a lack of military power, rioters caused massive amounts of damage.

Nevertheless, Molkor forces still discovered the Centauri Confederacy after they seized access to the Alexandrian Network. Afterward, the Confederacy of Humanity uncovered a secret but devious Molkor plot to capture and hold ransom the entire Omega Centauri cluster. A warning was sent to the Centauri Confederacy, and Brayleigh led a scramble to build their own fleet. The Confederacy of Humanity also loaned the Centauri Confederacy their own ships. By the time the Molkor arrived at Omega Centauri, nearly every world was handsomely defended.

The Molkor invaded the worlds they suspected to be the weakest. However, they were completely incorrect and accidentally faced the largest portion of the human fleet. The largest Molkor ships were destroyed in the battle while several smaller ships escaped. These smaller ships were either rarely spotted until the end of the war or fled the cluster entirely.

After the battle, the Molkor avoided contact with the Centauri Confederacy, although a few skirmishes were reported along Confederacy boundaries.

When the Fornax War ended in 9952 CE, Brayleigh dismantled its fleets. They also released an official statement declaring that they no longer had any interest in becoming involved with any future wars. However, this would change during the War for All, when they increased their defense system to hopefully deflect the tunneling Alliance invasion.