Perseus Ultima (System)

The **Perseus Ultima** star system is the only star system in the Perseus Arm known to have a hyperlane leading to the Orion-Cygnus Arm. It was discovered in 2708 by an Ur-Han-born Terran scientist. This discovery essentially doubled the area of space which was directly accessible to the galactic nations. The system connects to the Perefur system, the capital system of the Perefi dominion. It connects to 9 other systems in the Perseus Arm. The system has four planets and two significant moons. The planet of Ahaggar and the moons of Asgard and Elysium are being colonised. It is currently the main operating base of the ongoing Magellan Initiative.

## Galactic location

The Perseus Ultima system is located 202ly from the Perefur system. In other words, it takes about two weeks to get from Perefur to Perseus with standard Ψ15 drives. It therefore approximately takes a full month for most ships to make the trip. It is located outside of the reach of any nation other than the Federation. The system is not however located on the edge of the Perseus Arm, but rather deep within it. There are currently 9 other systems in the Perseus Arm it connects to, these are: HIP-7018 (52ly), HIP-22130 (63ly), HP-2029B (15ly), Perseus Proxima (6ly), Perseus Alpha (15ly), Perseus Bravo (32ly), Perseus Charlie (22ly), Perseus Delta (73ly) and T-896 (302ly). The hyperlane to T-896 is the longest known hyperlane.

## System structure

The Perseus Ultima star is a B-type star. It is nearing the end of its lifespan. The star has about 2 solar masses. It is however much more luminous and hot than the Sun.

The system has four planets. There are three solid planets and one gas giant.

Perseus Ultima 1 is the planet closest to the star. It is highly reminiscent of Venus in the solar system. Evidence suggests that all the water the planet had evaporated quickly after its formation to form an atmosphere which had extreme greenhouse effect. This resulted in the planet's surface being completely cloaked from orbit in normal light. This planet is considered unsuitable to life, due to its mass being double that of Earth and its atmosphere being unbreathable. Whilst terraforming talks and colonisation of the atmosphere have been proposed, extremely high radiation levels make attempts at this impossible without moving the planet further away from the star. Its revolution lasts 6 months.

Perseus Ultima 2, named Ahaggar is the second world of the system. Over 90% of the planet is covered in deserts with extremely high temperatures, reaching up to 200°C. The planet was entirely uninhabited upon the arrival of the first explorers. The remaining 10% is located on the polar areas and has temperatures reaching 20-40°C on average. This planet has an atmosphere similar to Earth's, and is breathable by Humans. Oxygen levels are however slightly lower meaning that Humans will get exhausted here faster than on Earth. Gravity is 0.8Gs, which is considered ideal for Humans. The planet was the first one in the system to be settled, and currently has a population of around 40 000, most of which is located in the polar areas. Only around three thousand people inhabit the rest of the planet. The planet is named after the Kel Ahaggar Tuareg tribe, which lived deep in the Sahara desert back on old Earth. The largest and only official city on the planet is Hoggar, located 20km from the north pole. The city is located in a crater ensuring temperatures never rise above 60°C. Its revolution lasts 3 years.

Perseus Ultima 3 is the third planet in the system. It is also the largest of the solid planets. It has four Earth masses. Its crust is extremely thin and it has very high geological activity, resulting in the planet being covered in volcanoes. Large swaps of the planet's crust is breached and large seas of magma appear instead of solid ground. The atmosphere is nearly entirely sulfur based and the planet is completely uninhabitable. Its revolution lasts 12 years.

Perseus Ultima 4, colloquially known as Persa, is the largest planet and only gas giant of the system. It shares many similarities with Uranus from the solar system. It is however located about two times further away than Uranus is from the sun from its star, and is more comparable to Neptune in that regard. Its mass and atmosphere are however nearly identical to Uranus. Just like Uranus, its axial tilt is at 90 degrees relative to the systems plane. Its moons also spin around in on that angle but their rotation is the same as that of the rest of the system. This means that the day/night cycle of the moons is exclusively linked to their own rotation speed and not their revolution speeds. It has two moons which are large enough to be considered worlds. It has another 16 smaller moons. It doesn't have a ring system. It orbits the star in 180 years.

Perseus Ultima 4A, named Elysium is the largest moon of Persa. It is almost exactly the mass of Earth, coming in at 0.96 Earth masses. It is also similar to Earth in that it has both continents and oceans. The planets atmosphere however, reflects most of the starlight (80%) . Most plants have developed a dark blue to black colour scheme to absorb as much of light as possible. Most lifeforms on the planet (including plants) have evolved some sort of bioluminescence. This includes plants, which will often have their trunks covered in a mushroom which glows a bright blue colour. This attracts pollen-carrying animals and carnivores which in turn deter herbivores. This phenomena has become so widespread that most of the continents surface glows a bright blue when seen from orbit. Ocean life has also developed bioluminescence. The best example of this is the Medusa Drake which a 40m tall jellyfish like creature which emits a distinct purple-blue colour. The planets atmosphere is composed of nitrogen and oxygen. Oxygen levels are however too low for humans to be able to breathe for long periods of time. The planet is being colonised by Humans in specific areas which are mostly devoid of life. The rest of the planet is strictly reserved for research. The current population is of around 1800 people. It takes 5 months for the planet to complete a revolution around Persa. The gas giant is always visible from the moon, but at different places at different times of the year.

Perseus Ultima 4B, named Asgard is a large moon of Persa. Its about the size, mass and has the gravity of Mars. However unlike Mars it is covered in liquid water. The near entirety of the planet (around 98%) is covered in shallow seas of 10-20m of depth in most places. The planet already had life forms upon the arrival of the first explorers. The planet's atmosphere is a oxygen-nitrogen mix, with around 60% of oxygen and 40% of nitrogen. Its atmosphere is however about three times that of Earth. Its rotation around Persa keeps its core active and produces tectonics. It takes 2 months for the planet to complete a revolution around Persa. The gas giant is always visible from the moon, but at different places at different times of the year. The planet was colonised by colonists of the Surben Republic, most of which are of the Tesrat species, aquatic in nature. The current population is of around 13 000.

## Magellan Initiative

Whilst officially the headquarters of the Magellan Initiative are located in Perefur, the long distance separating the known Perseus systems means that it is much more practical for decisions to be made from Perseus Ultima. There are also no quantum-entanglement communicators in the the entire Arm. This means that any message between Perefur and the Perseus systems takes at least three months.

It is for these reasons that the *de facto* headquarters of the Magellan Initiative are located in Hoggar, on Ahaggar. This is the largest city of the PU system and all of the Perseus systems. The Initiative is officially made up of the Surben Republic, Terran Federation, Perefi Republic, Dermkha State, Tesrat Republic and Ur-Han Kingdom. However, due to its status it is *de facto* led by the Terran Federation, and to a certain extent the Surben Republic. These are the only two nations who maintain permanent envoys to Hoggar. Whilst technically a Condominium of the UCO, meaning the system is ruled jointly by multiple (most often council) members of the UCO, in this case the previously mentioned members of the initiative, with each planet being under the jurisdiction of one of the nations, the Perseus systems are *de facto* independent. The only presence of UCO power in the systems is the Surben and Terran envoy to Hoggar, which mostly serve as ambassadors between the central governments and Hoggar, as well as the Terran 53rd Fleet, located in the Perseus Ultima system.

Most of the power in the Perseus systems is by the Mayor of Hoggar and the President of the Stellar Community of Perseus Ultima. The President especially can use the 53rd Fleet and also has authority over the whole system. He also has authority over all the other Perseus systems.

The UCO keeps pouring ressources into the Initiative mostly expecting scientific reports and exploration diaries. The PU system and other Perseus systems are other than that of little concern to the UCO. Colonisation efforts are mostly privately led on Asgard. Colonisation of Elysium is extremely limited due to its status as an effective nature reserve. The Terran Federation is the most involved government into the initiative, having invested more than all the other participants combined and having dedicated a fleet to its protection. This is mostly due to the fact that the Federation sees the Perseus systems as a potential area where it can expand once it is done colonising the Terran Territories.

The current President is the Terran Margaret Kennedy.