recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Bridge Systems

The **bridge systems** are a network of sparely-populated star systems that make up the majority of the Settled Systems' area, usually containing dim, hyperactive or dying stars or planets that are unsuitable for human habitation. Their primary purpose is to allow a starship to perform the Bridge Relay Procedure (BRP) of FTL travel: instead of performing a single large jump towards a target system, a starship can jump between bridge systems and "zig-zag" toward their destination; this limits the stresses on both the starship and its crew, allowing them to take brief breaks between jumps, resupply, vent excess heat and ground themselves to remove static electricity.

Many bridge systems are managed by the Bridge Alliance, a division of the Spacers Legion, but otherwise receive little aid; as a result, many of these systems become lawless badlands where pirates, zealots and rogue corporations can thrive.

## Notable Bridge Systems

* Kepler-62
* Laconia-B
* Oppenheimer
* Procyon
Ripper Incorporated

**Ripper Incorporated** or **Ripper Inc.** is a black-market augmentations firm that sells illegal bio- and cyberamps. Usually found in the backstreets of the galaxy's seediest colonies, Ripper Inc. has a strict "don't ask, don't tell" policy where customers are given what they ask for, provided they can pay for it, with no questions asked. Many professional fighters and hitmen possess augmentations sold by Ripper Inc.
Crusader Program

The **Crusader Program** was a secret international space program formed specifically to study Bifrost, an anomalous object at the edge of the Sol System from which HZQ was first harvested. The program lasted for more than two centuries and was highly classified, operating without the knowledge of the highest-ranking politicians, due to the possibility of an extraterrestrial encounter. When Cameron Hammond and Zhōu Mǐn accidentally discovered Bifrost's signal and used it produce HZQ themselves, thus allowing for FTL travel using sagittarius fields, the program was disbanded; its mission was taken on by the Secretariat, which continues to operate in the 26th century.
Dolorianism

**Dolorianism** is a secular religion, or political religion, founded by Virgil Dolorian as a faith-based interpretation of his mentor John Mazov's teachings and writings, known as Mazovism. It is a nontheistic religion that worships humanist values, such as the preservation of humanity, democratic values, and promoting progress through incremental change. Dolorianism seeks to find exceptional individuals who embody all of these values and could serve as theocratic leaders of the human race. The movement is governed by the Dolorian Church, headquartered in the semi-autonomous Dolorian Republic on Asgard.

Its libertarian ideologies, plus its past links to revolutionary Mazovism, often conflict with the rigid structure of Scientism, the largest religion in the Settled Systems, which has led to persecution throughout the movement's history.
Nyoka Wingsknight

**Nyoka Wingsknight** is the daughter of Twin Moon pirates who currently serves as a combat specialist for the *Disco Volante* prospecting company.

## Biography

### Personality

As a former pirate of Twin Moon, Nyoka is more inclined to violence than the other crewmembers on the *Endeavour*. Brash, vigilant and detached from others, Nyoka has a very intense instinct for survival and self preservation, which has made her jaded and ruthless, with a better-safe-than-sorry attitude and complete lack of hesitation to hurt or kill others, even when it's not strictly necessary. Although she shares these gun-toting traits with James Goode, she is far less likely to take prisoners. Nonetheless, Nyoka is unwilling to hurt innocents, making her something of a moral compass among the crew.
Iconoclasts

The **Iconoclasts** are followers of Iconoclasm, a new religious movement active throughout the Settled Systems that worship the cosmic microwave background, which they believe to be a manifestation of a higher power. Often considered to be religious extremists, they are so named for their practice of destroying other religious images or artefacts.
Pion Rocket

A **pion rocket engine** is a sublight rocket engine that uses antiproton annihilation reactions to produce charged pions, which are then channelled by a magnetic nozzle to produce thrust. The immense amount of energy produced by the reaction allows a spacecraft equipped with such an engine to take off and achieve orbit under its own power, and they are used to accelerate beyond the relative speed of light while within a starbridge.

## Mechanism

### Pions

A pion is any of three subatomic particles π0, π+, and π−. Each pion consists of a quark and an antiquark and is therefore a meson. Pions are the lightest mesons and are unstable, with the charged pions π+ and π− decaying after a mean lifetime of 26.033 nanoseconds. Charged pions most often decay into muons and muon neutrinos, while neutral pions generally decay into gamma rays.

#### Charged Pion Decay

π+ 7.0x10−8 s → μ+ + νμ

π− 7.0x10−8 s → μ− + V̅μ

Each charged pion (π± ) produces 139.6 MeV of rest mass energy and 250 MeV kinetic energy, a total of around 390 MeV per charged pion; this 390 MeV/pion of energy becomes 105.7 MeV of rest mass energy per muon and 192.3 MeV of kinetic energy per muon. The remaining energy (92 MeV) is carried away by the neutrinos, which do not interact with the system. The 192.3 MeV of kinetic energy is then directed by magnetism to the rear of the starship to propel the vessel.

### Beam Core

The nozzles of pion engines are surrounded by magnetic coils that generate a magnetic flux density of 25,000 G; the magnetic field generated by these coils directs the charged pions towards the rear of the engines, where they are expelled into space to propel the vessel.

The ejected pions contain 40% of the initial annihilation energy but have a low thrust of around 10 Newtons; this is contrasted by their high flow rate, approximately 100’s μg/sec, and high specific impulse (efficiency to create thrust), allowing the starship to accelerate to around 5% of the speed of light with minimal fuel expenditure. The thrust energy is also sufficient enough for most spacecraft to take off and achieve orbit under their own power.
Marvin

**"Marvin"** is a M.U.S.E serving as a maintenance and combat robot on the *Endeavour*.

## Overview

A utilitarian, heavy industrial machine designed by Hammond Robotics, Marvin is well suited for the rigors of space travel. After many years in the field, Marvin has worn down his paint and dented a few panels.

Marvin's design is based on a standard, "Type A" bi-pedal chassis of the M.U.S.E. robot system. He is capable of traversing rough terrain with all the survival gear and payload capacity needed for extended overland journeys. Marvin does have defensive capabilities, but his primary role is peaceful.
Sentinel

The **Sentinel** is the leading institution of the United Colonies Space Command military academy, located on the planet Nibiru. Known for its harsh yet thorough training regimes, the Sentinel includes an officer training school, orbital, air and ground (OAG) assault courses, a naval college and a quantum development facility.
Enceladus

**Enceladus** is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn, at about 500 kilometers in diameter. Enceladus is mostly covered by fresh, clean ice, making it one of the most reflective bodies of the Sol System. Consequently, its surface temperature at noon only reaches −198 °C, far colder than a light-absorbing body would be. Despite its small size, Enceladus has a wide range of surface features, ranging from old, heavily cratered regions to young, tectonically deformed terrains.

In the early 21st century, it was discovered that Enceladus possessed a subsurface ocean of liquid water, which erupted through geysers in the south polar region. As a result, it was the second moon of Saturn to be colonised after Titan; like the other moons excluding Titan, Enceladus was bought by Cronos Incorporated in the mid 21st century. A mining accident in the 2460s forced Cronos to abandon the moon, leaving it to Twin Moon pirates that established a stronghold on its surface.
NovaCola

The **NovaCola Corporation**, mostly referred to as **NovaCola**, is a beverage corporation and subsidiary of the Exo Group that is best known for its flagship product NovaCola. It is the largest beverage corporation in the Settled Systems and is recognizable all across the galaxy.

Beyond the family-friendly facade, the corporation is a cutthroat entity that has perfected corporate espionage, and is also involved in chemical weapons research for the Free Economic Zone. They are also partly responsible for the manufacture and spread of the powerful drug aurora.
Chancellor of the United Colonies

The **Chancellor of the United Colonies** is the head-of-government of the United Colonies. They lead the cabinet, the non-executive body below the Security Council, which is made up of selected deputies from the House of Representatives.

The chancellor is the holder of the second-highest office in the U.C., after the Secretary-General. The Secretary-General, who appoints but cannot dismiss the chancellor, can ask for their resignation. The U.C. cabinet, including the chancellor, can be dismissed by the Security Council with permission from the General Assembly.
Herrik Venture

**Herrik Venture** was a pirate captain of Twin Moon and head of Clan Venture. As first mate to captain Saw Trace, he took his seat at the Liberty Table when Trace became Pirate King. An influential pirate, he directly opposed the ambitions, methods and ideology of Josia Price, both during Price's time at the Liberty Table and as Pirate King. Their rivalry erupted into the 2430 War of Thunder when Venture and his Thunderous Coalition attempted to depose Price, only for Price to prove victorious in the Battle of Libertalia. Venture faced the punishment of all mutineers: walking the plank into the vacuum of space.
Traveller

**Travellers** *(Homo primus)*, also called ***Archeohomina*** or the **Ancestors**, are an extinct race of technologically advanced humanoids that rose to pre-eminence in the Milky Way approximately 2,000,000 years ago. Having achieved FTL travel by unknown means, possibly through wormholes, they colonized planets across the Orion Arm toward the galactic border, establishing an interstellar superpower. The travellers ultimately became extinct around 150,000 years ago; how or why is a subject of debate among modern scientists, who continue to uncover fossils and ruins from their civilization across multiple planets. Suggestions as to the fate of the travellers include the theory that they underwent a sudden "devolution" that regressed them into a hunter-gatherer society confined to their homeworld, Earth.

## History

### Origins

How the travellers became a spacefaring people is entirely unknown; popular theories include a visit by extraterrestrials that gifted them advanced technology or that the travellers were not native to Earth at all. The latter theory is the most widely discussed, primarily due to its controversies: despite evidence that the travellers were extraterrestrials themselves, genetic testing has revealed a close phylogenic relation to early humans, including *H. eretus*. This in itself has led to the "Eden Theory" that modern humans are the result of traveller colonisation of Earth, meaning humans themselves are not native to their home planet.

Due to the poor preservation of their fossils and technology, when the travellers first appeared is entirely unknown; given that *Homo erectus* appeared around two million years ago, having evolved from *Homo habilis*, many assume that the travellers split off from the human line around the same time. While their cousins were primitive hunter-gatherers that used stone tools, the travellers possessed enlarged brains that allowed them to develop advanced tools and language; this ultimately resulted in space travel and the discovery - or invention - of wormholes that allowed them to traverse the galaxy.

## Physiology

While the travellers exhibited a range of morphological variation, they were remarkably similar in appearance to modern *Homo sapiens*. They possessed straight to wavy hair textures, thin to full lips, and an overall largely similar facial composition to their modern counterparts. They all had black or dark brown skin. Like modern humans, travellers had a range of different body and blood types. Genetically they were less diverse than modern humans and there is evidence that their birth rates were significantly lower than their descendents.

Despite the technological and biological achievements of their descendants, travellers naturally possessed more body mass and strength and were on average significantly more intelligent than modern humans. Carbon dating also suggests that the travellers had much longer lifespans than their modern descendants, with some fossils showing ages of up to 300 years.
Battle of the Bridges

## Casualties

The **Battle of the Bridges**, also called the **bridges campaign** or **bridge front**, was a major military campaign of the Great Galactic War fought within the various bridge systems that dot the Settled Systems. The longest continuous campaign of the war, it ran from December 2435, near the end of the military build-up of the U.C.-Hanza War, until the Hanza's defeat in the Battle of Forlorn Hope of August 2445. The Battle of the Bridges was the longest, largest, and most complex naval battle in history.
Battle of Saturn

The **Battle of Saturn** was a surprise attack by the 3rd Hanza Fleet on the United Saturn Fleet during the Home Systems campaign. It marked the beginning of the League's invasion of the Sol System and was one of their last victories in the Home Systems.

In 2443, having conquered the planet Centaurus just 4 light-years away, the 3rd fleet under the command of Pierre Danois invaded the unprepared Sol System with the ultimate aim of taking Earth. Jumping directly into Saturn's orbit, the vastly superior Hanza fleet decimated the 900-strong United Saturn Fleet in less than two hours, leaving just 150 allied ships to escape to Mars and then to Earth. Forces of Cronos Incorporated, officially neutral since the formation of the Free Economic Zone, neither aided nor delayed the invading forces, allowing them to continue to Earth. The fleet's victory at Saturn was quickly forgotten when they suffered a monumental defeat in the Battle of Earth, which turned the tide against the League for the remainder of the war.
Luna

Luna's light and dark sides, with Lovell City in the foreground

Luna in ruins as a result of the Lesson

**Luna**, commonly known simply as the **Moon**, is the largest and only natural satellite of Earth in the Sol System. At one-quarter the diameter of Earth, it is the largest natural satellite in the Sol System relative to the size of its planet, and the fifth largest satellite in the system overall, being larger than any dwarf planet.

Held in high regard by humans throughout their history, Luna was the first celestial body other than Earth upon which they stepped foot, having done so in 1969. It was one of the most powerful colonies in the Interstellar Collective and then the United Colonies as the site of Lovell City, one of the largest and most powerful settlements in humanity's history. Luna's historical, political and cultural importance came to an end with its destruction in an attack now called "The Lesson", when the Hanseatic League detonated an antimatter bomb on Luna's surface, shredding it apart and bombarding Earth with lunar debris. The attack greatly reduced Earth's influence, inflicted severe environmental destruction, and triggered the Great Galactic War.

Thirty years after the attack, the remains of Luna have been stabilised in Earth's orbit, although small pieces continue to enter Earth's atmosphere; a significant portion of lunar debris has formed a ring system around the Earth.

## History

### Exploration

After World War II the first launch systems were developed; by the end of the 1950s they reached capabilities that allowed the Soviet Union and the United States to launch spacecrafts into space. The Cold War fueled a closely followed development of launch systems by the two states, resulting in the so-called Space Race and its later phase the Moon Race, accelerating efforts and interest in exploration of the Moon.

Following President John F. Kennedy's 1961 commitment to a manned Moon landing before the end of the decade, the United States, under NASA leadership, launched a series of uncrewed probes to develop an understanding of the lunar surface in preparation for human missions. The subsequent landing of the first humans on the Moon in 1969 by the crew of the Apollo 10 is seen by many as the culmination of the Space Race.

With the Space Race concluded, the United States, European Economic Community, Soviet Union and China formed the World Initiative for Space, an international spacefaring effort to establish a United Nations outpost on the Moon and another on Mars before the end of the 20th century.
Scientism

**Scientism** is one of three main religions in the Settled Systems and the official religion of the Free Economic Zone, House Izar and some factions of the Spacers Legion. Its believers are called Scienticians. Scientism instills the mindset that everyone is right where they are meant to be, and straying from one's job or place in life is tantamount to heresy. It is directly opposed to Dolorianism.
Takhar Prison

**Takhar Prison** is a penitentiary on Venus owned and operated by the United Colonies. A dark and unpleasant place, the prison itself is a hot, souless place of metal and concrete, where prisoners live in cramped cells, with two bunks, a pair of chairs, a seat, and the everpresent holographic overseer watching the prisoners every time of the day and night. One of the most notorious prisons in the Settled Systems, several escapes have been attempted; of them all, only one has succeeded: Josia Price, future Pirate King of Twin Moon.
United Jupiter Company

The **United Jupiter Company (U.J.C.)**, also called **JovCorp**, is a mining and aerospace corporation founded to explore and colonise the Jovian system. Founded when the Earth Directorate leased out the outer planets in the mid 21st century, the United Jupiter Company, working with Frontiers, achieved the first human landing on Callisto and Europa in 2028, followed by Ganymede in 2031; the company subsequently discovered life on all three of these moons. It was the wealthiest spacefaring corporation through most of the 2030s and 40s until several accidents in Jupiter's radiation belt drove them into decline, causing the company to be nationalised by the Directorate.

In 2089, the company, its assets and its lease on the Jovian system were bought by Cronos Incorporated, therefore giving Cronos exclusive mining and exploration rights to the two largest planets in the Sol System. Under their new owners, astronauts of the United Jupiter Company reached Sedna and established their own corporation, Sedna Salvage & Shipping, in the 2130s. In the 26th century, the United Jupiter Company remains a subsidiary of Cronos Incorporated, although it is used for little else than hiding assets and asserting the parent company's control over Jupiter.
Cameron Hammond

**Cameron Hammond** was an American mathematician, engineer and physicist who, together with Zhōu Mǐn, discovered the Hammond-Zhōu Quintessence and thus sagittarius fields. One of the most renowned and celebrated scientists in human history, Hammond's discovery paved the way for the development of FTL travel and the expansion of the human race into the rest of the Milky Way. Hammond also founded Hammond Robotics, an engineering company that specialised in interstellar manufacturing, transportation, security and energy distribution. Several planets, ships and various examples of technology bear his name.
Battle of Sparta

The **Battle of Sparta** was a major campaign fought by SPACECOM, H.N. rangers and Spartan Order forces to retake Sparta during Operation Broadsword, the final major campaign of the Great Galactic War.

Sparta, which had served as the military capital of the Hanza throughout the war, was invaded simultaneously with Laconia in October 2445, more than ten years after the start of the war. While the DFFR and Legion fleets concentrated on Laconia, the invasion of Sparta was spearheaded by SPACECOM forces with support from the native Spartan Order and four ranger divisions. The allied forces faced a battle of attrition; League forces were diverted from Sparta to defend Laconia, forcing the remaining Hanza troops to use any tactic to ensure victory.

The invasion, codenamed **Operation Terra's Revenge**, commenced on October 16th, followed by polar landings on the planet's two continents. A four-week ground campaign followed during which Hanza forces destroyed their own outposts to try and slow the Alliance troops. On November 21st, news of Laconia's defeat reached the Hanza commanders on Sparta; unwilling to surrender, the *de facto* Hanza leader Marco Saarius ordered his troops to fight to the death. With the collapse of the League, the Hanza troops mutinied and surrendered, bringing the battle - and the war - to an end.
Gillon System

The **Gillon System**, formerly the **TRAPPIST-1 System**, is a gravitationally bound planetary system located in the Orion–Cygnus Arm of the Milky Way. The core system of the Herschel Nations, it is located 40 light-years from the Sol System. Its star, Gillon, is an ultra-cool red dwarf star surrounded by seven planets, four of which lie within the star's habitable zone. The system holds significant influence in the Herschel Nations, with the planet Harmony serving as the *de facto* legislative capital.

## Stars

### Gillon

Gillon, officially TRAPPIST-1, is an ultra-cool red dwarf star with a planetary system of seven planets. Its mass is about 9% of Sol's with a radius slightly larger than the planet Jupiter and a surface temperature of about 2,566 K (2,293 °C). The star is 40.7 light-years from Sol and is estimated to be 7.6 billion years old, making it older than the Sol System. It was discovered by a team of astronomers headed by Michaël Gillon, the star's namesake.

## Planets

### Harmony

* Diameter: 11,595 km
* Mass: 0.772 M⊕
* Distance from Parent: 0.02928285 AU
* Rotational period: Tidally locked
* Orbital period: 146 hours
* First landing: 2212

The principle planet of the Gillion System and the *de facto* legislative capital of the Herschel Nations, Harmony was one of the first extrasolar colonies settled after the invention of the roemer drive. A tidally locked ocean planet with an atmosphere thick enough to warm its dark side, Harmony is a fully autonomous world with significant power in the Herschel Nation's Moot, which meets on the planet Mars.
U.C. General Assembly

The **United Colonies General Assembly** is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United Colonies, composed of a lower body, the **House of Representatives**, and an upper body, the **Senate**. It meets in the U.C. Capitol in Arcadia on the planet Asgard. Senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a Governor-General's appointment. Members of the General Assembly are elected for a two-year term; representatives can stand for re-election an unlimited number of times, while senators can only stand for two consecutive terms.

Although not legally mandated, in practice Assembly members are typically affiliated with one of the three major parties - the centrist Union & Democracy Party, the right-wing populist Scientism Party and the far-right Constellation Party - and only rarely with a fourth party or independent entirely. In the case of the latter, the lack of affiliation with a political party does not mean that such members are unable to caucus with members of the political parties. Members can also switch parties at any time, although this is quite uncommon.

## Structure

### House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the General Assembly, consisting of colony representatives and a number of deputies. The House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills; those that are also passed by the Senate are sent to the Secretary-General for consideration. The House also has exclusive powers: it initiates all revenue bills, impeaches federal officers, and elects the Secretary-General if no candidate receives a majority of votes.

### Senate

As the upper chamber of the General Assembly, the Senate has several powers of advice and consent. These include the approval of treaties and the confirmation of Cabinet secretaries, federal judges, regulatory officials, ambassadors and other federal executive officials and federal uniformed officers.
Werewolves

The **Werewolves** are an elite paramilitary organization operated by House Izar for the purpose of "corporate wetwork". Identifiable by their distinctive claw mark tattoo, the Werewolves' activities are highly secretive and wholly dedicated to furthering House Izar's goals. Its members consist mostly of former soldiers from both SPACECOM and the DFFR, but some are recruited when young, typically off the street, and trained as effective killers.

The Werewolves have been active in every U.C. conflict thanks to House Izar's former ties with the government and have conducted a multitude of classified operations that involve sabotage and assassination on behalf of both factions. They only entered public eye when they assassinated Salen Dune at the end of the Great Galactic War; since then, many have tried to investigate other covert operations conducted by the Werewolves, but they have all either turned up nothing or suddenly disappeared without a trace.
Thermopylae

Hanza Republic *(2436-2444)*

**Thermopylae**, officially designated **Kepler-1229b**, is a terrestrial super-Earth located in the Kepler-1229 system, 870 light-years from Earth within Kepler Space. A warm jungle world that is tidally locked to its star, it was the first major colony settled by the Herschel Nations after their war of independence. The **Free Republic of Thermopylae** was famously overthrown during the Kepler Campaign of the Great Galactic War and joined the Hanza Republic as its third planet in 2437. It remained under League control until its liberation in 2444, shortly before the Alliance invasion of Hanza space.
Von Braun Construction

**Von Braun Construction** was an aerospace infrastructure and macro-engineering corporation founded by former Anvil Engineering employees with the stated goal of constructing a large, ring-shaped space station, or ringworld, complete with artificial gravity. Having attracted funding from "founders" - people who had invested with the promise of citizenship and guaranteed employment - Von Braun Construction set out to build two ringworlds codenamed *Fortune* and *Event Horizon*.

Construction on the stations began in 2302; however, economic breakdowns, investment suspensions, the Denver plague outbreak and a series of embezzlements had backrupted the company by 2378, when both ringworlds were in the final phase of construction. Von Braun Construction sold *Fortune* to the United Colonies but were unable to shift *Event Horizon* before the company collapsed entirely, leaving those already on *Event Horizon* to fend for themselves. *Event Horizon* was eventually finished by its inhabitants and was declared the Station-State of *Event Horizon* in 2387.
Solomon Jayne

**Solomon Jayne** was an aresian revolutionary and military theorist who was one of the major figures in the Herschel Wars. An aresian nationalist and former physician, Jayne co-founded the Defence Force of the Free Republics and was considered the military leader of the Herschel Nations throughout the conflict.

While working as a medic for the TranStar company, Jayne was radicalized by the poverty, hunger, and disease he witnessed at the hands of the Collective, especially on aresian worlds. His revolutionary ideology was cemented by the hostile terran takeover of Schwarzschild from its original aresian colonists; spurred into action, Jayne provided tactical aid to the aresian rebels and led their forces in the Battle of Schwarzschild. Selected as the Free Republic of Schwarzschild's military chief, Jayne was charged with recruiting other burgeoning rebellions on Harmony, Mars and Gagarin into the Defence Force of the Free Republics, a military pact fighting for aresian independence from the Collective. The subsequent formation of the Herschel Nations sparked the collapse of the Collective and the Herschel Wars, during which Jayne served as Sky Marshal.

Jayne played a pivotal role in the seven-year conflict. In addition to commanding the most advanced military in history, he also undertook diplomatic missions, laying the groundwork for the Herschel Nations to emerge as a government, rather than a military pact as it had initially been conceptualized. He survived a myriad of assassination attempts by the United Colonies and earned a reputation as "*Koschei*", or immortal, dying only when he himself chose to.

The sentiment proved all too true; in the war's final months, Jayne, stricken with cancer and believing the U.C. would recognise the Herschel Nations upon his death, handed himself over to U.C. Special Forces with the intent to die in battle; his subsequent "last stand" resulted in both his death and the deaths of thirty Special Forces soldiers. When peace finally came to the galaxy, Jayne was martyred as a "Hero of the Herschel Nations" whose example is still taught within the DFFR.
Tethys

*Kepler-62e*

**Tethys**, officially designated **Kepler-62e**, is a super-Earth terrestrial planet located 1200 light-years from Earth and the fourth planet from its host star Kepler-62. It is 60 per cent larger than Earth, placing its mass on the border of a mini-Neptune. A humid waterworld, Tethys has just one continent, Alataar.
Astrotitan

***Astrotitan*** is a genus of giant xenoarchosaur native to the planet Asgard. Reaching lengths of over 40 metres, including a few individuals nearing 50 metres in length, it is the largest land organism, alien or otherwise, yet discovered in the Settled Systems; only some aquatic creatures - such as the *Livyatan* of Tethys and the *Ditsö̀* jelly - are larger.
Intercore

The **Interstellar** **Criminal Police Organization of the Free Republics**, commonly known as **Intercore**, is an interstellar organization that facilitates police cooperation and crime control within the Herschel Nations. The largest law enforcement organization in the Settled Systems, it is headquartered in New Rome, Harmony, with several regional bureaus across the Free Republics.

Intercore focuses on three major areas of transstellar crime: terrorism, cybercrime and organized crime. Its broad mandate covers virtually every kind of crime, including crimes against humanity, drug trafficking and production, political corruption, intellectual property infringement, as well as white-collar crime.
New Texas

**New Texas** is the largest and most populous space station in the Herschel Nations, originally built by Texan settlers from Earth. It is one of the three autonomous settlements in Free Republic space, alongside Kepler City and Genoa, and the headquarters of Dustcorp, the largest non-megacorp mining company in the Settled Systems.
Grissom Disaster

The **Grissom Disaster**, also called **5/19**, was a major disaster that affected the Grissom system in 2312. The blast was the largest man-made explosion at the time and it remains the deadliest accident in human history.

   Carrying a payload of antimatter bound for Grissom II, the superfreighter MV *Armstrong's Footstep* suffered a devastating reactor meltdown and roemer drive malfunction shortly after jumping into the system. Catalysed by the antimatter annihilation, the destroyed roemer drive unleashed vast quantities of HZQ, permanently warping the spacetime of the entire system and instantly killing everyone in the colony.
Xander Comstock

**Xander Comstock** was a terran politician who served as the 45th Secretary-General of the United Colonies from 2436 to 2446. He previously served as the Chancellor of the United Colonies from 2431 to 2436 and as a senator in the General Assembly from 2421 to 2431. As chancellor and later Secretary-General during some of the most unstable years in galactic history, Comstock was the U.C.'s principle leader during the Great Galactic War.
PDC

A **Point Defense Cannon** (PDC) is a rapid-fire projectile weapon used by all military-grade - and some civilian - spaceships for defense against missiles and ships.

## Overview

PDCs are turreted rotary autocannons, utilizing a set of more, or less than, six spinning barrels to spew out thousands of rounds per minute to intercept incoming ordnance. PDCs are laid out on a ship's hull to cover all angles with overlapping fields of fire, providing a defensive curtain to more easily and effectively take out missiles. Most PDCs are positioned on "arms" that can extend outwards from the hull of the ship to allow sufficient clearance when deployed. Some turrets can also be retracted into the hull and can extend outwards in mere seconds.

PDCs are computer-controlled as humans would find it nearly impossible to effectively track and destroy fast targets like torpedoes. PDCs are mainly used against guided ordnance, but they also perform fairly well as close range ship-to-ship weapons and can be used for direct space-to-surface strikes on personnel. Some brands of PDC rounds are able to penetrate the armor on most smaller ships. Although uncommon, PDCs have been known to jam while in combat.
Ganymede

**Ganymede** is the largest moon of Jupiter and the largest and most massive of the Sol System's moons. The largest object in the Sol System without a substantial atmosphere, Ganymede is larger than the planet Mercury, although it is only 45 percent as massive. One of the four Galilean moons, Ganymede is also one of the eight bodies in the Sol System known to support life, which consists of simple invertebrate organisms within the moon's subsurface ocean.

Despite its size and prominance, Ganymede was the third of Jupiter's moons to be colonized by humans, after Callisto and Europa, due to Ganymede being deep within Jupiter's main radiation belt. The moon was finally reached in 2034 and became a farming colony, the largest in the Home Systems, and the U.C.'s local capital following Luna's destruction in 2435.

## Physical Characteristics

### Size

With a diameter of about 5270 km and a mass of 1.48×1020 tonnes, Ganymede is the largest and most massive moon in the Sol System. It is slightly more massive than the second most massive moon, Saturn's satellite Titan, and is more than twice as massive as the Earth's Moon. It is larger than the planet Mercury (diameter 4880 km), though far less massive, at only 45 percent of Mercury's mass. This mass also means that although Ganymede is the ninth-largest object in the solar system, it is only the tenth-most massive.

### Internal structure

#### Subsurface Ocean

A salt-water ocean lies beneath Ganymede's icy surface.
Interstellar Collective

The **Interstellar Collective** was an interstellar government that represented all human colonies until its collapse in the 23rd century, when it split during the Herschel Wars to form the rival United Colonies and Herschel Nations. Its period of governance is referred to as the "Collective era".

The Collective formed in 2069 when the Earth Directorate and the Confederation of Aresian Republics agreed to form a unitary government in accordance with the Treaty of Olympus. Aresian sovereignty was recognised and both factions agreed to cooperate in all political and economic matters, effectively making the Collective a new United Nations. Despite internal tensions and conflicts with corporations, the Collective became an effective government for all humanity and oversaw their expansion into other star systems.

The Collective era came to a violent end in 2235 with the Herschel Wars and the associated ideological split between Earth and Mars, which formed the United Colonies and Herschel Nations respectively.
First Marshal

The **First Marshal**, formerly **Lord Marshal**, is the elected commander-in-chief of the Defence Force of the Free Republics and *de facto* head-of-state of the Herschel Nations. They are elected by a majority vote of the sitting Sky Marshals within the Moot every five years. Due to the H.N.'s decentralized confederate government, the High Marshal has little executive power, meaning the role is largely ceremonial.
Artificial Intelligence

**Artificial Intelligence**, or **artificial intellects**, commonly shortened to **A.I.**, refers to a computer or a robot that is "self-aware", meaning it is capable of not only logical deduction, reasoning and speaking, but knows of its own existence, the possibility of its own mortality (or immortality), and possesses creativity, desire, and emotion.
Roemer Drive

The **roemer drive** is a spacecraft propulsion system that utilizes a kugelblitz and an antimatter annihilation reaction to produce Hammond-Zhōu quintessence, thus creating sagittarius fields that in turn form starbridges, regions of spacetime where a spacecraft can travel beyond the speed of light. All FTL-capable spacecraft possess a roemer drive, as they are the only known method of creating sagittarius fields and therefore the only known way to achieve FTL travel. Devices called stargates have been constructed that effectively serve as a series of roemer drives, allowing large commerical ships to travel vast distances without a heavy roemer drives themselves.

## Physics

### FTL Process

To achieve FTL travel, the energy from a matter-antimatter annihilation reaction, once it reaches the McBride Point, is reflected inwards by a parabolic reflector to form a kugelblitz, an energy-based black hole. The resulting spacetime distortion allows Hammond-Zhōu quintessence to "leak" into space; the HZQ is then stored in special containers within the engine. The interactions between HZQ and space produce sagittarius fields, which come together through ion guidance to form a starbridge, an area of warped space where FTL travel is possible.
Space Combat

**Space combat** is the use of armed starships and other spacecraft for the purposes of military actions across star systems. Along with ground warfare, space combat is one of two most significant branches of warfighting. Evolving from water navy engagements and in turn the earliest orbital battles, space warfare has become a high technology affair that has often defined the outcome of mankind's most important conflicts.

## Technology

Often times, the outcome of a battle depends on the design of warships, naval doctrine and technological innovation. While the sizes and capabilities of starships vary, four main technologies drive - and have been advanced by - space warfare: weapon systems, shield technology, sublight propulsion, and FTL technology.

### Weaponry

There are two basic types of space weaponry: energy and conventional. Energy weapons began with microwave lasers for offense and were typically secondary to conventional, physical weapons. From 2240, however, energy weapons became the more popular form of offensive weaponry in space combat, dominated by the laser cannon, while ballistic weapons served more to defend the starship itself from enemy ordnance.

On capital and battleships, weapons are normally grouped into batteries based upon the weapon type and its placement upon the hull. For example, on an *Schwarzschild*-class starship the heavy turbolasers on the portside of the hull's dorsal surface are grouped into one battery, while those on the starboard dorsal surface are grouped into a second battery. Targeting computers in starships are usually shared between the weapons of each battery, allowing the gunners to concentrate their fire on particular targets. Other designs of energy weapon included the ion cannon, an electromagnetic weapon used to non-destructively disable electronic systems.

Conventional weapons were the first weapons used in space combat. Although the first conventional space weaponry included projectiles such as slugs, technology further progressed and came to encompass guided missiles and torpedo launchers. Conventional weapons can be guided, as in the case of missiles, or unguided, as in the case of bombs. Most modern starships come equipped with Point Defence Cannons (PDCs) that can fire thousands of round per minute, but other ballistic weapons include the the proton bomb, proton torpedo, and the concussion missile.

### Propulsion technology

Sublight drives propel ships below the speed of light and are best represented by ion drives: powered by fusion generators, these engines expel particles at a very high speed to provide propulsive force.
Io

Io
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**Io** is the innermost and third-largest of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter. Slightly larger than Earth’s moon, Io is the fourth-largest moon in the Sol System and has strongest surface gravity of any satellite in the system. With over 400 active volcanoes, Io is the most geologically active object in the system. This extreme geologic activity is the result of tidal heating from friction generated within Io's interior as it is pulled between Jupiter and the other Galilean moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Unlike most moons in the outer Sol System, which are mostly composed of water ice, Io is primarily composed of silicate rock surrounding a molten iron or iron sulfide core. Most of Io's surface is composed of extensive plains with a frosty coating of sulfur and sulfur dioxide.

Because of the hostile conditions and its position deep in Jupiter's radiation field, Io was the last of the Galilean moons to be colonized and was finally reached in 2035, a full year after Ganymede. Its desolate surface failed to draw the attention of the United Jupiter Company and Io was instead given to the Transport Union, who continue to use it as their headquarters in the Home Systems.
Seam

The **Seam** is the colloquial name for the **light barrier**, which is the maximum speed that any physical object or information can travel at: the speed of light, which is approximately 300000 km/s; going past this point is referred to as faster-than-light (FTL) travel, or "Breaking the Seam". Doing so is only possible using sagittarius fields, areas of warped spacetime generated by roemer drives, which create fractures that in turn form a starbridge.
Nemesis (Series)

***Nemesis*** is an upcoming sci-fi story set in the *Project Sagittarius* Universe. It will follow a set of characters in the titular Nemesis City, the last megametropolis on a ruined Earth, and the exploits of an underground movement working to expose the corporation that governs the city.

## Characters

### Main

* Paradox: an independent media reporter and vigilante seeking to expose the crimes of the Nemesis Group
* Adam Belladonna: a rebellious rockstar, lead singer of Gallowglass and sworn enemy of the Nemesis Group
* Heather Belladonna: a notorious fixer and wife of Adam Belladonna
Starbridge

A **starbridge** is a spacetime construct that forms when the Seam is broken by sagittarius fields, creating a region of warped space with negative mass within which a spacecraft can travel faster than light without breaking any physical laws. Using starbridges, a spacecraft can travel hundreds of light-years within a few days. Starbridges can either be formed by a starship itself using a roemer drive or by a stargate.
Mary-Minerva McArthur

**Mary-Minerva "Mary-M" McArthur** is a television actress, bounty hunter and former ranger who stars as the character **Andromeda Abigail** in the in-universe TV show *Galactic Gunslinger*. Between shooting seasons, Mary-M travels the stars, using her stage name to hunt bounties and try to better the Settled Systems in her own way.

## Biography

### Early Life & Background

Not much is currently known about Mary-M's early life. She was born on New Texas, one of the largest space stations in the Settled Systems and the largest within Herschel Nations territory. From a young age she held a fascination with theatre and often performed in plays.

After her graduation she began her conscription in the DFFR and remained when her service term expired, eventually graduating into the DFFR's most elite division, the Sovereignty Patrol. There she earned a reputation as a masterful markswoman, one who preferred small arms such as revolvers to heavier weapons. Like most rangers, she developed a mental bond with her ship, which she named the *Bad Moon Rising*; the neural connection between them outclassed her fellow rangers and made her one of the deadliest dogfighters in the organization's history.

Despite her dedicated service, Mary-M always remained an outsider that preferred her own company, even in the famously close-knit units of the DFFR. By her thirties she had left the rangers - having earned the legal right to do so - and decided to pursue a new path: acting.

Within a few years, Mary-M had become the star of a widely-popular TV show called *Galactic Gunslinger*, in which she portrayed the protagonist "Andromeda Abigail". The nickname stuck, and few actually referred to her as Mary-M in conversation (with even fewer using her whole first name). Despite her new success, Mary-M still felt that something was missing; instead of drink and drugs, Mary-M turned to bounty hunting, a risky, yet lucrative, source of extra income that would put all her skills to the test.
Interstellar Credit

The **Interstellar Credit**, widely known as **credits**, **creds** or **Cs**, is the official currency of the United Colonies and the most common currency in the Settled Systems. Although the credit is primarily a digital currency, credits can be stored and carried physically in disposable handheld devices called **credchits**.
Bifrost

**Bifrost** is a wormhole that lies at the farthest edge of the Sol System, approximately 460 AU from Sol. Discovered at the end of the 20th century, it was studied by the *Crusader* Program for more than two centuries and discovered to be a body of previously-unknown exotic matter. Further studies by physicists Cameron Hammond and Zhōu Mǐn achieved isolation of this material followed by direct production through antimatter and kugelblitz experiments, allowing for the invention of sagittarius fields and FTL travel. Even in the 25th century, its origins remain unknown; theories range from a natural occurrence of spacetime warping to it being deliberately put there by the extinct travellers.
UHFS Olympus Mons

The **UHFS *Olympus Mons*** was the largest dreadnought of the United Hanza Fleet, the naval force of the Hanza Republic and the Hanseatic League. Under the command of Pierre Danois, the *Mons* spearheaded the Home Systems Campaign during the Great Galactic War, the largest and bloodiest campaign in the history of warfare.

In June 2465, during the Battle of Earth, the *Mons* was destroyed in a surprise attack by the U.S.F.S. *Retribution*, which rammed the *Mons* while carrying an antimatter payload.
Denver Plague

The **Denver Plague** was an interstellar pandemic that ravaged the Settled Systems from 2318 to 2351, when a vaccine was finally developed. The pathogen responsible, an extraterrestrial virus, was the most virulant pathogen ever discovered and resulted in almost 750 million deaths, primarily within the Bridge Systems and Kepler Space, therefore making it the deadliest pandemic in human history.