Author Topic: Gazetteer of the Terran Alliance, 50th Anniversary Edition  (Read 3566 times)

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Offline RedKing (OP)

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Gazetteer of the Terran Alliance, 50th Anniversary Edition
« on: December 11, 2011, 01:05:11 PM »
OOC: Just a quick note to let people know that this hasn't died. I just haven't been particularly inspired to write up anything in the last several weeks. BUT...my game is about to hit the 50-year mark, and so I assumed RP-wise that Unified Command would want to publish a full survey of known space to mark the occasion. So I focused on getting full grav surveys out to the Third Ring. And then decided that I was sick of seeing a list of Gliese xxx and Wolf XXX a mile long, so the Alliance embarked on a grand renaming of systems, as well as dividing things up a bit politically. I've actually put some thought into it and I tend to want it all to be as real-life accurate as possible when playing with Real Stars on, so it's taken a lot of work outside the game to compile where each system is in relation to Earth, which constellation it's in, etc. And then as you'll soon see, for selected systems I've used NBOS's fantastic AstroSynthesis and Fractal Terrains programs to generate planetary and system maps, and Universe Sandbox to generate some planetside visualizations.

I'm not done yet, but hopefully I'll have some of the first entries up soon.
 

Offline Anarade Relle

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Re: Gazetteer of the Terran Alliance, 50th Anniversary Edition
« Reply #1 on: December 15, 2011, 01:25:13 AM »
I look foreword to it!
 

Offline RedKing (OP)

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Re: Gazetteer of the Terran Alliance, 50th Anniversary Edition
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2011, 09:30:06 AM »
System: Sol
Primary: Sol (G2V)
Mainworld: Earth/Terra (Sol c)

System Population: (2074 census)
Earth/Terra (Sol c): 2,449,180,000
Mars (Sol d): 53,000,000
Nereid (Sol h-8): c. 750,000
63 Ausonia (Main Belt Asteroid): c. 700,000
3 Juno (Main Belt Asteroid): c. 600,000
Titan (Sol f-10): c. 550,000
Triton (Sol h-7): c. 350,000
126 Velleda (Main Belt Asteroid): c. 250,000



Terra

Though we now know that Terra is no longer unique in the universe either in terms of supporting humans or giving rise to sapient lifeforms, it remains the home to 97% of Alliance citizens, and will remain the capital and hub of Alliance activity for the forseeable future. The human race has recovered well from the horrors of the Great War, though it is still well below the pre-war population level of around 7.2 billion. Industrial growth on Terra has slowed significantly in the last decade, and unemployment continues to be a concern, hovering around 10.8%. Mining activity has decreased 47% from the founding of the Alliance, as critical trans-Newtonian deposits have been exhausted. The only major mining facility still in operation is the Trans-Baikal vendarite mining complex. It is projected to exhaust its supply of ore in the next 10-12 years.

Significant locations:
New York (commercial hub)
Xinguangdong (manufacturing hub)
Osaka (research hub)

Military shipyards:
Guangzhou Shipyards, Shenzhen
Alexandria Shipyard, Alexandria
Wartsila A/B Oy yards, Helsinki
Everett Shipyard, Everett

Ground forces:
1st Division, 3rd Brigade
1st Engineering Command, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Engineer Corps
1st Volunteer Division
2nd Division
2nd Volunteer Division
3rd Division
Terran Home Defense Divsion
Star Marine Expeditionary Force
93rd Civil Security Regiment
81st Reserve Regiment
Total combat strength: 97 regiments

Planetary Defense Facilities:
Canfield ASFB (also HQ to Terran Aerospace Command), CO: RADM Chamunda Bose
Nellis ASFB, CO: FCDR Wei Wen Song

Aerospace Squadrons:
4th Fighter Squadron "Golden Eagles" - 10x F-34 Comanche, CO: CPT Haimati Gholkar (Nellis ASFB)
Raider Groups Blue and Yellow - 6x G-5 Corsair, CO: RADM Russ Amano (Canfield ASFB)


Additionally, the battle squadrons of the fleet maintain Earth orbit when not actively deployed on training or deep-space operations. At the time of this entry, all three battle squadrons are in Earth orbit.



Mars

Over the last 50 years, the Terran Alliance has turned the long-standing dream of a human colony on Mars into a reality. Over 53 million people now call Mars their home, many of them miners in the vast Tharses Montes complex. Though heavily terraformed, Mars is still not yet habitable without technological support. The atmospheric pressure is still low, the partial pressure of oxygen still lower than that at the top of Mt. Everest, and the average temperature of the planet is a frigid -21.8C. As such, Martians live in pressurized, heated facilities and use insulated excursion suits with integral oxygen masks when venturing outside.

One item of note: many visitors to Mars will comment on the remarkably deep, rumbly voices of long-time colonists, even females. This is due to the use of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) in atmospheric terraforming. Despite air filtration and frequent use of oxygen boosters, some SF6 does get into the air supply. SF6 is a noticeably dense inert gas which results in lowering the vibrational speed of the air surrounding the vocal cords, in a similar but opposite effect to helium. Longer exposure to the Martian atmosphere results in a buildup of SF6 in the lungs and tracheal air column, resulting in a deeper voice. Although this can be debilitating long-term and oxygen remediation is recommended to flush SF6 from the lungs, many Martians are proud of their deepened voices and use them as a way to distinguish "Reddies" (local population) from "squeakers" (recent arrivals or visitors from Earth). Thus, many of the earliest colonists refuse oxygen remediation, because their very deep voices accord them a great deal of respect in the Martian community as a status symbol.

Mining activity accounts for 42% of economic activity on Mars. In the early days of the Mars colony, this was significantly higher. But as the population has grown, a significant service and commercial sector has grown to meet its needs. Mars now trade in a wide variety of goods, notably the export of plastics and the import of fur and textiles for the crafting of Martian excursion suits.

Significant Locations:
Tharses Montes (mining complex)
Broken Hill (population hub, on the western slope of Pavonis Mons)
Galle (secondary colony and spaceport, Argyre Planitia) -- locally known as "Big Happy", due to the shape of the Galle crater.

Military Shipyards:
None.

Ground Forces:
1st Division, 1st Brigade "Big Red One"
Total combat strength: 4 regiments

Planetary Defense Facilities:
None

Aerospace Squadrons:
None



Other Locations

The remainder of human settlements in the Sol system are corporate mining concerns. Roughly 3.2 million civilians work at the six CMCs in the outer system. Of note is that Sorengaard-DeKlerk reports that it expects to close its facility on Nereid in the next two years due to dwindling returns. There has been no official statement yet as to whether the workers there will be relocated to other facilities or whether Sorengaard will apply for a permit for a new facility.

Venus is home to a large Alliance automining complex and is strictly off-limits to civilian personnel, both due to the environmental hazards and its frequent use as a live-fire hostile environment training area by the Army and Star Marines.

Six Summit-class asteroid miners are deployed in the Main Belt. Currently, they are:
Carpathian (193 Ambrosia)
Etna (112 Iphigenia)
Everest (Halley's Comet)
Fuji (193 Ambrosia)
Himalayas (no current assignment)
Kilimanjaro (59 Elpis)
« Last Edit: December 17, 2011, 01:48:59 PM by RedKing »
 

Offline RedKing (OP)

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Re: Gazetteer of the Terran Alliance, 50th Anniversary Edition
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2011, 11:17:22 AM »
System: Agni
Primary: Agni (Lacaille 8760, M0V) -- 3rd Ring
Mainworld: New Earth (Agni c)

System Population: (2074 census)
New Earth: 7,870,000




New Earth

The first world discovered that was habitable without the use of terraforming, New Earth was named because it bears a striking similarity to our own world. Its average atmospheric pressure is 0.8143 atm, It has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere which, while thin and oxygen-poor compared to Earth, is breathable without the use of a respirator or oxygen booster. It is 79% water, and has a base temperature of 2.12C.

Settlement has been restricted to the equatorial lowlands, where average temperatures are a comfortable 10-16C. These lowlands, known as "the Green Belt", bridge the two continental landmasses: Parvata to the north, consisting mostly of a massive arctic highland; and Giria to the south, consisting of rugged, alpine hills and a few mountain ranges. Despite Agni's weak insolation, New Earth is tidally-locked and the primary landmass faces the star at all times, allowing for a much higher temperature than would be otherwise expected. This heat is lost to convection in the atmosphere to the darkside of the planet, where the ocean is constantly in a state of near-freezing.

Geological surveys reveal an abundance of critical resources on New Earth, and the Alliance is working hard to build up mining operations in the Parvatan southern foothills. There is a constant demand for more workers, and there is a regular flow of colonists from Earth. Commercial activity is limited but growing. The Agni system is also home to numerous moons, asteroids and two large Venusian inner planets with extensive mineral resources. The Alliance is attempting to encourage commercial development of these off-world resources, but is hampered by the distance involved. For the average Starhauler freighter, it is a 40-day journey each way between Earth and New Earth.

Despite the planetary similarities, life on New Earth is markedly different from that on Earth. Agni has an angular diameter of 1.09 degrees, about twice that of Sol on Earth. Because of the greatly reduced luminosity however, no eye protection is required. Some observers have noted that the experience is like "living in a darkroom" because of the constant dull reddish glow overhead. There is some native flora on New Earth, but no native fauna beyond the bacterial level. The main flora, known as "Agni violets" have very broad, dark purple leaves which face upwards, on thin purplish stems leading back to a main taproot. The taproot can be processed as a source of starch and carbohydrates, but is a fairly inefficient foodsource. As a result, the New Earth colony is dependent on regular food shipments from Earth.

Significant Locations:
New Mumbai (primary colony, located at the apex of the Bay of Mumbai)
Ayas Mining Complex (north of the Green Belt, in the Parvatan foothills)

Military Shipyards:
None

Ground Forces:
None

Planetary Defense Facilities:
None

Aerospace Squadrons:
None



Other Locations

No other settlements exist in the Agni system at this time, however surveys have noted a potentially habitable moon, Agni d-4. Slightly between Titan and Mars in size, this moon has a very thin N2-O2 atmosphere which could be enriched with terraforming to breathable standards. However, there is no mineral wealth on the moon and the average temperature is below -120C. This makes it a very low priority target for colonization.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2011, 11:23:40 AM by RedKing »
 

Offline Maltay

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Re: Gazetteer of the Terran Alliance, 50th Anniversary Edition
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2011, 03:24:21 PM »
I like.
I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
 

Offline RedKing (OP)

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Re: Gazetteer of the Terran Alliance, 50th Anniversary Edition
« Reply #5 on: December 28, 2011, 11:59:56 AM »
System: Procyon
Primary: Procyon A (F5 IV) -- 4th Ring
Companion: Procyon B (D7 VII)
Mainworld: Haven (Procyon A c)

System Population: (2074 census)
Haven: 3,290,000



Haven

The second world discovered that was habitable without the use of terraforming, Haven is substantially more comfortable and has a wider range of habitation than New Earth. However, due to its distance from Earth colonization has lagged behind. Its average atmospheric pressure is 2.0961 atm, and it has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere which is relatively oxygen-poor but because of the higher partial pressure is breathable without the use of a respirator or oxygen booster. It is 54% water, and has a base temperature of 16.64C. Gravity is 45% higher than that of Earth, and the Haven day is 40 hours, and a complete orbit of Procyon A takes 5.8 years.

Haven's habitable zone stretches across a large area of the planet's surface. Because of its mild climate and long days with high amounts of insolation from Procyon A, Haven has the potential to become the breadbasket of the Alliance. A number of Earth crops (particularly C4-metabolizing crops like sugarcane, corn and some varieties of grapes) have been successfully transplanted to Haven, displacing the indigenous flora. Haven is home to a wide variety of indigenous flora, and native fauna have evolved to a stage roughly equivalent to that of Earth's early Permian period, culminating in a dominant omnivore which has a striking number of similarity to Earth synapsids. Haven's earliest settlers were a Danish contingent of xenobiologists, and their shorthand name for the creature, orne-firben ("boar-lizard") was appropriated by later settlers as the "ornafer".

The ornafer (scientific name: Xenosynapsida cynodontia) grows to roughly 1.6m in length as an adult, and stands about 1m high at the shoulder. Ornafers are primarily grazers but have been observed to eat the Haven analog of small arthropods and even carrion. While not predatory, ornafers can be aggressive during mating season (which due to Haven's extended annual cycle, can last over 1 Earth year). Limited attempts have been made to domesticate the ornafer as a draft animal, with mixed results. Ornafer meat is regarded as inedible, both because of its disagreeable taste and certain exotic proteins which are not digestible by humans and cause gastrointestinal upset.

Artist's depiction of a female ornafer in summer.


Artist's depiction of a male ornafer with winter coat.



Haven has an extreme axial tilt of 83 degrees. This means that the southern pole is perpetually blanketed in daylight, while the northern pole receives only a scant amount of light every few Earth years, leaving most of the extreme northern landmass encased in ice. Near the equator, daylight can vary a great deal, depending on the season. A Haven "summer" experiences long days (>35 hours) and short nights, although Procyon A remains low in the sky during these "days". During the Haven "winter", daylight may only come for a few hours every 3-4 Earth days. However, because of the thick atmosphere and intense insolation, nighttime temperatures differ very little from daytime temperatures and indeed much of the northern hemisphere remains at habitable temperatures despite the lack of sunlight.  From Haven's standpoint, Procyon A has an angular diameter of 19.5', about 60% that of Sol. However, the solar radiation is considerably more intense. While this is offset to some degree by greater atmospheric diffraction, proper eye protection is still recommended. The increased diffraction makes Haven's sky a bright bluish-white for some 10-20 degrees around Procyon A, fading quickly to deep reds and oranges in the direction of the near horizon, and a deep bluish-gray in the direction of the far horizon. Because more of Procyon A's output is in the UV spectrum, it is also recommended that visitors wear clothing that covers most exposed areas due to an increased risk for skin cancer. While Haven has only been settled for about 30 years, most Havenites have deep tans, depsite their mostly Nordic heritage.

Geographically, Haven has one main landmass with a northern highland area, a few large inland seas, and a large expanse of open plains and gentle rolling hills. Because of the low population and relatively short period of colonization, there is still much of Haven that is unexplored except by orbital survey. Broadly, the residents have one main demarcation line: the 14-degree zone around the equator which seperates the planet into areas of light and darkness. Areas south of the zone are known as "Dagenmark", north as "Nattenmark", and the area within the zone as "Mittenmark". Although the initial settlement of New Trondheim was in the Dagenmark, subsequent Danish and Swedish settlers have chosen to situate in the Mittenmark, so as to avoid some of the pitfalls of perpetual daylight (and because most Earth crops have trouble with proper photosynthesis without some night periods).

Visitors to Haven have described the experience as "feeling like you just ate Thanksgiving dinner", because of the stronger gravity and thicker atmosphere. Daily life on Haven is slow and relaxed, particularly in the southern reaches. The long southern days are optimal for agriculture, but have been known to cause disorientation for visitors used to Earth's diurnal cycle. Haven has proven to be popular with settlers from Scandinavia, who are more culturally acclimated to extreme diurnal cycles.

Map of Haven



Significant Locations:
Nye København (West Mittenmark settlement)
Nya Stockholm (East Mittenmark settlement)
Nye Trondheim (Dagenmark settlement and main population center on Haven)

Military Shipyards:
None

Ground Forces:
1st Division, 2nd Brigade "Haven Guards"

Planetary Defense Facilities:
None

Aerospace Squadrons:
None



Other Locations

In addition, Haven has two very small moons, named Arvak and Alsvid (after the Norse myth of the two horses which pull the sun's chariot). The larger and slower of the two, Arvak, has been shown to contain a few hundred thousand metric tonnes of trans-Newtonian ore, and may be targeted for civilian mining once Haven's population and infrastructure grow to the point that it could support such a colony.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2011, 08:08:54 AM by RedKing »
 

Offline OAM47

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Re: Gazetteer of the Terran Alliance, 50th Anniversary Edition
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2011, 10:10:15 AM »
Very interesting.  I've toyed with the fractal mapper, but never gotten as good of results as you!
 

Offline RedKing (OP)

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Re: Gazetteer of the Terran Alliance, 50th Anniversary Edition
« Reply #7 on: December 31, 2011, 08:25:32 AM »
I use AstroSynthesis to hold the stellar cartography stuff, and Fractal Terrains for the actual planetary surface maps. It's nice, because AstroSynthesis will actually export some of the planetary data (such as base temperature, hydrographic ratio and axial tilt) to FT automatically. I'm not sure to what degree it simulates axial tilt, because in previous maps with extreme axial tilt, I've had polar caps on both ends. But in the case of Haven, it worked out well that the southern pole is ice-free.

One quirk is that AstroSynthesis in many cases uses different star catalog references than Steve does for the Real Stars option, so I've had to construct my own cheat sheet so to make it easier to find and rename systems in AstroSynthesis. While I was at it, I kept track of what constellation each star is in as seen from Earth, which helps in deciding how the sectors would be divided up (You'll see that more when I get around to posting a star map/jump route map).
 

Offline RedKing (OP)

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Re: Gazetteer of the Terran Alliance, 50th Anniversary Edition
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2012, 11:21:49 AM »
Overview Map of the Terran Alliance and Known Space, 1 Jan 2075


(Sorry for the crappy freehand MSPaint annotations...at work, and don't have PSP or Photoshop available)

After the Stellar Nomenclature Act of 2074, Alliance cartographers settled on a division of Alliance space into four broad sectors, based in part on their constellational positions. The new sectors were named according to the two most commonly represented constellations in their area. Each sector was nominally the responsibility of a geographic power bloc on Earth. Initially this was only for naming rights, but as time grew each bloc adopted their sector as part of their identity. This would have fateful repercussions in the decades ahead.

The northern "third" became the Leo-Virgo (LV) sector (technically, it should be Leo-Virginis, but early drafts called it Leo-Virgo and the name stuck), overseen by the European Union. Its nominal sector capital is Haven/Procyon Ac. It is the smallest sector in terms of star systems, and encompasses the hostile Tartarus Reach (the Class III black hole Tartarus and the four known systems beyond it including two Wraith-inhabited systems).

The western third became the Ceti-Eridani (CE) sector, overseen by a joint US-Indian alliance. Its nominal sector capital is New Earth/Agni c. It is the largest sector, but has the least development in terms of jumpgate, with no gates extending beyond the 3rd Ring. It houses the only known Swarm sighting (Hive), and a recently discovered alien race provisionally named the Oni (in the as-yet-renamed Gliese 176). Initial contact with the Oni was aggressive but did not result in a combat incident. Alliance xenographers are still attempting to establish communication.

The remaining portion (other than the Charybdis pocket) became the Ursa-Draconis (UD) sector, overseen by a joint Russian-Chinese-Japanese bloc. Although it contains no inhabited colonies, the nominal sector capital is Fort Yoshioka/Struve 2398 Bb. Fort Yoshioka is currently undergoing terraforming, but there are reports of a small Bastani squatter settlement in recent months. This could constitute a serious breach of the Sterly-B'salqi Treaty of 2069 if true. The UD sector remains partially out of compliance with the Nomenclature Act because of infighting between the Chinese and Japanese members over their choices of designations. Observers believe that if the sector is not made compliant soon, UniCom may step in and issue their own designations, overriding the Alliance Council. Although the UD Sector contains a number of potentially feasible candidates for colonization, it is already partially claimed by the Bastan Empire, which limits future expansion unless the status quo changes. The UD sector is also the most developed in terms of the jumpgate network, though most of the jumpgates are of Bastani construction rather than human.

As noted above, the Charybdis Pocket (the Class II black hole Charybdis and the two systems beyond it, Teegarden's Star and Depot) are not part of the three sectors but instead fall directly under UniCom authority along with Sol. Combined with the interdiction on civilian traffic through Charybdis, this has led to a great many conspiracy theories, most of which claim that UniCom is hiding something of great importance in the Pocket. These range from an alien super-dreadnaught, to a mobile battlestation the size of a small moon, to a paradisical world where only UniCom personnel retire to while forcing the rest of the Alliance citizenry to inhabit meager outpost worlds or a crowded Earth. The truth is far less exciting: Black holes are deemed sufficient navigational hazards to interdict civilian shipping, and currently the two systems are completely unutilized, although there are some long-term plans to build a mothballing/decomissioning facility in Depot.


Closeup Map of Earth and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Rings.


Thanks to the efforts of the UniCom fleet over the last fifty years, the first three Rings now consitute the core of the Alliance. Except for the Swarm presence in Hive, this area of space is fully mapped and cleared of sentient alien life, pushing the frontier to the 4th Ring and beyond. A large portion of the Core, as it is coming to be known, has jumpgate access, which will allow for much greater civilian access and exploitation.
« Last Edit: January 15, 2012, 12:02:19 PM by RedKing »
 

Offline ardem

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Re: Gazetteer of the Terran Alliance, 50th Anniversary Edition
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2012, 06:09:02 PM »
Well done on you maps they look very good.