Brahe
Brahe is an ocean planet in the Copernicus system. First colonized alongside Iolaus by sleeper ships c. 2132, contact was temporarily lost during the war between the Terran Commonwealth and the Ares Confederation. Since contact was reestablished during the formation of the Sol Central Government, Brahe has been a strong supporter of the SCG and an advocate for further expansion into unexplored space. With only 12% of the planet's surface being usable landmass, Brahe's economy was mostly founded on the tourism that the extensive coasts attract, and research done in surface and underwater labs. The Zeng-Hu corporation in particular has strong ties to Brahe's genetic research labs, and many Brahese government officials held positions within the company.
As of April 1st, 2311, Brahe's sister planet Iolaus seceded from the SCG to found the Frontier Alliance, putting the Copernicus system under Alliance control. The SCG blockaded Copernicus and the rest of the Alliance in response, cutting off Brahe from the rest of the galaxy. Many on Brahe do not support the Alliance, and many more still consider themselves Solar citizens, but Brahe is now largely under the Alliance's – and Iolaus' – thumb. Brahe’s future remains frightening and unclear as the Frontier Alliance and effects of the new blockade take hold.
Geography
Due to its highly-elliptical orbit, Brahe’s climate fluctuates wildly between extremes, ranging from blistering heat and tropical storms in the hotter seasons to dangerously-low temperatures during its winters. For human life, unassisted survival on the planet’s surface is possible only during Brahe’s more temperate months – during the inhospitable off-seasons, residents retreat to off-world community stations or to one of many aquatic habitation centers below Brahe’s waves.
Geographically, Brahe is dominated by massive salt water oceans, which account for nearly 90% of the planet’s surface. Compared to the volatile climate above, these oceans maintain relatively stable temperatures year-round. While the surfaces of these oceans are often wracked by violent blizzards and hurricanes, Brahe’s subaquatic depths remain consistently habitable – nearly all of the planet’s native life exists below the surface. This unique biosphere has long been a major point of interest among the Brahese scientific community; today, the planet boasts some of the most advanced research programs in the field of marine science in all of human space.
History
The first settlements on Brahe were subaquatic laboratories, sponsored by the Terran Commonwealth’s early colonization efforts. The planet’s thriving marine ecosystem, coupled with its position on the then-frontier of deep space, made Brahe an invaluable scientific outpost – over the next seventy years, corporate and Commonwealth investment would see the expansion of these laboratories into a sprawling network of subaquatic research complexes. The first terrestrial structures – what would later become New Aarhus – would be built during this time period.
With the onset of the Ares War, Brahe and its sister planet Iolaus found themselves cut off from Sol. While Iolaus rallied, Brahe – having been entirely reliant on off-planet investment and imported supplies – nearly collapsed, with massive shortages rocking the planet and many research complexes falling into disrepair. Brahe survived this period of hardship only thanks to the aid from its neighboring Iolaus, whose exports still form the backbone of Brahe’s economy to this day. After the reestablishment of contact with Sol in 2230, Brahe’s corporate leaders leapt at the chance to reintegrate with Sol, and have retained close ties with the broader corporate research sector ever since.
Since reintegration, many companies – most prominently Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals – sought to reclaim and expand their holdings on Brahe, buying up abandoned settlements and repurposing them for research or, later, as exclusive travel destinations. Brahe’s unique climate and abundant shorelines proved highly lucrative; it was not long before Zeng-Hu would build its first Zeng-Hu leisure park, an entirely self-contained city catering to wealthy Solar tourists in Brahe’s temperate months, and evacuating its staff and residents to off-planet community stations and subaquatic habitation centers during the off-season.
Today, Zeng-Hu boasts two such cities: ZH Paradise and ZH Eden. Brahe’s third terrestrial city – its capital, New Aarhus – fell under mixed public and private ownership, but likewise boasted a large tourist sector. In recent years, Zeng-Hu had purchased much of New Aarhus’s above-water and near-shore property; many suspect the corporation had plans of converting the city into a third leisure park, prior to 2311.
As of April 1st, 2311, Brahe was abruptly cut off from the rest of the galaxy with the formation of the Frontier Alliance and the SCG blockade of the Copernicus system. While Brahe is nominally a founding member, the Frontier Alliance sees little support from the ocean planet: though the Alliance has won some favor among Brahe's disenfranchised working class, the Alliance's violently anti-corporate and anti-Sol stances have fared poorly for the planet's corporate sphere. Today, Brahe is a planet held hostage, and thousands of tourists, Zeng-Hu staff, and other Solar citizens remain stranded behind the blockade. Communications blackouts between Copernicus and the SCG together with rumors from blockade smugglers have led to grim speculation about Brahe's current state, despite what official statements the Alliance and Brahe's newly-instated provisional government release.
Cities
Subaquatic habitation centers make up a majority of Brahe’s settlements. Almost fractal in nature, these settlements have grown around the many research labs dotting the planet’s ocean floor – residential communities sprawl outwards from the centers of these labs, with small habitation dorms housing scientists and support staff alike. Pre-Alliance, other habitation centers only operated during Brahe’s off-months and housed the staff and semi-permanent residents of the planet’s above-ground cities. These complexes tend to be distinctly more utilitarian, sporting narrow hallways and minimal greenery. Some corporate staff would work in these seasonal communities year-round, performing maintenance and service duties – those who could not were allotted enough company credit to subsist until the next tourist season began.
In contrast, Brahe’s leisure cities were built for high-end living and entertainment. These cities were designed for short, idyllic stays, with the companies that managed them going to great lengths to maintain their image. Souvenir shops, upscale restaurants, and exclusive entertainment centers line the pristine city streets, with outrageously expensive vacation properties sitting along the coast. Few tourists suspected that beneath the veneer, these cities are constructed almost entirely of weather-reinforced plasteel and concrete rebar – materials made necessary for the cities to survive the planet’s brutal storms during the off-season.
To date, only New Aarhus and the Zeng-Hu leisure cities of ZH Paradise and ZH Eden are the only notable settlements above Brahe’s ocean. Discounting a handful of small private islands, the remainder of Brahe’s colonies lie below the sea. The planet’s ocean is host to a large network of subaquatic lab-cities and habitation centers – the largest of these are Labravo, a research complex dating back to Brahe’s initial colonization, and the Winters Research Center, a newer facility constructed by Zeng-Hu’s genetics department.
Government
Brahe’s government is (or rather, was) run by a world parliament, with smaller courts running local affairs in individual settlements. The Brahese parliament is held in New Aarhus’ capitol building during the planet’s temperate months, and shuttled to a self-sufficient station in Brahe’s orbit during the inhospitable off-season.
Since the end of the Ares Conflict, Zeng-Hu took a major role in Brahe’s government – a significant portion of the planet’s installations were held by Zeng-Hu, and many Brahese government officials held positions within the company. While Zeng-Hu staff are not legally obligated to support their company in the political sphere, those who do not were often subject to retribution from their employers, typically with little hope of reprisal. Two of the three above-ground cities fell under Zeng-Hu’s direct ownership – furthermore, the corporation owned shares in a majority of businesses available in Brahe’s subaquatic zones, leaving residents dependent on Zeng-Hu for everything from high-end goods to basic groceries and medical services.
Over the past thirty years until 2311, Zeng-Hu’s grasp on the planet had started to loosen. Scrutiny from Sol – coupled with a corresponding dip in planetary tourism – had motivated Zeng-Hu to relax some of its more dubious policies; in the last parliamentary elections, Zeng-Hu retained its majority by a mere two seats. Since these elections, the anti-corporate movement among the Brahese public only strengthened, with many calling for greater workers’ rights. In response, Zeng-Hu tightened control over its employees' political activity and announced a new, “better” employee benefit plan – which has yet to be seen by the public.
With the advent of the Frontier Alliance, however, Brahe's government has been thrown into violent upheaval. While details of the transition have been sketchy at best within SCG space, Brahe's Zeng-Hu-led parliament has been ousted since Copernicus' secession in favor of a provisional government. Currently this new government is led by Andrea Gottlieb, an ex-ZH Paradise labor organizer, together with a coalition of supporters from Brahe and Iolaus.
Economy
Brahe’s economy revolves around its tourism and research sectors; the planet’s genetic research labs are second to none, and Brahe’s Zeng-Hu facilities have achieved multiple breakthroughs in antibiotics and therapeutic medicine in the past decade alone. Permanent residents who aren’t employed directly in research or in one of the planet’s many hotels, restaurants, or other tourist attractions invariably find themselves working in support and service roles: maintaining Brahe’s vast subaquatic complexes and towering leisure cities, filing paperwork, sweeping the streets, or simply fetching coffee. During off-seasons, however, a large portion of workers in the tourist sector find themselves unemployed – those who cannot turn to off-planet work or full-time station maintenance are left to weather the summers and winters on a basic subsistence stipend, living in subaquatic corporate apartment complexes.
Given the nature of its economy, Brahe is heavily reliant on foreign investment and imported goods – the latter coming almost exclusively from Iolaus. Iolan imports are delivered nearly year-round, weather permitting; without them, Brahe would likely fall into ruin.
Since Copernicus' secession, Brahe has been cut off from the stream of Solar tourists and corporate investment on which its economy depends. Though Iolaus has continued to export goods to Brahe despite the blockade, the planet's long-term economic prospects remain incredibly uncertain.