Frontier Systems
The frontiers of human space are wildly vast and unknowable. Since the collapse of the Terran Commonwealth, much of human space has been lost to the intelligence and survey of the core world governments. However, the frontier still remains connected to humanity at large by corporations, trade, migration, and the Sol Central Government and Gilgamesh Colonial Confederation are constantly racing to discover new things in the fringes of space.
The worlds of the human frontier are too many to list, and their allegiances can vary wildly from corporate connections, national ties, or mega-corporate authority. Below is a list of several notable systems and colonies outside of the borders of any national powerhouses.
Frontier Colonies
Nyx
Main Article: Nyx
Nyx is a system containing a large amount of material research and resource extraction installations dominated by NanoTrasen. The Nyx system is located on the very edge of human-controlled space, past the border of the Sol Central Government, far from anything else of import. It has become home to some of the seedier elements of humanity.
Umiri
Umiri, the popular designation of the Castor system, was dubbed by a coalition of corporations during the Commonwealth Civil War as the system of "Universal Mineral Rights,” which is its namesake. Populated with only a few abandoned mining stations, not many people have remained in-system after a disastrous SAARE strikebreaking operation in the 2300s.
As of April 1st, 2311, Umiri declared its allegiance to the Frontier Alliance alongside a number of other frontier settlements. With a long history of neglect from Solar corporations, Umiri's disgruntled working class have flocked to the Alliance's banner – the system's strong anti-Solar sentiments make them some of the Alliance's fiercest proponents.
Maxim’s World/E-14b
Maxim’s World, a cold planet occupied predominantly by Expeditionary Corps Outpost E-14b, is the home of a joint survey and research operation between the Expeditionary Corps and the Colonial Pioneer Corps. This cooperative effort was established by the crew of the SEV Torch in the summer of 2310, just before the Nathan Hale attack. It’s noteworthy for the presence of an underground mycelium network that displays early signs of sapience.
Kaze
Kaze, in the Porrima System, is an incredibly salty ocean world that hosts a sparse population of service and tourism workers. Privately owned by the Free Trade Union up until 2311, Kaze was formerly the number one destination for corporate retreats in the galaxy – with a nearly-habitable atmosphere, the planet supported outdoor activities like windsurfing and sailing with only a respirator.
As of April 1st, 2311, Kaze declared its allegiance to the Frontier Alliance alongside a number of other frontier settlements, leaving the planet's resort-habitats under the control of the service staff that had been running them for decades and their families. Whether Kaze can sustain itself without the influx of Solar money and resources remains unclear.
Chatka
Chatka is a frozen moon in orbit of gas giant Tysalla-5 in the Capella system, and boasts a small temporary population due to its massive and unstudied ocean beneath the moon's surface ice. The ocean is home to a wide variety of xenolife, ranging from microbial to titanic, and samples from these creatures often warrant a pretty penny back in the core worlds.
Last Stop
Last Stop, the nickname of an orbital settlement in the Al Kidr system, far past Pirx, is known for containing an abandoned and unstable Commonwealth gateway. Pilgrims from all over the Galaxy come to Last Stop if they are seeking an escape from life, as the station in-system sells supplies and provisions for a one-way trip through the gateway. No one is quite sure where the other side leads, but the residents claim it sends you deeper toward the galactic core, where there is rumored to be an abundance of planets in the Goldilocks zone.
Sunset
A tidally-locked world and former Commonwealth colony in the Pollux system, Sunset is a small farming community that inhabits the planet's extremely thin livable strip. The strip is only a few dozen kilometers across, which has led the small colony to have a uniquely narrow design philosophy in regard to colony layout and infrastructure.
As of April 1st, 2311, Sunset was cut off from the Solar core by the rise of the Frontier Alliance and the Copernican Blockade, and declared allegiance to the Frontier Alliance mostly out of necessity. While the colony itself is fairly marginal, the planet's picturesque "farm world" aesthetics have made it a popular subject in Alliance propaganda.
Zarkoz
A hostile, chlorinated desert, Zarkoz, in the Cor system, is home to a moderately sized dome city, containing hotels and casinos. Originally founded by a crime family, Zarkoz is famously a place for illicit doings, drugs, gambling, and all manner of vices. Despite relative proximity to the Solar border, they won’t extradite Solar or Colonial criminals, and claim anyone can join them so long as they have the financial means.
COL-Earhart
The COL-Earhart is a former Terran Commonwealth colony ship, wrecked far beyond the solar border and now home to the descendants of the wreck's survivors. Isolated and insular, they’ve taken on a hostile attitude towards the core worlds in the past decades. Individuals from this base of operations usually take a last name that sounds like three numbers (Fourfourfive, Ninatesix, etc.) and may be associated with the violent guerrilla organization the Free Peoples of Earhart. The Earhart wreck hasn’t been located, but the FPE is consistently having run-ins with expeditionary vessels like the SEV Torch.
Magnitka
Main Article: Magnitka
Magnitka, in the Ursa system, is a former commonwealth colony that has refused allegiance to both the Sol Central Government and the Colonial Confederation of Gilgamesh. An authoritarian planet, Magnitka prides itself on its economic and political independence, and often makes a point to spread its influence to other unaffiliated colonies in the form of economic development, labor, support, and even military protection.
Custom Colony
There are many systems that humanity has settled, and more astral bodies beyond even that. If you want to decide your own lore for a home settlement, here are a few important points to keep in mind.
- No habitable agri-worlds. Earth-like planets are incredibly rare in the setting, and terraforming is a wildly expensive effort that has seldom been properly undertaken since the days of the Commonwealth. Every planet with a stable water cycle and breathable atmosphere that exists within current human space is well documented, and politically important.
- Technological Consistency. The most technologically advanced worlds in human space are in the human core, and if you're from the frontier, technology should reflect that. There won't be any planets that rival Venus or Ceti Epsilon out here.
- Relations to the Powers that Be. Is your planet Sol-aligned? Gilgamesh-aligned? Supported by corporations? An old Commonwealth world forgotten and abandoned by the current powers? If you're playing a character on the SEV Torch, your homeworld needs to have some kind of connection to the galaxy at large, and your character needs to have an amicable relationship to the SCG.