It has been twenty-five years since Operation Gatekeeper marked the end of the Galactic Commonwealth's war with the alien Norathi. It was a victory of sorts, but one that did not come without great sacrifice.
Operation Gatekeeper, a plan conceived in response to the Norathi's imminent breach of the the subspace tunnel network, saw the remaining loyalist Knight units plant high yield explosive devices at key structural points on Tycho Gate Station. The prevention of further Norathi incursion into Commonwealth space was assured.
The detonation of Tycho Gate Station went as planned, but then something happened that none could have foreseen. The explosion was magnified through the subspace tunnels, destroying not only the world of Fortress, but also Vorenus and Castle as well.
Three planets and their populations lost, just so the Galactic Commonwealth could continue to exist.
But the Commonwealth is not as powerful as it once was. The Galactic Commonwealth Defence Force was weakened significantly during the war. Fully half of its Fleet, including its commander-in-chief and his flagship, were lost in the battle for the Fortress System. Its ground forces were further depleted by mass desertions, tens of thousands of troopers choosing to go AWOL rather than continue to remain a part of something that effectively gave away the lives of those that it was created to protect.
The Galactic Commonwealth is slowly beginning to crumble...
The Third Parallel is a chain of planets so-called because it is roughly parallel to the Wraithi Arm, though they lie at the opposite sides of the Galactic Commonwealth. It consists of seven planets. In order from the centre of the Commonwealth and heading outwards, they are: Torvus, Hyde, Ueto, Clearwater, Megido, Lusitania and Elysium.
Torvus is a garden world. It features plant and animal species from over a dozen other planets and they all seem to thrive in its atmosphere and rich soil. The GCDF have never taken much interest in Torvus, in fact they have a strict policy of non-interference, preferring to leave its running to those much better suited to preserving life than ending it. This duty falls to a small group of Wraithi who carefully monitor the ecosystem and collect plant and animal samples needed for medical research,
Unknown to both the GCDF the Wraithi, a crime syndicate from Lusitania has set up their own base somewhere on Torvus. They are involved in the highly lucrative trade of ‘space-dust’, a potentially deadly narcotic obtained from the Torvun Skyflower, as well as the illegal hunting of one of the galaxy’s most dangerous predators, the omniraptor, which is found only on Torvus. Rich business types have been known to spend over a million credits for just one day of hunting on Torvus.
Hyde is the Third Parallel’s answer to Nocturne. It lies as far from its dying sun as possible while still being able to support life, is made of a solid core of rock surrounded by permanent layers of frozen ice and snow and has few settlements. In fact the only spaceport is outside the planet’s only city, also called Hyde.
No one knows why Hyde was settled at all, but rumours persist that, long ago, the Wraithi created a device of such power that even they feared its use and hid it on the icy world. Every year teams of explorers, adventurers, treasure and bounty hunters come to Hyde to search for the now mythical weapon.
Ueto has long been technological centre of the southeast Commonwealth. It features plants belonging to the WTC and Arande as well as a number of smaller companies like Aesyrean Starheart and Templar AIS.
Once a world rich in mineral ores of many kinds, Ueto has now been mostly mined out. Some active tunnels still exist deep below the surface, close to the molten core, searching for the few remaining deposits of Promethium 442.
Thousands of years of heavy industrial process have turned Ueto into a barren wasteland where nothing lives. The atmosphere is corrosive and unbreathable, the sea little more than toxic soup.
Even more dangerous than the hostile environment, is the long-running feud between the Wraithi Technology Conglomerate and Arande, which has reached breaking point. The WTC suspect Arande of several acts of sabotage, including the loss of the Phalanx satellite which was reputed to house the only working prototype of their particle beam weapon.
It can only be so long until open warfare is declared between the two galaxy-spanning super-corporations.
Clearwater is unique in that it has no landmasses of any kind, and is one of the major food producing worlds in the Galactic Commonwealth. Its population survive in specially constructed bubble cities, anchored to the planet’s solid core of rock and water ice. The main industry is, as one would expect, fishing.
Clearwater boasts the largest ecosystem in the galaxy with over a dozen levels in its food web, ranging from microscopic plankton and algae to gigantic spawn whales and dannr sharks. The rarest delicacy in the galaxy can be found on Clearwater, and is the albino rock lobster. These huge crustaceans can grow up to forty feet long and their powerful claws can cut through steel with ease. Unfortunately, no-one has seen one for almost twenty years.
Megido is an extremly volcanically active world. Its surface is a constantly shifting sea of lava and molten rock. Its worth to the Galactic Commonwealth is significant, as currents within the flowing magma often bring supplies of rare metal elements to the surface. The population of Megido live on floating platform cities, high above the surface, which are little more than giant refineries.
In orbit above Megido lies one of the most famous, or infamous, satellite stations in the Commonwealth - the White Tiger Casino. It has long been suspected that a criminal syndicate is using the casino to launder stolen funds, but nothing has ever been proven.
The Megido class battleship was named after this planet.
Lusitania is one of the most populated worlds in the galaxy with hundreds of millions of people squeezed into an area barely one tenth the size of earth. Its day is exactly the same length as its year, meaning that one side of the small world is constantly heated by the rays of its sun, turning it into a desolate and barren wasteland, and all life is on the dark side.
Due to the massive population food, water and clothing on Lusitania are carefully rationed and recycled, making it one of the poorest planets in the Commonwealth. Despite this, a number of criminal organisations are operating in the many levelled pyramidal cities. They seek to undermine the government and gather wealth and power for themselves, little knowing that Lusitania teeters on the knife edge between survival and total anarchy.
Elysium is a pleasure planet and a favourite destination of pirates, bounty hunters and even GCDF personnel looking to take it easy for a while. Word has spread that nothing is forbidden to the clients of Elysium, a rumour that the planet's owners are keen to see reach the far edges of the Commonwealth.
Technology Every year ships get a little faster, AI gets a little smarter and weapons get a little more powerful. Starships, such as the wraithi manufactured Ghost, Pegasus and Thor class cruisers, are powered by complicated devices called plasma hyperdrives. They utilise the energy released by hydrogen atoms as they are energised to a plasmic state. Hyperdrives require an immense amount of energy to start, but once running they are practically self-sustaining. They use rods of Promethium 442 as fuel to heat the hydrogen atoms to the required temperature.
Weapons primarily utilise solid ammunition as energy and plasma weapons have proven to be extremely unpredictable. In fact, Aesyrean Starheart has recalled all of its plasma weaponry following reports of over-heating and even exploding during use.
Arande manufacture several types of pistol, rifle and heavier weapon including the MAG16 Automatic Machine Pistol, the MAG 32 Pulse Rifle and the Macrocannon.
The WTC, on the other hand, create so-called high energy weapons which use a powerful magnokinetic pulse to propel solid ammunition to supersonic speeds. They have produced Nail rifles and Lance launchers, named after their ammunition by GCDF troops given prototypes to test in the field.
Extreme danger: Particle Beam Weapon
The particle beam weapon uses a similar method to plasma weaponry. The main difference is that, in particle beam devices, hydrogen atoms are accelerated to light speeds, rather than energised by heat. The resulting beam is therefore invisible to the naked eye and most sensor systems, and capable of punching through all but the most heavily shielded craft.
There are plans for oribital defence satellites featuring Particle Beams, the energy requirments too vast to be met by even the most powerful hyperdrive-equipped vessel.
Races:The WraithiOnce a powerfully psychic race, the wraithi hail from a planet known as Grave which lies far to the galactic north of Gateway Station. Thouands of years ago, and event which the wraithi refer to as Cataclysm wiped out every member of their species, leaving them as nothing more than disembodied spirits.
Over the years since, the wraithi constructed advanced robotic frames to house their essences, but at the cost of their psychic abilities, and once again the wraithi set out to explore the galaxy.
The first recorded contact between man and wraithi was above the colony world of Prospect, a wraithi ship apparently monitoring the humans' progress on the world below. once a dialogue was established, the wraithi proving able to assimilate languages extremely quickly, it was discovered that both races had the same aim: the continuing exploration and colonisation of the galaxy. Humans and wraithi shared their technology freely, the wraithi introducing a way to cross vast interstellar distances through subspace tunnels, though they kept the secrets of their construction to themselves.
All wraithi seem to share an innate affinity for machinery of all kinds, and are often found in research and development roles in the various super corporations. Wraithi also make ideal soldiers: immovable on the defence and unstoppable on the attack, unfortunately the wraithi are extremely reluctant to place themselves in harm's way, the loss of every individual keenly felt by the rapidly dwindling race.
Since they are effectively dead, the wraithi show little emotion, but all who have dealings with them say they are filled with a sense of longing, as for a better time, for things long passed. There is evidence that humans and aesyreans have had an effect on the wraithi, some beginning to show signs of the more powerful emotions such as sadness, hate and even love.
The AesyreansA humanoid race at least as old as mankind and hailing from the heavily forested planet of Aesyr, there is much evidence that the aesyreans evolved from a much more predatory race than the apes that were the distant ancestors of humanity. Physically larger than a human, every aesyrean possesses a ridge of short bony spines on the outside of their forearms, longer and more pointed canines than humans, eyes that range in colour from bright orange to deep crimson and hair in a variety of exciting metallic hues. Female aesyreans are noticeably larger, more aggressive and more dominant that the males of their race.
All aesyreans belong to one of several clans, membership is not permanent however, and it is common for an individul to spend time as a member of each over their centuries-long life. The largest and better known clans are called Starheart and Siverdawn. It is not uncommon for clans to come into conflict with one another, but rather than a cause for concern, the aesyreans see this as a chance to hone their skills in battle against equally honourable and skilled opponents.
A tradition apparently confined to the aesyreans is that of the naming. Once a child has come of age and proven him or her self to be worthy, they get to choose their own name. Generally they pick something they like the sound of; short, sharp and easy to remember.
Aesyrean technology is based on self-sustaining plasma cells which produce a significant amount of energy given their small size. Aesyrean plasma drives, generators and reactors have become the standard methods of powering everything from cutters and ground vehicles to space craft and even Gateway Station's many systems.
Despite many attempts, humans and aesyreans appear unable to inter-breed.
The NocturnesNocturnes are the descendants of the genetically modified colonists who settled on the planet Nocturne more than a thousand years ago. It is a world in constant darkness, lit only by the dim rays of its distant sun. Much of the planet’s surface is a frozen wasteland even in what passes for summer on that world.
At first glance, a nocturne would pass for human and only on closer inspection would any difference become apparent. Nocturnes have no irises or colouring of any kind in their eyes, instead they have enlarged pupils which gives them extremely good vision in low-light environments. The second difference is in bone and muscle density. Nocturne has one-and-a-half times standard gravity and Nocturnes have adapted in such a way that their skeleton is very light but also very resilient.
As befits their world of permanent ice and darkness, Nocturnes are a stoic hard-working people.
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