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Gateway Station, the largest artificial creation in the known galaxy, provides homes for millions of beings, provides docking for thousands of ships, hides innumerable secrets.
It is a construction so old that it pre-dates the Commonwealth by several million years. Presumably, it was constructed by a race of beings now long extinct but having many characteristics in common with humanoid life-forms. It was discovered by early explorers of the fledgling Galactic Commonwealth and was quickly adapted to suit the needs of humans, the wraithi and the aesyreans.

Even today, thousands of years after the first colony was established on Gateway, much of it remains unexplored. The area of the great disc which is known has been split into sectors, numbered one through ten, each of which is almost entirely self sufficient. An extremely complex arrangement of solar cells, shutters, wind turbines and water reclamation and distribution devices ensure that the inhabitants of Gateway experience ‘real’ weather conditions as well as night and day. In fact, much of this technology was already present on the station when the First arrived.
Power is provided to each sector by a massive plasma reactor, installed by Arande, and split off to each district by means of a number of relay stations. The maintenance and repair of the reactors and relays is of the utmost importance for they also power the life-support systems.

Such order as there is on Gateway, is kept by an organisation under the jurisdiction of the GCDF and informally known as the Watch. They are relatively few in number when compared to the population but are well trained and equipped. Their numbers are supplemented by a regiment of regular GCDF soldiers, though they are often inexperienced - having been sent to Gateway prior to their first real posting.
Aside from preserving the general orderly running of Gateway Station, it falls to specially trained watchmen to explore and map unknown quadrants of the gigantic disc. The undiscovered territory has officially been declared as un-claimable by any entity, corporate or otherwise, until it has been satisfactorily explored and any archeotech removed for study.
Free-lance hunters also comb the unknown quadrants, searching for anything they can sell on. And it is not uncommon for the watch and these individuals to have disagreements.

Races
I don’t really need to deal much with humans as a race, seeing as how most of you out there will have had some experience with one at some time or an other.

The Wraithi (singular Wraith)
The wraithi are a dying race, no longer able to procreate. Such wraithi as remain exist solely due to their specially constructed cybernetic shells or frames.
Wraithi are highly valued as technicians and engineers, their immeasurable life span giving them the clear advantage over humans and even aesyreans when it comes to acquiring knowledge. Wraithi are also sought after as soldiers for they are cold and inhuman warriors, feeling neither emotion or fatigue. Sadly, for the GCDF at least, the majority of the wraithi that remain in the galaxy do not possess the ‘killer instinct’ preferring to spend what time they have creating technological wonders.
Appearance is largely a matter of choice for a wraith, though many have developed certain attachments to a particular frame. Shortly after first encountering humanity, the benevolent wraithi decided that they should recreated their frames with a more human appearance. Wraithi have no gender outside of what their frames present.
It is unknown if wraithi are capable of expressing emotion as humans and aesyreans do.

The Aesyreans
The aesyreans are a race from a planetary system far to the galactic south of Gateway.
When they have cause to go to war, they are extremely honourable and will not turn their back on an ally in need of help.
Physically, aesyreans resemble humans with only a few major differences. All aesyreans are tall by human standards, the shortest standing at around six feet six inches. Their hair comes in an amazing array of metallic shades, silver being the most common. They are long-lived by human standards, often living well into their second or even third century.
Bizarrely, aesyreans do not name their offspring. An aesyrean is given a name only after completing a ritual test, carried out on the planet of Nael. Once they have completed this trial, an aesyrean is considered an adult and is allowed to choose his or her own name.

Nocturnes
Nocturnes are the descendants of the genetically modified colonists who settled on the planet Nocturne almost one 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 and hardworking people.



Re-write/update/reworking pending.

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 and its Wraithi keepers, 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 a 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.

Okay, I'm a fan. When can we start?

XD My charrie profile is up!