Concord Minor
Introduction
Concord Minor is a moon of the great gas giant, Concord Major, and is also home to the oldest and most important of all interstellar colonies. The moon is earth-like, primarily being covered in liquid water with three major continents, Atlantia, Ogygia, and Hochhimmel. Atlantia and Hochhimmel have seen heavy settlement, but thick jungle and dangerous wildlife have prevented most footholds in Ogygia. Concord is most well known for supplying the world with Caeleum, the base ingredient used to make gasoline, diesel, and many other combustible fuel types.
History
Discovery
The Concord System was discovered in 1876 with the opening of humanity’s first Jump Gate by The United States of America. Due to a false theorem, the first explorers of the system were trapped after coming through the gate. The Merchant Expedition left Earth with 8 ships and 283 men, but their rescuers found only 62 alive when they arrived, four years later.
The Concord system contains seven planets, however only Concord Major is in the habitable zone. Because of this, the Merchant expedition quickly concluded to not attempt to survey any other planets. Concord Major has five moons in total, but Concord Minor was the gem amongst them. It was roughly Earth-sized, containing liquid water, and most surprisingly, life. Life on other planets had been widely theorized, but this was the first definitive proof that humanity was not alone amongst the stars. Concord Minor was discovered over a month into the exploratory mission, and caused many members of the crew to burst into tears. It was, to them, salvation.
They quickly established a base camp on a peninsula in the southern hemisphere of the continent that the expedition’s geologist, Dr. Nixon Caulfield, dubbed “Atlantia.” Dr. Caulfield is responsible for the majority of geographic names on Concord Minor, having been in charge of actually charting the planet. His love of Greek mythology, specifically the travels of Odysseus, informed much of his decision making. He is also notable in being one of the few to survive the expedition, retiring as a professor at Harvard University in 1889.
This early base camp became the site of the planetary capital, and largest city, Merchant. It is also where the majority of those who went on the expedition were buried. Today there is a national museum dedicated to their sacrifice on the land where their blockhouses once stood.
Early Colonization
The return gate opened in 1880, finally allowing relief, but also the launching of new expeditions. Due to the excitement and international effort applied towards building the return gate, over fifty vessels entered the system within weeks of its opening. For years afterwards, Concord Minor was a hub of scientific activity. For a short period of time, the population of this new world was the most highly educated per capita in human history. Laboratories were built at the same pace as houses. This period is responsible for a number of major advancements in medicine, geology, and biology, among many other subjects.
Alongside the scientists, the news that Concord was home to arable land brought immigrants seeking their fortunes. Large landowners in many nations sent their sons to claim huge estates in the new world. Without any sort of standard government, it was common for these men to essentially build small kingdoms for themselves, bringing armed men to protect their absurdly large claims. To this day this is a major source of tension in some parts of Atlantia, as the state governments work to cement their authority against families with generations of establishment.
Early industry was very limited, but several port cities were founded in order to accept new travelers, and a limited amount of industry began. This industry mostly consisted of ship-building and light manufacturing. Heavy machinery still had to be imported from Earth for the first few decades. The discovery of large amounts of minerals found relatively close to the surface of the planet resulted in a mining boom starting in 1884, but the difficulty of transit and the limited number of ships stifled much of the excitement around it.
Imposition of Governance
The first governmental organization put into place on Concord was the Interplanetary Ecological Administration. Their mission was to ostensibly study the new flora and fauna, and determine how it meshed with earth's biology. Practically, they spread organisms from Earth widely in order to sort of terraform the planet. Under their guidance huge amounts of earth species were brought to Concord and spread where they could. Seeds were spread from the air, resulting in wide dispersal. The organisms on Concord were found to be weak against Earth species for reasons we have yet to determine, and soon trees and grasses could be found across the world, strangling the local flora out of their habitats.
In 1885 the Odyssia Territory was created, bringing official governance to the new world. Randolph Sessions, a former senator from Maryland, was appointed the first governor. The establishment of the territory was not a smooth process, with essential anarchy having been allowed to reign for several years. Additionally the territory covered several settlements established by other nations, notably the French Nouveau-Calais north of Merchant and British Lighamton to the south. This escalated somewhat when President James A. Garfield authorized deployment of the 29th Infantry division to the planet. Much of late 1885 and early 1886 was taken up by a series of “Frontier Wars” against uncompromising land owners. Despite the dramatic name there was little actual bloodshed, as General John Schofield preferred discussion to fighting.
One notable exception to this rule was the Siege of the Akerman Compound in March of 1886. The Akermans were a wealthy family from Mississippi who had leapt at the opportunity for new land. Following the death of the heads of the family to various colony-specific viruses, their youngest son, Shaye Akerman had inherited all of their property. Modern psychologists believe Shaye may have suffered from some form of Schizophrenia, but he believed that he received visions from God. He had formed a small cult in the modern state of Madison, high in the Olympian Mountains. When soldiers came to inform them of the newly formed territory, he took them to be a threat and had them brutally murdered. Suspicious of this, the soldier’s company commander sent a platoon to figure out what had happened. They came under fire when approaching the complex and took heavy casualties. One of the soldiers who was wounded was Sgt. Wayland Schofield, the general’s nephew. In response, Gen. Schofield deployed a quarter of the division, along with their artillery complement, and leveled the compound, burying the defenders inside it.
The Caeleum Rush
In 1886 a team led by Dr. Winslow Millward and Dr. Herb Grayson made a radical discovery when researching the atmospheric composition of Concord Major. The swirling ochre clouds that comprise most of the planet mostly consisted of organic hydrocarbons. These could, when put through a specific condensation process, named the Millward process in honor of the lead researcher, be refined into a substance similar to crude oil. They named this new substance Caeleum, or “Oil of the Heavens.” While the planet’s makeup raised a number of disturbing questions, the potential for energy generation simply could not be ignored. They patented their process and published their findings in August of that year.
The research caught the eye of numerous capitalists, but the most prominent among them was John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil. He had spent the previous decades building Standard Oil into a juggernaut of industry, and he saw before him a chance to further develop the corporation. He founded a subsidiary corporation run by the Standard Oil Trust, naming it the Atlantian Fuel Company. Their first major condensation rig, Morin Station, was running by November of 1887, and immediately began producing fuel in enormous quantities.
Other companies took note, and over the following decade, massive amounts of capital were poured in the construction of new rigs, and the workforce came with them. A significant advancement in the history of Caeleum as a fuel source came in 1888, when representatives of the Atlantian Fuel Company convinced the United States Navy to switch from petroleum to Caeleum as their primary fuel source. The vast majority of aetherships had already converted, due to the fuel’s abundance in the Concord system, but getting major militaries on board was a new frontier.
The atmosphere of Concord Major, while being extremely valuable for its properties as a fuel, is also notably dangerous for human habitation. It is not breathable, and is in fact extremely toxic. It degrades metal quickly, and is prone to violent, weeks-long storms. Condensation Stations have to be specially built with reflective ceramic coatings, and require intense maintenance. Because of this they are rarely comfortable places, and so it was found that workers were unwilling to stay in them for long periods of time. The optimal time was determined to be three months on, three months off, and this was a hard limit on time spent on the rigs. Even with handsome pay, workers were simply unwilling to stay for longer periods.
By 1890 over 500,000 workers were employed on rig stations. They brought with them massive economic activity on Concord Minor, as workers need services when not on duty. This led to many of the settlements in the late 19th century springing up as entertainment arms races, trying to draw the settlement of relatively well off and also mostly absent workers.
By 1900, with the rise of commercial automobiles, the need for fuel began growing at an unprecedented rate. Moreover, the war between the United States and Gran Colombia showed that the American military held an extremely effective new weapon, fuel sanctions. Due to the relative cheapness of Caeleum derived fuel, Gran Colombia’s military relied on it for their ground and logistical vehicles. Upon the outbreak of war, fuel shipments ceased, and Colombian owned tankers were confiscated by the contingents of US Marines as they attempted to pass through the Concord Gates. While the Colombians were able to grind the US to a standstill in the end, it was only after the loss of significant and valuable territories, tremendous loss of life, and switching their entire logistical system back to using horses, mules, and coal fired engines.
Seeing the clear threat dependence on American fuel presented, in the following years every great power formed their own companies to refine fuel and built substantial stockpiles. This further fueled Concord’s development, and also nearly tripled the number of aethercraft in operation, leading to strained traffic through the gates. This increase necessitated an enlargement of the gates, and from 1905-1930 the Concord Gates were each upgraded three separate times, with the last one bringing them to their current size, with a diameter of roughly 1.5 miles. Over 1000 vessels of many different sizes may be docked in either gate at any one time. This international interest further developed the planet, with most of these newly formed companies choosing to headquarter in American cities. The exception being those formed by The Holy Roman Empire and The Russian Empire, who both quartered in cities in Causeria.
The Tribal Reallocation Act
The history of European colonization in the Americas began with fighting between settlers and Native Americans, and this continued for centuries thereafter. The late 19th century had seen this fighting increased, as settlers pushed farther west than they ever had before. The nation was knit together with railroads, and the Native Americans were forced onto ever smaller reservations. The Tribal Reallocation Act was seen as the final act of that story. The theft of not only the land, but of the planet too. Inspired by the British re-settlement of the Irish decades earlier, the United States government came up with a plan to end the fight for the west, as well as help with the settlement of the Concord Colonies.
Spurred by protests against the construction of new railways through several reservations of the Indian Nations, the Tribal Reallocation Act was passed on the 22nd of November, 1907. Under this act, all land in Atlantia north of the 11th Parallel was given over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for distribution to the First Nations. All other treaties were nullified, all previously given land reverted to ownership of the federal government, and all inhabitants of those lands were to leave for their new home within one month of the signing of the Act. President William Randolph Hearst signed the Act into law one month after it passed through Congress, on the 24th of December. He commented at the time that it was “A lovely Christmas gift to the red man.” Newspapers at the time referred to it as the “Second Trail of Tears” and spurred widespread protests.
A lawsuit was filed in order to prevent the act from taking effect, Navajo Nation vs United States, but President Hearst ordered the deployment of several divisions of the Army in order to carry out the relocation. The originally given timespan of one month was disregarded, with troops arriving in Oklahoma and Arizona within one week of the signing. The residents were in many cases forcibly loaded onto Navy Transports and sent unprepared to their new home. This was widely reported on throughout the world, with many nations denouncing the act, and an international relief effort began almost immediately, supplying those affected with food, tools, and machinery to help with their settlement efforts.
The Supreme Court eventually deemed the act unconstitutional, but only after six months, many deaths, and the completion of the relocation. This led to calls for the Impeachment of President Hearst, and while he was never convicted, it permanently stained his reputation, and led to his defeat against Theodore Roosevelt in the election of 1909.
Population Growth
In 1893, following rapid increases in population, the US accepted the first Concordian states to the Union, Odyssia, with its capital being the city of Merchant, Jefferson, with Elliston, and Madison, with New Troy City. Eleven more states would follow by 1935. Eureka, Absaroka, Franklin, San Pablo, Luminosa, Winfield, Deseret, Caldera, Matumain, and Nuevo Jalisco.
By 1900 the population of the Concord system had swelled to nearly 50 million. Many of the immigrants came from outside the US, and were looking for cheap land and steady work. The Homestead Act of 1862 became a popular way for settlers to gain and develop land. The initial amount of land granted was expanded to 220 acres with the Stokes Amendment of 1904, and 320 acres by the Enlarged Homestead act of 1909.
The colonies came to be known for a mix of prefabricated and “utopian” cities. With such massive growth there was little time for planned or natural growth, so settlements sprouted rapidly all over the planet. With the massive demands for new housing substantially increasing after the opening of the Germinal gate, numerous companies made ludicrous profits off of selling prefabricated housing. To this day large parts of cities are still constructed using these buildings, which has earned them the name of “lunchbox” districts, after their resemblance to the workers' common containers.
New mining and harvesting equipment was also developed around this time, allowing for even easier exploitation of natural resources. A common feature of the mountainous areas of Atlantia are “Walking Mines” which are operations that have all of their facilities built into walker chassis, allowing them to move with the minerals, and hide in the event of extreme weather. While incredibly destructive to the areas they operate in, they are effective at extracting resources, and the areas are often very lightly populated, or even empty. The Hadean Mountains in Eastern Eureka are especially popular for this activity, and their foothills are marked by hundreds of deep trenches dug as a result.
Environment
Concord Minor orbits the Gas Giant Concord Major, (Often referred to only as “Major” by inhabitants of the system) and so has some irregularities compared to life on Earth. Days on Concord are roughly 26 hours, and are evenly split into day and night. Concord Minor orbits the equator of Major, and has negligible axial tilt. Because of its distance and time to orbit, for one hour in the middle of the day, there is a total eclipse, every day. This is traditionally a period when residents take their midday meal, and shops and businesses close.
Due to the radiation produced from Concord Major, there are constant auroras in the sky, they fade during the day but show up well at night. However, Concord Major produces much less radiation than comparably sized gas giants in other systems. The reason for this is largely unknown, but it is theorized to be related to the composition of the planet, as it is known to have supported alien life far in the past. The orbital period of Concord Major is roughly 1.6 Earth Years, but because of its essentially circular orbit, neither body experiences seasons in the same way as Earth.
Because of the close proximity of Concord Major, Concord Minor is prone to large storms and other extreme weather events. Oceanic tides in particular are very strong, with even calm seas having waves that make transit difficult. Most coastal cities therefore have to invest heavily in protective infrastructure such as seawalls, revetments, and breakwaters. This has encouraged more inland settlement. Oceanic vessels on Concord Minor are comparatively rare, but still are important for trade between the various cities. They are built to survive the extreme conditions, and are, as a result, typically extremely large, or built to operate as submarines. In recent years the Japanese Hitachi Corporation has enjoyed success in designing and manufacturing these highly specialized vehicles, using knowledge gained from their own colonial ventures in Ebisu.
It is theorized that the crystalline armored appearance of most lifeforms native to Concord Minor evolved as a response to this extreme weather. Notably, the Quartzgrass that covers much of Atlantia and Hochhimmel has defined aerodynamic properties that allow it to remain rooted even in high winds.
Modern Day
In the modern day life can differ drastically in overall development in relatively short distances. Most settlements are connected only through air travel, with vast amounts of wilderness all around. Only the oldest areas have developed road systems, and even train lines are relatively rare. The total population of Atlantia has swelled to 112 million people, with another 50 million living in Hochhimmel.
Because of this the colonies have developed a faith in and affinity for technology that surpasses most of humanity. Living there is a curious mix of high and low technology. There are many repurposed or homemade aircraft used for travel. Most small towns have an airfield before they have a town hall.
Life in the major cities is generally focused around industry. Huge tankers carry in crudely refined caeleum to be processed into gasoline or diesel, and also come with hundreds of roughnecks coming off of their months-long shifts. The cities are often evenly split between a party-like service district and the refinery district. Saloons, brothels, theaters and cinemas line the streets, promising good times for socially deprived workers. The cities of Concord never sleep, laboring to provide the fuel for another world.
Type
Planetoid / Moon
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