Freya

Freya, or “The Lost Colony,” is a ringed gas giant with dozens of moons, not unlike a greenish Saturn. Due to its bright green color and the existence of life on several moons, the system was renamed Freya after the goddess of nature. It is unregulated for the most part, and also consists primarily of bubble colonies without any terraforming. Still, colonies exist on dozens of moons, and even some of the larger asteroids in Freya’s rings. It is generally considered one of the most beautiful places to hail from, and it is a haven for various factions comprising The Reds for its commitment to natural beauty. It also tends to be ignored by Terran Systems for better or worse. Freya’s Jump Points recently both stopped working, to the concern of many.

People & Culture

Approximately 47 million people currently live in Freya. Inhabitants of Freya are pigeonholed in the broadest strokes as being carefree and fun, idealistic and irrational. They are often categorized as loving nature more than other Terrans, or being ignorant to the way in which Terran society is used to work. If Terrans are responsible adults, Freyans are their children off at their first semester of college. This is obviously not entirely the case. Many corps work in the Freya System with the same regulations imposed as on The Wheel, and many Freyans miss the society and technology that used to be commonplace back in the core colonies.
Many Freyans (about 35%) have engineered themselves to have some version of wings, and these range from the most practical and cybernetic to the most natural and angelic. Going for a dive in and around Freya’s rings is as common in Freya as hiking or golfing was on Earth. Those who have not partaken in the upgrades are usually still trying to decide what form of wings they want. The biological variety are often granted as gifts for children at age ten, or (if cybernetic) upon being granted freedom from one of the corps.

Geography

The planet Freya itself is comprised of a methane and sulfur atmosphere, so it is not inhabitable. While many bubble colonies were eventually built on Freya’s surface, most resources have been put into Freya’s moons, several of which are much more conducive to long-term settlement. SANGRE uses the planet in much of its research, as Freya is one of the few planets Terrans have access to that they have not instantly tried to terraform. Geologically, the planet has an active core and plate tectonics like Earth does, and its surface contains both deep ravines and tall, crooked mountains, though it has little in the way of liquid water, and has most of it shipped from Sol or the Triptych.

History

Freya was initially colonized by Rasp Energy, led by eccentric billionaire Gjiinvi Rasp, a Martian who started his work in Mars's Silicon Valles but had recently moved to The Wheel. Rasp sent four ships at once, specifically in a direction Systems and other corps’ analysts said was not lucrative. Rasp wound up establishing Jump Points in Fakaran, Triis, and Calla, before reaching Freya, 40+ light years from Earth, and even farther from The Wheel.
Rasp used the publicity to monetize elsewhere, but allowed Freya to more or less function with minimal oversight. As such, Freya quickly blossomed into a unique Terran ecosystem, in which the remains of all four Rasp colony ships (which had not found suitable colonies in their other systems) scattered and developed land where they could. Rasp colony ships were differently-equipped than Systems ships, and were mostly built to be modular colony bubbles without all the terraforming technology Terran Systems held so dear.
Shortly after arriving, bio-tech venture Sky4ge brings their new wing splices to the system. They are a hit, especially when used in tandem with jet packs to soar through the rings or outer atmosphere of Freya itself. The upgrades are popular enough in the system that when people refer to “Freyans,” they are just as likely using it as a general term for Skyfes as they are specifying people from the Freya system.
About three years ago, Terran Systems sent a capital ship through the Freya system, barely even bothering to make contact with any of its inhabitants before proceeding beyond to the Eridon system. It is due to arrive in another three years.
About six months ago, the two Jump Points leading to Freya (Fakaran-Freya and Triis-Freya) both went dark simultaneously. It is assumed that it is a power issue on the Freya side, as both sides of a Jump Point must be powered in order to function and the near side of both appears to be functioning properly. Transmitting messages to and from Freya without Jump Points will take five years.
Of course, the longer the communications outage goes, the more Terrans have begun to worry if there is actually an emergency. Zab Kefler, Terran Systems’ CEO, remains convinced the colonists are all capable of resolving the technical issue and resuming communications and transportation shortly. She has offered full cooperation as Rasp may require.