Galactian Centre

A tower housing the Galactic government.

With our viewscreen dimmed, our vessel transited the planet and we prepared for entry into the atmosphere of the gas giant. We buckled in and shifted off our gravplates, instantly feeling the natural G0 of the void. The clouds in the upper atmosphere grew closer, closer, closer and we were through, bouncing in the slight turbulence. We were flying blind in the green-purple clouds for a few galmins until the shape of the tower loomed out of the fog like something from an old fable. We were filled with awe. We were speechless, and the silence could have lasted eternally.

— Diary entry from an unknown person, circa P50.S4.

This article is about the tower which houses the Galactian government and is not to be confused with the Galactic Centre, a supermassive black hole. You will be perfectly fine if you enter the Galactian Centre*. You will be pulled into little bits of spaghetti-like atoms if you enter the Galactic Centre.
The Galactian Centre is a tower floating in the upper atmosphere the night side of the tidally locked gas giant Galactia (known to Humans as Sweeps11 b). The tower houses the Galactian senate and parliament and therefore is very important politically. There are very few problems associated with visiting the Galactian Centre, although there was an incident where the gravplates wore out, and many citizens, as well as politicians, go for a variety of political, militias and religious reasons, among many other reasons.
It is officially owned by whoever the current Senator/President is and is designed as a place to be in awe of the past and as an inspiration for the future, which shows how far we have come together and how much farther we can go if we continue to work together. The Galactian Centre was inspired by fantastical images from mythology and fiction of floating towers in the clouds which appear on many species' cultures.

Purpose / Function

The tower has 10 floors, with different uses. The floors are numbered in reverse.

• 0. Observation dome: A huge dome which offers views of space and the top of the gas giant's clouds
• 1. Docks: spaceships can arrive here, there is even parking for smaller ships. This level is only accesable to those with spacesuits, as the airlocks open and close a lot.
• 2. Penthouse: Housing accomodations for the Senator/President
• 3. Senate: meeting place for senators, not open to the public or other politicians
• 4. Parliament: Meeting place for the whole of parliament, open for the public to watch
• 5. Hotel: used by politicians whilst parliament/the senate is in session.
• 6. Citizen hotel: used by tourists and other citizens.
• 7. Historical records: A huge museum of Galactian history.
• 8. Central Nebula: A giant data storage bank which connect to the entire galaxy.

The other two floors are used for a variety of other reasons such as storage and life support, there are also rumours say that the militia has a basement somewhere below the tenth floor.

Alterations

A new gravplate had to be introduced when the original one wore out, but nothing else has changed.

Architecture

Metal framework with graphene-inforced airtight perspex windows. The ceilings are all high, especially in the observation dome. This allows for lights and decorations to hang from the ceiling creating a sense of grandeur.

History

The tower was built in orbit around the planet and was put into its final position after it was deemed safe. It has housed the Galactian Senate and Parliament since P0.S0.H0.D0.W0.M0.T0.G0

Alternative Names

1 Galactia farside, Norma Arm, Milky Way.

Type

Government complex

Parent Location

Galactica system

Owner

Brie Breiwa

Owning Organization

Galactian Prime

Built

P0.S0.H0.D0.

Architect

Hari Na'dani

Gravplate settings

G10

Floors

10+ observation dome, possibly basement

The Gravplate incident of P633.S9.H3.D7 is a warning about the limited lifespan of gravplates. The tower stays floating in the upper atmosphere thanks to gravplates, which also keep the internal gravity at the Galactian average of G10. However, it relies on a balance between the gravity of the planet and the antigravity produced by the gravplates. As some of the gravplates (which were almost 634 periods old) wore out, it caused the tower to plummet down several atmospheric layers, which made the pressure too great for most species' to handle. Of the 2000 people in the tower at the time, 1978 died in the incident, which had to be rectified by a Bierrebereies technician called Brulwe Luebrieth, as xe were the only person still alive in the tower able to fix the situation. Now it is required that all in-atmosphere orbital buildings have their gravplates checked every year, and all spaceships every five years (whilst G0 can pose some health risk, it is unlikely that you'll be killed instantly) to prevent any more deaths, a law which is called the Luebrieth Law.