The Aldebaran System
"You our new mechanic?" Dack nodded, reaching out to shake his new boss's hand. "Dack, sir. Dack Balton". The gruff man nodded, forgetting to, or simply not caring enough, share his own name. "Chief Soems" read the name tag stitched into the pocket of his uniform. "Follow me" he gestured, leading Dack through a claustrophobic hallway and down a ladder into the belly of the massive Hydrogen Skimmer. Touching down on a narrow catwalk that stretched across the massive room, the two began their way toward the back of the ship, between the looming containers of gathered gases. Occasionally they would pass a viewing window, and for a moment the spinning, writhing tendrils of purple and orange outside would be revealed, before again being covered by industrial tubing and sheet metal. "You living on Arch?" Asked Soems. "Yessir. Just moved to the 5th district." "How's it treating you so far?" Dack frowned. "The colony itself is quite nice, but... well, it's hard to sleep sometimes, y'know? What with all the stories they tell about that moon". "You believe those tall tales?" Soems was dismissively checking items off on his tablet, annoying considering he was the one who had started the conversation. "Of ghosts and some haunted tower?" "It's just the stories are unsettling, that's all sir". "Well you better get used to it", said Soems. "The captain don't care how you're feeling, and he needs this tube fixed by the time this next night cycle's over". Sliding the tablet towards Dack, the chief started heading back the way they'd come. "Welcome to the job, Dack".
Geography
Aldebaran is a orange giant star located near the center of the Hyades Cluster. Despite it's low population, Aldebaran is one of the most economically significant systems in the region, due to an abundance of metal ore in various asteroids and moons, as well as several gas giants that are popular locations for refueling between jumps for smaller starships. For many years after The Collapse, Aldebaran was a popular area for pirates, as well as the subject of several legends that caused many superstitious crews to avoid the system. For these reasons, it was not until the year 291 that Aldebaran was claimed by the young and ambitious Sulotan Barony, and not until 298 that any formal colonies were established. Below are some important locations in the Aldebaran system.
Aldeb Prime
The largest planet in the Aldebaran system, Aldeb prime is a gas giant used for both hydrogen mining and refueling between jumps. After the Sulotan take over of the system, the Barony attempted to tax both of these activities, leading to the location becoming a target for hydrogen smugglers, who would attempt to resell the fuel at a lower price to passing ships just outside the system's boarders. Even from a distance, Aldeb Prime appears to be crawling with slow moving black shapes, the massive silhouettes of hydrogen mining ships drifting slowly through the raging storms of the planets atmosphere.Arch
A terrestrial moon of Aldeb Prime, Arch is the name given to the moon in the various myths and stories that surround it. Arch was owned by The Empire before The Collapse, and was used as a prison world. Although, until recently, very few had ever visited the moon, the image of the tall, black prison tower that stands on Arch's sole continent is well known to many drifters and explorers. The prison is widely rumored to have held those accused by The Empire of harboring psionic powers, leading to all manners of stories involving escaped convicts with supernatural abilities. Aside from this prison, the moon is also rich in ore, and is home to many mines. Arch is one of the only settled worlds in the system. The Sulotan Barony has a colony of around 200,000 people on the north side of the planet, mostly the families of miners. There is also a small unnamed community that lives around the base of the abandoned prison tower. They claim to be the ancestors of a handful of prisoners, who managed to escape after The Collapse. So far, they do not seem to be hostile, and are integrating themselves into the Sulotan Barony, but warn of insane and unnatural creatures that still roam the tower.Crote
Crote is a dwarf planet located within the asteroid belt that encircles Aldebaran. It lacks the resources or atmosphere needed to sustain a sizable colony, but is used to house a Sulotan military facility. The main purpose of this base is to dispatch fighters and gunships to discourage pirates and smugglers, while larger ships for trade and commercial transport are usually dispatched from the colony on Arch.
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