Phenix E
The fifth planet around the blue giant Phenix in the Volhaux galaxy on the mirror plane, Phenix E is a rocky planet with a diameter around 1.2 times that of Earth's. Around 50% more massive than Earth, the planet is hot with around 83% of its surface covered by water. The planet has a single major landmass, and has no icecaps. The atmosphere is composed of around 18% oxygen, 34% krypton, 25% nitrogen, and 23% other gases. The equator is considered too hot for permanent human habitation, and the space elevator of Phenix E is around 3400 kilometers north of the city of New Dhaka.
The base of the Phenix E space elevator consists of little more than an underground warehouse and railway station. The site of the elevator is heavily automated, with very limited permanent staff. Amenities are few, as anyone at the elevator station is only there to either get to All-Crossing or to New Dhaka.
Though the Phenixians have developed other regions of the planet, mainly mineral deposits and other natural resources, these settlements are also highly automated extraction sites with the bare minimum of amenities for the staff that is needed. For the time being, the people of Phenix E have decided that everything of import is to serve the settlement of New Dhaka. These other settlements have no permanent population, as people go to these sites for limited duration work tours only.
New Dhaka
New Dhaka is the capital of Phenix E and the administrative center of the Phenix system. Built on a river delta in the southeastern coast of the world-continent of Phenix E, almost the entire human population of the planet lives in New Dhaka or its immediate surroundings.
Built from nothing in the 22nd century, New Dhaka has ballooned in size as the years have gone by, and the local government is constantly laying down new tracks to accommodate the expansion of the city. Without the legacy of old settlement to constrain it, New Dhaka has been built according to the most modern principles of city design. Industrial districts have been placed somewhat outside the center, while the center of the city contains most of the administration, as well as a substantial amount of residential space and amenities. Almost everyone in New Dhaka walks or takes a tram, and rail has been built out to almost every block.
The industrial zones, mainly for operations that require large amounts of space or create negative externalities in their environment such as noise or pollution have been kept to the outskirts, though still served by the same expansive rail network that powers the rest of the city. Things like steel foundries, medicinal farms and laboratories, and power plants are located in these zones.
Though having robust manufacturing and construction sectors, and an especially powerful biomedical sector, New Dhaka is mostly a service economy. Unemployment in the growing city is slowly trending up, though it remains substantially lower than the same in the ossified capitals of old Earth. Nevertheless, for the time being the demands of the expanding city are enough to occupy most of its population.
The government of New Dhaka is very centralized and mostly synonymous with the government of the Republic of Phenix. The republic has universal franchise for adult citizens, though voting in a New Dhaka district election requires an address in the district.
Culturally, New Dhaka retains a pioneer spirit, but is considered somewhat more conservative than many on old Earth. The local cuisine is heavily influenced by Bengali food from earth, and roughly 38% of the population claim to practice Islam. The languages most commonly spoken in New Dhaka are local dialects of English, Bengali, and Arabic, largely owing to the populations that made up most of the original colonization push.
Natural Resources
Phenix E contains all the necessities for life, from fresh water and breathable atmosphere to edible crops. The people of Phenix E have in many cases transplanted Earth crops to the planet, but so called "Phenix millet" continues to be cultivated, even if the planet's reliance on the local grain-analog is less than it was in the first decades of the colony's existence.
The planet's economy is at this point mostly self-contained, and the planet or at least the surrounding system have the raw materials to make pretty much anything. Some specialized machines are still primarily imported from earth, and Phenix E mainly exports medicinal goods derived from its unique plantlife.
History
The Phenix system was discovered by humanity in 2098 after thousands of failed Tein gate explorations and 3 systems with no habitable planets. Phenix was immediately understood to be different, as the 5th and 6th planets of the system were both within the habitable zone of the blue giant. Phenix F, though closer to the middle of the Goldilocks zone for human habitability, proved to have an atmosphere of mostly methane with constant planetwide cyclones. Phenix E, despite being a tropical hothouse, had a breathable atmosphere of krypton, nitrogen, and oxygen, had native plantlife, and had a gravity and atmospheric pressure tolerable for humans.
Plans for a human colony started immediately. The United Nations of Earth offered contracts to private companies to develop the colony, as the constituent nations were uncomfortable with allowing Phenix E to become an extension of any one government. The first to land were scientists, who confirmed that the planet could support human life, that some of the local flora was edible, and the local soil could be made to support earth crops.
In 2101, the Phenix Colonization Initiative began recruiting for colonists. The offer was a blast from the past, rights to a piece of the new planet in exchange for coming and working there. Colonists to Phenix could expect work setting up the new colony, to claim property there, and to have a voice in the government of the new colony. Though land to farm on was not as attractive an offer as it had been in the United States of America in the 19th century, the updated version still had some pull, especially among those who had not found a durable community on Earth or were not citizens of one of the major powers. The Initiative supplemented this with lucrative offers to engineers for essential projects like the second equatorial space elevator of mankind's history. For the most part, the UNE bankrolled the operation. Though most were unwilling to go out to live and populate the new planet, the will existed to make sure that it happened.
Colonizing a new planet was a momentous effort, and a first in human history. Nevertheless, it was done. For a time, the arrangement worked. The UNE mandate funded an operation that Earth-based conglomerates directed with colonist labor. As part of the colonist agreement, the Phenix Colonial Assemblies were founded, giving the new inhabitants of Phenix E powers to make local laws, run courts, set taxes, and generally operate a local government.
However, the Colonial Assemblies did not have jurisdiction over the Phenix System, did not own their gate or their elevator, and in many cases had to defer to the UNE mandate when it came to disputes with the corporations contracted to develop the colony. And over the years, tensions around these issues increased. The colonists of Phenix E felt that they had been second class citizens of Earth, and now that they had a new world, they would not tolerate the same again. An independence movement began to gain ground, arguing that the Assemblies should be equal to any Earth government, and should have control over their side of the Tein Gate as well as the Phenix system in general.
The corporations on Phenix largely demurred, realizing that the colonial assemblies were in most cases not particularly hostile to them, at least not more so than the UNE Mandate. The Earth governments however, felt betrayed, and many on the home planet felt that the Assemblies were stealing their investment from them. And though technically, parts of the gate complex did not belong to the Assemblies, in practice they had control because they were there and the UNE was not.
Negotiations went nowhere and in 2116, the Assemblies declared independence and claimed as their territory the entire Phenix system. The UNE Mandate and the nations backing it considered war, but it quickly realized that waging war through a Tein Gate controlled by the opposition was not a viable option. The gate could be defended in perpetuity for no cost, or even sabotaged from the Phenix side making it unusuable for as long as the Phenixians so wished.
Nevertheless, the UNE blockaded Phenix for 3 years. Though not pleasant for the people of Phenix, the last 15 years had been spent making the colony as self-sufficient as possible, an effort that had succeeded. Ultimately, it was the corporations of the Initiative that lobbied the UNE to go back to the negotiating table, and re-establish relations with Phenix. Ultimately, the Republic of Phenix was recognized, though some concessions regarding the rights to use Tein Gates and resource extraction in the system itself were made by the nascent republic.
In the half a century since, Phenix E's population has continued to grow as the Republic has continued to offer incentives for settlers. A trading relationship has formed between Phenix E and Earth, as well as later colonies, though Earth governments have since been much more wary of investing into new habitable worlds.
The most populated of the colony worlds, Phenix E has an estimated population of 123 million, focused almost entirely on the city of New Dhaka. Though originally an UNE mandate with special development rights to a group of corporations, the people of Phenix E have since declared the independent Republic of Phenix.
Phenix E is hot and humid, with a slightly higher surface gravity than Earth. With an atmosphere of around 18% oxygen and a slightly higher atmospheric pressure than Earth, travel to Phenix E is uncomplicated, though those with decreased lung function should exercise caution. Most travel advisories do not caution against visiting New Dhaka.
Phenix E has an orbital period of 409.43 Earth days. The length of a day on Phenix E is 33.78 Earth hours. A year takes roughly 291 days on Phenix E.
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