Hephaestus Industries Mineral Extraction Operation: Schwann Writes Rich Lore

[NewOriginalSchwann]

Type (e.g. Planet, Faction, System): Frontier Alliance planet

 

Describe this proposal in a single sentence (12 word maximum): Hephaestus drops colony on planet, colony deals with their hell planet.

 

How will this be reflected on-station?: It adds a new planet of origin for Frontier Alliance characters, particularly those involved in engineering or mining. It also expands upon the involvement of the Technoconglomerate and Scarabs in the Frontier Alliance.

 

Does this faction/etc do anything not achieved by what already exists?: It adds in new backstory possibilities for Frontier Alliance characters, including those from the offworlder fleets. It also adds in more lore regarding humanity’s early colonization efforts of the frontier, and the outbreak of the Interstellar War.

 

Why should this be given to lore developers rather than remain player created lore?: It is a new contribution to the Frontier Alliance, an area we are currently attempting to expand upon in our lore.

 

Do you understand that if this is submitted, you are signing it away to the lore team, and that it's possible that it will change over time in ways that you may not forsee?: Yes.

 

Long Description: oh boy

Timeline is in the spoiler below, due its size.

Spoiler

 

2248: A Solarian Alliance scout probe surveys System XZP-0987. The fifth planet in the system is revealed to have moderately bad weather (the surface is, by estimates from the probe, similar to the Yukon Territory in terms of weather) and rich mineral deposits. The Solarian Alliance puts the system up for auction.

2249: Hephaestus Industries purchase the rights to System XZP-0987, barely beating Einstein Engines’ big on the system. System XZP-0987 is renamed to HIIMZ (Hephaestus Industries Industrial Mining Zone) to show its new ownership.

2250: Hephaestus Industries launches the HSF/CS (Hephaestus Super Freighter / Colony Ship) Magnitogorsk. Its mission: drop a prefab colony on planet HIIMZ-05 (Hephaestus Industries Industrial Mining Zone, Fifth Planet) in order to exploit its mineral wealth. The prefab colony is designed to last twenty years at maximum, and the colony on HIIMZ-05 is expected to operate for five years total. This is a period of great expansion for the megacorporations and the Sol Alliance, and new minerals are needed all the time. HIIMZ-05 is a planet with a large amount of metallic ores, but an inhospitable climate: winds whip at high speeds across its permafrost surface, and effective landing zones are sparse. The miners and support staff contracted to work on HIIMZ-05 are expected to mine out a colony for themselves to reside in for five years, then transfer off once the veins are exhausted.

2251: HSF/CS Magnitogorsk, HBF/CS Highland, HBF/CS Cannington, and HBF/CS Kiruna are all launched as industrial colony vessels. Cruiser HES Norilsk along with frigates HES Bremen and HES Caen are dispatched as escorts. The mobile station HPS Danzig is sent along to serve as a refueling and service station for vessels in orbit.. Several cargo tugs are sent along: The HICV (Hephaestus Industries Commercial Vessel) Chad, HICV Erie, HICV Superior, HICV Loch Ness, HICV Hongze, and HICV Victoria are all sent along as minor commercial haulers: ships designed to take shipments from HIIMZ-05 to the larger port at Xanu.

2252: The fleet, led by the Magnitogorsk arrives in orbit of HIIMZ-05. The colony ships land, and are quickly converted into prefabricated colonies by their staff. The clock is ticking, and their contracts here end in 2257. Time is money, and the planet is not prone to cooperation: polar winds whip across the surface of HIIMZ-05, causing extreme wear and tear on anything exposed to the vortexes that is not designed to withstand the wind. Thus, the colonies must dig in order to create any structures at all. Anything exposed aboveground is generally very close to the ground, partially sunken in the ground, or built into natural wind shields. The environment is free of fauna and plant life beyond hardy shrubbery and small mammals, leading to most food production taking place inside the colony itself or in limited hydroponics facilities in orbit. More in-depth environmental scans of HIIMZ-05 reveal that the mineral wealth of the planet is far greater than originally anticipated.

2253: Construction begins to fall behind schedule due to the harsh environment of the planet itself. HIIMZ-05, now being referred to as “Himeo” by most colonists, does not lend itself well to easy construction. Everything has to be dug into its surface, and digging operations fall behind schedule: the colony ships are rapidly falling apart in the wind, and everything needs to be dug out. Shuttle launch bays have to be built into the ground, rather than above ground, due to weather. It’s rapidly becoming apparent to the colonists that this is not going to be an easy five year assignment, and people begin to get upset. The colony’s first mineral shipment is sent out in the winter of 2253 (admittedly, all seasons are winter on Himeo) and is both behind time and under its desired yield.

2254: Operations continue to fall behind schedule on Himeo due to the weather, and additional concerns begin to emerge. Himeo is very isolated compared to Sol – in order to get to it, one must first jump to the well-charted Xanu system, then perform a shorter “micro” jump to the HIIMZ system. Supply vessels only arrive once every six months, and new colonists have not arrived since 2252 – the original staff of the colony have had to learn how to adapt to their new environment: miners have learned how to construct underground dwellings, bureaucrats have learned how to operate a colony with such a limited amount of resources, and the medical staff of the colony have learned to make do with what they have. Slowly but surely, the colony is becoming more and more independent. The three escorts in orbit barely have contact with Hephaestus Industries Central Command with only the lead ship, the Norilsk occasionally receiving messages. What messages they are getting do not sound good: the economic situation of the Alliance seems to be in decline, and corporate is pushing for more shipments to arrive despite the problems Himeo is experiencing. Resentment builds.

2255: Demands continue to flow into the system via the long-range transmitter on the Norilsk from corporate headquarters. Construction operations have managed to make several mostly inhabitable colonies out of the remains of the colonial vessels that arrived three years ago. The former colonial vessels have been, for the most part, destroyed via exposure to the extremely harsh environment of Himeo or scavenged by the colonists. For the first time in its existence, Himeo meets its mineral allotment, only for unfortunate news to arrive: due to unfavorable conditions in the Alliance, the fact that it has not met its requirements, and the fact that its mineral wealth is far greater than anticipated the contract for Himeo’s colonial staff (including the three escort frigates and haulers). Resentment explodes on the colony and in orbit, with the administration only keeping it in check by the Ninth November Compromise.

09 November 2255: Sensing that his power is waning, Chief Colonial Administrator (CCA) Erwin Miller parleys with his administrative staff, and opts to concede to the greater population: they are, after all, all stuck on Himeo together. Several concessions are made:

1.      Himeo will elect its own administrator, the First Secretary of Himeo. They are to serve a five-year term and be directly elected by a majority vote from all five colony ships, plus the orbital ships.

a.       The First Secretary will be assisted by a council of representatives, directly elected at a rate of one per city, mine over ten-thousand employees, or vessel in orbit.

b.      The First Secretary speaks for Himeo’s people and answers directly to Himeo’s people, not to Hephaestus Industries or the distant Solarian Alliance.

c.       The First Secretary is only capable of serving two terms total.

2.      The five colonial cities of Himeo will directly elect their own majors, rather than having them appointed by the CCA.

a.       This major will be assisted by the colonial council of each city, which will be directly elected by the districts and mines of the city.

b.      The Danzig, as its own orbital entity, will elect its own majors and representatives. Despite its smaller population, it will also have a say in the running of the planet.

c.       The ships in orbit of Himeo are permitted to appoint a representative to the city they work the most with.

3.      Legislation will be carried out via direct democracy depending on what it effects. Legislation that impacts only Cannington and Kiruna will only have to pass a majority vote in those cities, for example.

4.      Further cooperation with regional actors, as opposed to solely Hephaestus Industries.

5.      A return to the pre-existing mining quotas.

6.      Compensation for an extension of the contract by fifteen years.

7.      Supply vessels every three months, rather than every six months.

25 November 2255: Doctor Ruslan Korol, a physician from Magnitogorsk, wins the first election, becoming the First Speaker of Himeo.

2256:  Hephaestus Industries, with its economic power sliding further, cannot effectively contest the Compromise of November Ninth. However, they cannot fulfill half of its requirements either. The colony on Himeo continues to be outraged by their seemingly uncaring corporate overlords, and Hephaestus Central Command continues to fail to understand the situation on Himeo. After a vote by the population of Himeo the Norilsk turns its long-range transponder away from Sol to communicate with actors closer to themselves on the frontier of humanity, hoping for a breakthrough. Conditions on the colony are stable, but life is difficult at the best of times. Hephaestus Industries is sending less and less supplies, and the colonists’ equipment is starting to wear down as it approaches the five year mark. More and more equipment is being jury-rigged by the colonists of Himeo as time marches on. Heavy machinery in particular becomes a precious commodity: the mechanics of the colony rapidly become masters of improvisation and minimizing wastage.

December 2556: Representatives popularly appointed by Himeo negotiate a trade and defensive pact with the Xanu system. Raw materials from Himeo begin to be exchanged for vital supplies needed for Himeo, and vital parts are finally being replaced in the colony. Himeo continues to drift further away from Sol.

2257: Attempts to look towards their neighbors in the frontier bear further fruit in February of 2257 when a scout of the Scarab Fleet jumps into the system and makes contact with the Norilsk - now one of the larger ships in the region following the retreat of the Solarian Alliance in the years leading up to the 2260 recession. Negotiations with the Scarabs prove to be beneficial: repairs are performed on vital spaceborne and planetside equipment in exchange for raw materials. Of particular note is that Himeo’s fleet of commercial haulers is retrofitted. The Chad, Erie, Superior, Loch Ness, Hongze, and Victoria all receive better engines, armor, and light armaments to better defend themselves on their now much more common flights to and from Xanu – they will eventually become known as “Himeo Corvettes” due to their armaments. Himeo begins to outright ignore its production quotas from Hephaestus Industries as its standard of living improves after looking towards it neighbors. What shipments do go to Hephaestus Industries are enough to keep the Norilsk and its long-range transmitter from receiving angry messages, but not enough to impress the corporation. When 31 December 2257 tics over to 1 January 2258, the colonists realize they will be here for the foreseeable future.

2258: The Norilsk receives a communication from Hephaestus Central Command that their contracts have been officially extended for the next fifteen years, and congratulates them on their continued employment with Hephaestus Industries ©. A communication received the very next day notes that Himeo’s supply ships will be shifted back to a six-month schedule due to corporate funding issues. Resentment builds once again.

2260: The Great Recession begins, and Hephaestus Industries has its stock plummet dramatically in a matter of mere days. The company filed for massive bailouts, and sold off a large amount of its solid assets. One of these assets was the HIIMZ system, sold to the Solarian Alliance for more than it was likely worth. The transfer of power from the corporation to the Alliance goes relatively smoothly, with the Alliance opting to keep Himeo’s system of government in place. The Sol Alliance remains a distant overlord, and most citizens of Himeo view themselves as closer to their compatriots in Xanu than to Sol. The escort vessels of Himeo are reclassified as a local defense flotilla, and the former Hephaestus Industries commercial vessels are redefined as ships of the Himeo government – both groups of ships having been sold off by H.I. to pay off its debt.

November 2260: Doctor Ruslan Korol wins his reelection campaign, remaining First Speaker.

2263: The HDV (Himeo Defensive Vessel) Norilsk, HDV Bremen and HDV Caen fight off a minor pirate incursion alongside two Scarab Fleet frigates and two Xanu-based corvettes. The citizens of Himeo become increasing irate that the Alliance appears to be doing nothing for them.

2265: Announcements regarding increased taxes from the Solarian Alliance are met with outrage by the citizens of Himeo, which view the Alliance as a barely-involved overlord that doesn’t even protect the system from pirates.

November 2265: Ms. Saoirse Hennessy, a lawyer from Cannington, is elected First Speaker.

2270: Tensions continue to mount between the Alliance and Himeo, and representatives from Himeo meet to discuss the prospect of secession with Xanu. Saoirse Hennessy loses the election to Eini Jokela, a psychiatrist from Kiruna. Doctor Jokela will become a defining figure in the upcoming decade.

18 August 2275: Himeo votes, by popular majority, to leave the Solarian Alliance and join the Coalition of Colonies. The 18th of August will, eventually, be celebrated as Himeo’s Independence Day.

November 2275: Doctor Jokela wins her re-election by a landslide.

2277: Relations are formally established with the Techno-Conglomerate, a relationship that will greatly benefit both entities over the coming decades and centuries.

2278: The First Interstellar War begins. Himeo – due to its position far from the Alliance and close to Xanu, quickly becomes a major source of resources for the Coalition. Due to the harsh (and isolated) nature of the system, and its distance from Sol proper, Himeo manages to avoid the majority of the fighting. However, it manages to provide a significant amount of the Coalition’s materials. The vessels of the HDV remain in defensive status for much of the war, responding once to defend the Xanu system in 2284.

2280: Doctor Jokela is granted emergency powers to stay in office during the course of the Interstellar War. She will, by 2290, become the longest-serving First Speak of Himeo. To this date, she is the only First Speaker to serve more than two terms.

2287: The First Interstellar War ends in a ceasefire, and with Himeo better than ever before. It is now a major power in the Coalition of Colonies, and able to sell its raw materials to the Alliance at a premium.

2452: The Coalition of Colonies formally dissolves, and Himeo’s population votes to join the newly formed Frontier Alliance alongside its traditional partners: Xanu and the Techno-Conglomerate. Himeo also passes a majority vote to ban megacorporations from operating in its space, viewing them as a destructive foreign influence to the society and economy of Himeo. They will, of course, continue to sell their minerals as they always have.

2461: Himeo continues to provide minerals, as it always has.

 

Overview:

            Himeo (Hephaestus Industries Mineral Extraction Operation) is an economic powerhouse of the Frontier Alliance originally founded as a mineral extraction operation by Hephaestus Industries in the 2200s. The largest city, and arguable capital of Himeo, is Magnitogorsk – a sprawling underground city built beneath the landing site HBF/CS Magnitogorsk after it landed on the planet. The primary export of Himeo is steel, along with other processed industrial materials, and much of its materials go to market in Xanu. The primary language of Himeo, unlike much of the Frontier Alliance, is Solarian Common – though isolation from the proper Alliance has caused language drift over the centuries. Citizens of Himeo speak a dialect of Sol Common referred to as “Himeo Common” that has integrated vocabulary from Freespeak, and features a distinctive accent (imagine the divide between Dutch/Afrikaans).

Environment:

            The surface environment of Himeo is extremely harsh at the best of times. While it features an easily breathable atmosphere, distances from its star means that Himeo is quite cold at the best of times: temperatures are, on average, roughly −58.2 °C (−72.8 °F) before factoring in wind chill. The local climate is further characterized by its extreme windstorms, usually featuring snow, that whip down from its mountains and bracket the tundra of Himeo with high-speed winds. Himeo has an orbital period of fifteen months and two seasons due to its unusual orbital pattern: winter and deep winter. Deep winter refers to the period during which Himeo is further from its star, while winter refers to when it is nearest to its star. Deep winter lasts ten months, while winter lasts five months. The extreme weather of Himeo has necessitated an atypical method of construction on the colony: everything is built either underground or sunken into the ground. The pressure and gravity on Himeo are similar to Earth, due to their comparable sizes. Days on Himeo are 30 hours long, and years are 15 Terran months.

Architecture and Construction:

            The architecture of Himeo is very distinctive and is essentially unique to Himeo, though other architects have copied the planet’s techniques for building underground. The major settlements of Himeo are all built belowground due to the environment of Himeo itself, and feature a variety of unusual design elements as a result. While the initial cities were dug out of mine tunnels and intended to last mere decades, rather than centuries, the tunnel systems have been expanded and revamped over the centuries to resemble kinds of subterranean metropolises built on top of one another, with some of the larger cities stretching as far vertically as they do horizontally. Some major tunnels on Himeo can be several hundred feet in diameter, with so-called “Himeo Skyscrapers” on either side of the tunnel – generally large apartments or governmental buildings, along with larger manufacturing centers. A typical residential tunnel in an underground city tends to have a clearance of around twenty feet, to allow for rail traffic. Light is a constant issue in the tunnels below Himeo, and many areas feature slightly dim lighting conditions. As such, many citizens of Himeo suffer from light sensitivity to varying degrees.

            Cities on Himeo, as a result, universally feature extremely well-maintained, advanced, and robust atmospheric systems that are maintained around the clock by the individual city’s Civil Atmospherics Service (CAS). Air is brought in from the surface, heated in massive steamers, and then pumped throughout the underground settlements. Atmospheric technicians trained by the Civil Atmospherics Service are regarded as being valuable hires, but are generally rare: the C.A.S. pays well and more hires are lifelong, assuming major issues do not emerge with the employee.

            As a result of their underground existence, fuel-burning generators or machines are looked upon poorly in Himeo: the most common method of transit underground is via an extensive underground rail system that connects all major cities. More municipal rail lines connect districts within a city to one another, and industrial areas outside the city to facilities within the city. Electric power is often provided by burning the local ore deposits in factories, which vent their waste gasses to the surface via vents – some of which can stretch for hundreds of meters as they snake their way to the surface. All cities on Himeo are connected by this exceedingly complicated and very well-developed rail network, in which tunnels can stretch for thousands of kilometers as they snake around the planet. A job in the railway service is seen as very prestigious on Himeo, and its staff are known for their high quality.

            What buildings that are on the surface of Himeo must, by demand, be extremely sturdy or built into a natural wind shield. Surface buildings are typically rounded to avoid wind damage, and feature very few windows. The tallest buildings on the surface are, generally, shuttle port traffic control towers – sturdy buildings that can reach the impressive height (for Himeo) of three stories, and almost four stories if one considers the electronic equipment atop the towers. The shuttle ports of Himeo are generally built upon its plains, and are mostly underground. A wind shield typically surrounds a heavy-duty “wind gate” in the middle of the shields, which opens or closes to let vessels in. These wind gates are extremely heavy and, interestingly, feature heating coils beneath their surface to avoid freezing in Himeo’s infamously bad weather. In order to better communicate with incoming pilots wind gates feature high-visibility lights that change color from red to orange when opening, and produce a loud claxon when in the process of opening.

            Travel on the surface of Himeo is generally done in extremely durable tracked vehicles that keep themselves low to the ground to avoid tipping over in the wind. A plow is absolutely necessary for vehicles, as snowdrifts can reach to multiple meters in height. Air travel aside from interstellar traffic is generally advised against, due to the severe weather of Himeo. Large tracked vehicles featuring repurposed shuttle engines are sometimes used by the government to clear snow drifts from aboveground complexes. These vehicles are generally known as “howlers” by their crews due to the extreme amount of noise and heat they produce during operation.

            A group of relics that remains in use on Himeo to this day are the massive Hephaestus Industries tunneling and mining machines that the original colonists embarked with. These machines were built to last, and are still in use to varying extents to this very day – with, of course, a great deal of modifications to keep them operational and effective. The drills and tunneling machines typically fall under the authority of their individual cities, though some factories operate them, and have storied histories. The machines are typically named and given some form of identifier on their chassis, in order to better distinguish them.

Population and Major Cities:

            The population of Himeo stands at roughly 1.5 billion citizens on the planet and 200 million in various orbital facilities as of the 2460 census, with the majority of its citizens residing in or around Himeo’s various urban centers. The most populous and oldest of these urban centers are the cities that emerged from the four original colony ships: Magnitogorsk, Highland City, Cannington, and Kiruna. Of these cities Kiruna is generally seen as the governmental and education center, Cannington as an industrial center, Highland City as a major off-world port due to its location, and Magnitogorsk retains the largest population of any city on the planet. Most residents of Himeo are humans, either baseline or off-worlders, with some light populations of other species. Tajara are one of the most commonly seen alien species on Himeo, and are held in high regard on the planet: Zhan-Khazan and M’sai have found success on the planet as workers and surface scouts, respectively. Unathi and diona, due to the frigid temperatures and often dark conditions, are rarely seen. Skrell, as with most locations outside of the Federation, are rare. Vaurca are nearly unheard of. As with most areas in human space IPCs are an aspect of life on Himeo, with the proximity of the Techno-Conglomerate leading to a higher number of free IPCs in Himeo and its affiliated systems.

            Magnitogorsk: The largest of all cities on Himeo, Magnitogorsk is home to almost everything one could hope for. The city features a booming ore processing industry famous for its high-quality produces, and is hope to the largest theater on Himeo. Magnitogorsk is where the headquarters of the Civil Rail Agency is located, and features a massive underground rail depot built into a natural cave.

            Highland City: Home to Himeo’s largest interstellar port, Highland City has comparatively moderate weather by the standards of Himeo. A nearby mountain range shields the city from much of the planet’s hostile weather, and provides exceptional mineral wealth. Highland City’s location on these comparatively temperate plains means that it features more shuttle ports than any other city on Himeo, and features a port capable of receiving frigate-sized vessels.

            Cannington: A major industrial center on Himeo, Cannington features expansive mines in and around itself that produce a significant amount of the mineral wealth the planet is known for. Streets in Cannington are generally a bit less well-organized than other cities as the city tends to rely more on pre-existing mineshafts for municipal development, rather than digging new tunnels. As a result, many districts in Cannington have been described as “somewhat confusing,” to navigate by foreigners.

            Kiruna: The center of government and academic life on Himeo, Kiruna is renowned for its academies and longstanding tradition of civil service. Most government agencies have their headquarters within the city, particularly along the Street of Himeo’s People – a major tunnel full of government structures along its length that features a rare sight on Himeo: Terran flora.

            Danzig Station: An old, outdated, and entirely functional spaceborne processing facility that now serves as the main hub of trade in Himeo, and the dockyard of its fleet. Danzig Station has a population of roughly 200,000 with a mix between off-world humans, baseline humans, and some rare aliens. The station itself has been slowly expanded over the centuries, and now finds itself the home of Himeo’s admiralty.

Clothing:

            Clothing on Himeo is, by demand, practical and extremely rugged – clothing designed to endure a harsh environment and last for a long time. Much of it features multiple layers, and very little skin is left exposed. The roots of many miners in Scandinavia and the Soviet Union are reflected in their fashion – synthetic furs are common, with Himeo’s furs being commonly referred to as “fish fur” on the galactic marketplace. Despite this semi-discriminatory name, Himeo’s clothing is prized for its ability to keep in warmth and its low-maintenance designs. Coloring and dyes are generally quite muted due to scarcity, though reflective materials are common for practical and aesthetic purposes. Many citizens of Himeo make patterns on their clothes using reflective material, causing their clothes to vibrantly light up in the low-light environments of Himeo’s cities. The recent introduction of alien species such as the tajara has seen new styles of “fur” coats emerge in the traditional Adhomaian style with Himeo touches – tajaran peacoats with reflective PRA flags are common amongst certain immigrants.

Society:

            The society of Himeo is, by requirement, one that is very tightly-knit. Citizens grow up in close proximity to one another and depend on one another for support in the dim tunnels beneath Himeo. One’s culture of origin – at least, amongst the original settlers and their descendants – is largely irrelevant in the face of adversity within a city. However, due to distance, the cities have developed slightly different cultures: those from Highland City are seen as more open and welcoming, those from Kiruna are seen as intellectuals, those from Cannington are seen as hard workers, those from Danzig Station are seen as resourceful and somewhat strange by other citizens (due to their requirement for more light), and those from Magnitogorsk are seen as the “average” citizen of Himeo. Off-world humans are a common sight and typically originate from either the Scarab Fleet or Techno-Conglomerate, though minor fleets and unaffiliated offworlders are a common enough sight.

Aliens are relative newcomers to the planet compared to their human counterparts, and have adapted to varying degrees. Tajara have found success on the frigid planet due to their tolerance of the cold, though many remain in their own districts. However, these districts can be found throughout major cities in Himeo. Skrell are generally a rare sight on Himeo, but most can be found in Highland City or Kiruna.

Religion on Himeo is, more often than not, a secondary matter. Most citizens are atheist or agnostic, though there is a notable population of Christians and a limited amount of other human faiths. A few religious institutions belonging to other species can be found in Highland City, though generally not outside of foreign districts. Cannington, as a major center of Zhan-Khazan populations on Himeo, also has several tajaran religious institutions.

Cuisine:

            The traditional cuisine of Himeo is very sparse. The traditional diet of a Himeo resident was primarily composed of plants until trade was opened with Xanu and the Scarab Fleet, causing the amount of available food to increase dramatically through new hydroponics techniques. The underground and orbital hydroponics farms of Himeo are able to produce a variety of common Terran foods, though meat remains a relative rarity due to the resources it consumes during production. The diet of citizens of Himeo is, however, less plant-based than an Eridanian’s diet – mining is, after all, intensive work that requires a lot of calories.

Education:

            Education on Himeo is provided at a municipal level, and is generally regarded as high-quality for the frontier. Himeo is famous for its ability to produce talented civil servants, doctors, engineers, and atmospheric technicians. However, most of these individuals remain on Himeo – due to the lack of a corporate presence in the system, graduates of municipal universities are rarely immediately hired. Primary education generally instructs students in Ceti Basic in addition to Himeo Common, meaning that most citizens of Himeo are well prepared to communicate with others if they leave the planet. Freespeak is another commonly taught language, though it is de-emphasized due to the similarities between Himeo Common and Freespeak – the languages are, generally, mutually understandable.

Military:

            As a member of the Frontier Alliance, Himeo fields its own navy and military forces. The fleet of Himeo is the Himeo Defensive Fleet (HDF), with vessels being referred to as Himeo Defensive Vessel(s) (HDV). The fleet is headquarted on Danzig Station, and its current flagship is the HDV Norilsk, a Hephaestus Industries-produced cruiser that accompanied the original colonists that has been slowly retrofitted and improved over the years. The HDV currently fields 30 vessels, though most of these are non-warp capable local patrol vessels. The HDV can actively project a strength of roughly ten vessels, including five military-grade vessels: the three original Hephaestus Industries vessels (a cruiser and two frigates), and two captured Sol Alliance naval vessels dating back to the Interstellar War (a missile corvette and destroyer leader). Most of the remaining ships are former civilian cargo vessels retrofitted to be “Himeo corvettes” – cargo ships with enough armor, guns, and engine strength to serve as improvised ships of the line.

            The ground army of Himeo is referred to as the Planetary Guard, and is based on a municipality-by-municipality basis. Magnitogorsk possesses the largest Planetary Guard division, and all sworn to defend one another in the event of an invasion. An invading force assaulting Himeo would face extremely difficult odds, due to the underground nature of the cities themselves giving an extraordinary home advantage to the forces of the Planetary Guard. Due to the environment of the caves, most Planetary Guard soldiers are defined as “rail infantry” – units that are transported along the significant rail lines beneath Himeo’s surface. Motorized vehicles are uncommon due to the underground environments of the cities, and shotguns are common weapons in the hands of Planetary Guard soldiers.

The arrival of tajara on the planet has seen many joining the Planetary Guard and serving in its new surface units – volunteer structures that patrol along the surface of the planet and rescue the crews of downed spacecraft. Due to the extremely harsh nature of the surface, animals imported from Adhomai are highly valued by the troopers of the surface units, with M’sai and Zhan-Khazan tajara often seen caring for them.

Government:

            The government of Himeo is, to external observers, a somewhat odd one. Himeo is a direct democracy in which the planetary leader, termed the First Speaker, is elected by pure majority vote for a maximum of two five year terms (barring emergencies such as war) and answers directly to Himeo’s citizenry. The First Speaker is assisted by the Council of Representatives – officials elected at a rate of one per city, orbital facility, ship, or other facility over 10,000 citizens. These Representatives answer directly to the citizens of where they were elected. In order to pass legislation impacting all of Himeo, it must pass a majority vote by all citizens of the planet. Legislation only impacting a certain area only needs a majority vote from that area: i.e., if legislation would solely impact Danzig Station, only Danzig Station votes on it.

            The cities, towns, and stations of Himeo directly elect their majors and representative, with the ships of Himeo electing a representative to the city they work the closest with (generally Highland City or Danzig Station). Foreign Representatives of Himeo are appointed at a rate of one per municipality over 100,000 citizens, and serve on the Council of Foreign Representatives. The CoFR follows the same manner of legislation passing that the CoR follows. The CoFR is however, due to its foreign diplomacy nature, more independent than the CoR. Foreign Representatives answer directly to the citizenry of the municipality that elected them, but receive their orders from the First Speaker.

Visa:

·         Unlike most planets in Frontier Alliance space, visitors must register with the Department of Foreign Affairs before they are allowed onto the planet.

·         Corporate-sponsored entities are universally denied entry as per the rulings of the Council of Representatives. Department of Foreign Affairs officers that deliberately allow a corporate-sponsored entity into Himeo are liable to lose their job and be fined.

·         Work or travel visas are free, and allowed for upwards of ten years before renewal.

·         Dominians are not allowed in Himeo’s space.

Citizenship:

·         Planetary citizenship on Himeo requires an application fee of 50 Credits for most species, 25 Credits for tajara.

·         Must pass a background check.

·         Must swear loyalty to Himeo and the Frontier Alliance in a formal ceremony.

·         Must reside on Himeo for two months out of the year for five years.

·         If Dominian or Izweki, not allowed to apply for planetary citizenship.

Characters from Himeo are Likely to:

·         Have light sensitivity.

·         Have worked in mining, or a related industry.

·         Be loyal to their coworkers.

·         Have a distrust of Hephaestus Industries.

[BoryaTheSlayer]

Hi!
Considering I reviewed the earlier drafts of this and helped you with this in a way(however I really don't wanna lie claim to this huge-ass work you've done since my contribution was minimal), I am just going to say this here that I freaking love it. But after having talked to Pegasus and Kyres, I gotta say that this is really big in comparison to the rest of the Frontier Alliance lore. Pegasus offered a compromise, however: We can condense this for the wiki, and have the link to the app posted should people want to read more about Himeo.
Pinging @Mofo1995 for input on the said compromise.

Edited October 20, 2019 by BoryaTheSlayer
rip kyres

[Cnaym]

Read it multiple times now. Love it. Gives new people a new spawn point and background that is understandable and well rounded. Exactly what the frontier alliance needs to be more beginner friendly while allowing new players to ease in without having to think of everything themselves. It would also be a neat thing for the mining department, which I am all in favor for!

[Mofo1995]

This is a big chungus, I'll see about adding some input on it within the next few days, time allowing.

[BoryaTheSlayer]

This is now going to be part of a major lore update for the Frontier Alliance, and you are on the lore team now, so. Moving to the archive.