System: Ilfaygin
Star: Danae (red)
System Log: Aramesta (0) - Terrestrial
New Imperium Research Station "Rancher"
Solar Mining Yards
Rurejiay (1) - Terrestrial
Protectorate of Ilfaygin Senate Building
Outer Rim Charting Association Headquarters
PLT/6 Eranu
Marble-Hawk Station
Ilfaygin Asteroid Belt
R&D FC Monolith
Protectorate of Ilfaygin Security Outpost
The OutWay Cantina
Tropaex (The Lost City) (?)
Various Smuggler/Pirate Bases
Tagel (0) - Terrestrial
Advanced Hyperspace Development Laboratory
New Imperium Extravehicular Training Centre
Harezan (39) - Gas giant
New Imperium Weapons & Personnel Testing Ground
New Imperium Supply Depot
"Lying in the rimward region of the Outer Rim Territories, near the border with New Republic space is the frequently-traversed Ilfaygin system. First found one hundred and fifty years ago during the Third Galactic Survey into the regions beyond the Inner Rim, the system was named after its discoverer, Laisilianam Ilfaygin of the Old Republic Mapping Institute.
Ilfaygin system was forgotten, however, as simply another log entry into a datapad until the emergence of the Empire, at which point it was meticulously studied, and every detail catalogued, by an explorer vessel which remained in-system for over a year before the initial exploration was over and the Ilfaygin system ready for Imperial colonisation. The Empire, however, decided it too costly and dangerous to place Imperial citizens in such an area, and Ilfaygin was auctioned to various corporations who had faithfully served the Empire. The system quickly became one of the busiest ports in the region, and a major stopping off point for Imperial forces. From Ilfaygin, many smugglers and traders picked up contracts for transporting supplies to such regional ports as Alawanir, Endicor and Rahm-Seronia. Eventually, one of the myriad trade routes that were created would in time lead the New Imperium to Ilfaygin.
It was Ilfaygin's golden days.
The victory of the Rebel Alliance at Endor signalled the beginning of chaos for Ilfaygin. The New Republic began to entice corporations away to the Inner Rim and Core Worlds. The Empire, which had treated Ilfaygin with a silk glove, began to lose control as the Republic enforced its democratic government to the galaxy. With the retreating corporations, Ilfaygin began to lose wealth rapidly. The knock-on effect of this was that many of Rurejiay's population left for the Core Worlds, lured by the promise of prosperous pickings.
Just as the future seemed bleak for Ilfaygin, however, roughly seven years after the Battle of Endor and the collapse of the Empire, the New Imperium began to take an interest in the system. With the system's government on the verge of bankruptcy, a deal was quickly struck in which the New Imperium would buy Ilfaygin system. Following the purchase, discoveries of vast amounts of ore in the hitherto largely-ignored asteroid field near Rurejiay brought new corporations to Ilfaygin, and the belt became a vital source of material for the massive New Imperium manufacturing machine. An old Sienar Fleet Systems base in the asteroids was revamped and put to use for private interests, whilst a corporation put the Platform Eranu in orbit of the planet.. This new space installation encouraged an influx of independent traders and other spacefarers, and Rurejiay's population took full advantage of the influx. Spurred on by the discovery, the native Stygians made use of a loan by the Senate to construct a massive station in geocentric orbit of the planet at a distance only slightly further out than the Eranu. The populace gained a share of mined ore from the asteroid field and sold it on the galactic stock market and to independent traders on the planet. The first wealth was put to good use for the power and construction industries. The money from these ventures was then used to bring in new colonists and immigrants. The debt owed to the Imperium however, was only to be paid by the allowance of the noble and headstrong Stygians for colonists and military personnel to make use of the system. Assurances have been made that Ilfaygin will not become a forward base against for the New Imperium's ongoing battle against the renegade Imperial factions, rampant in the Outer Rim Territories, and the system's inhabitants are keen to avert their home from the ravages of war. With a stable planetary economy, Rurejiay has once again become a bustling port homeworld, and Ilfaygin a centre of trade and industry in the Outer Rim."
ARAMESTA
Name: Aramesta
Type: Terrestrial
Temperature: Searing
Atmosphere: None
Hydrosphere: None
Gravity: Heavy
Terrain: Cratered/lava
Length of Day: 95 standard hours
Length of Year: 21 standard hours
Sapient Species: Human
Starport: Stellar class
Population: 570
Planet Function: Research
Government: Governors/Corporate
Tech Level: Space
Major Exports: Solar research, solar energy
Major Imports: Foodstuffs, scientists
The closest planet to the star Danae, Aramesta is home to the prominent New Imperium Research Station "Rancher". The station exclusively studies solar activity in the star, and Rancher works in close co-operation with similar facilities across the New Imperium. Their work has provided many important breakthroughs in the field of solar research in the Outer Rim and indeed the entire galaxy. Amongst these was the proposition that solar activity in a star is influenced by carbon fields. Although the raw theory would be far too hefty to litter a Survey Corps report with, the main idea is quite simple: every star in the universe lives and dies through the continuing action of fusion, constantly taking place at the atomic level, involving the conversion of hydrogen to helium. The most common method of this conversion is the combining of two hydrogens and two neutrons to form a single helium nucleus. However, under certain conditions the conversion process alters so that several steps are involved, and although the hydrogen still becomes helium, carbon nuclei are also involved. In other words, the carbon acts as a catalyst to the process. If carbon in excess of normal amounts is present in the star, then so the flare activity and heat of the sun is increased accordingly. The normal manner in which for the carbons to increase in a star is when the star passes through a heavy field of carbons left over from the creation of the universe. These then slowly percolate to the core of the star, over thousands of years, before taking effect. The catalysis from this process, though, is unwanted. The sheer volume of carbons from an interstellar carbon field pushes the reactions in the star past a critical point, and the radiation is increased. The outer layers give way under unimaginable pressure and nova takes place. Although these results were interesting for the scientists, they offered no yield for the Imperium, and Rancher was ordered to investigate a manner in which to make the process usuable. After a year the answer was finally found. It was discovered that whereas a steady, saturation of carbons resulted in the aforementioned nova, a concentrated and sharp burst of carbons would dissipate into the outer layers of a star and bring about a sudden, massive pressure as outgoing reactions were bombarded by the carbons. The outer layer would give way as before, but instead of a chain reaction continuing to the core, the non-carbon layers would not be affected and the photosphere would expand outwards, dissipating into space. In essence all that would take place would be a shedding of the star's skin, which is quickly replaced by a new outer layer as the revealed material cools. What is more, the massive amount of energy contained in the shedded layer can be collected by Ramscoops, which use directional gravity wave projectors to collect the atoms and particles of the layer and store them for later use.
The results pleased the New Imperium, and several Ramscoop stations were set up on Aramesta for the purpose of collecting the material. The "Short Catalyst Effect" is caused by modified KDY v-150s, which instead of ion blasts generate blasts of carbons. These are not fired at will, though, and a strict chain of command and schedule is followed for firing, with permission only granted by the Regional Governors with the permission of the Planetary Governor. The fuel and materials collected from the "mining" of Danae are used to power starships which are too small to hold their own Solar Ionisation Reactors in the same way as Star Destroyers, and also in blasters and other energy weapons. Several Stygian groups have expressed concern at the New Imperium's mining operations, worried that they may go "One cataclysm too far" and cause a full nova. Rancher station scientists have made assurances though that process is perfectly safe with no noticeable effects (other than the release of massive amounts of radiation, which are dissipated into space to cause no harm). The Ilfaygin Association for Safe Solar Mining Operations (IASSMO) is headed by these concerned citizens, and funded by various starship reactor constructors and tibanna gas producers.
RUREJIAY
Name: Rurejiay
Type: Terrestrial
Temperature: Cool
Atmosphere: Type III (breath mask recommended) (outside Life Spheres)
Hydrosphere: Saturated
Gravity: Standard
Terrain: Barren
Length of Day: 18 standard hours
Length of Year: 248 local days
Sapient Species: Humans
Starport: Imperial class
Population: 1.2 billion
Planet Function: Colony, smuggling, subsistence, trade
Government: Democratic Senate
Tech Level: Space
Major Exports: Grav-field technology, minerals, smuggled cargoes, natural wonders
Major Imports: Foodstuffs, medicinal goods, smuggled cargoes, tourists
Before the rise of the Empire, Rurejiay's native Stygians had a proud and recorded history of over 27,000 years, and were catalogued by the Third Galactic Survey as "on the edge of becoming a star-faring race". Ilfaygin, however, like many systems did not escape the grasp of the Empire, and Rurejiay become a testing ground for new Imperial terraforming technology, during a phase when the Emperor wanted to be able to colonise and industrialise even the most inhospitable worlds.
The effects of the testing became apparent almost immediately, but was largely ignored by the Empire. The use of undeveloped terraforming equipment had disastrous consequences for Rurejiay's ecosystem, the science of which is still not understood today. It is known, however, that Rurejiay's Class 1 atmosphere was converted via combination of the gases within the air to a nitrous-oxide mix (used in some systems as a mild intoxicant). Although not deadly, the nitrous-oxide had unwanted effects on plants and some animals, and within a decade all of the planet's bustling farming towns had croplands had been wiped out. The nitrous-oxide also had a hallucinogenic effect on the humanoid Stygians.
With the lack of readily-available food resources, and a massive change in the food chain due to the extinction of certain species of predator, a deadly plague swept throughout the Stygians and decimated their numbers. United, they finally gave up on their land and petitioned the Empire to be transferred to a new homeworld. The petition, however, was denied and the Emperor left the Stygians to die. Ironically, their saving hope came from the very testing anomalies which were causing the Stygians` problems. Through some unexplainable freak of nature, "bubbles" of normal air had coalesced high in the atmosphere ranging in diameter from twenty centimetres to twenty thousand kilometres.. The current theory for this phenomenon is along the lines that some of the gases "left-out" by the transformation of the atmosphere had grouped together and multiplied in the same manner as a culture of bacteria, and drawn together by the larger masses of heavier elements supported by the relatively small percentage of hydrogen in the atmosphere. These anomalies were at first ignored, but taken more seriously as a viable option when it was discovered that due to differentiating pressure outside and inside the pockets of air, the walls of the bubbles, although invisible, acted as a solid. The intrepid Stygians seized nature's gambit supplied to them, and began constructing structures on the inside walls of the larger bubbles. These structures, to the Stygians` surprise, were perfectly stable when based on the constant miniature war of pressures, and the bubbles remained static high in the atmosphere even containing the incredible weight of their new occupants, through the extraordinarily high and concentrated amounts of hydrogen and other light elements in the surrounding atmosphere. With increased research and breakthroughs, the Stygians eventually moved the remnants of their population to the bubbles, and constructed vast, inward facing spherical cities inside the bubbles. They also eventually discovered the key to manipulating the "Life Spheres", and thus came to the stage where they could open small momentary gaps in the bubble wall or entirely move the Sphere across distances. The defensive bonuses of the Spheres were also discovered when Rneekii Pirates made an attack on Rurejiay, and failed to penetrate the bubbles with even heavy turbolaser bombardment.
These factors led to Rurejiay becoming known as a virtual safe haven for smugglers, with the headstrong Stygians allowing little Imperial involvement in their affairs and cities, and the Life Spheres providing protection against any Imperial provocation. Rurejiay also became known as a major Outer Rim tourist attraction, with the latest phenomenon caused by terraforming testing being a dense and hazy pink/purple/orange mist which had enveloped every atmospheric layer of the planet, as well as being a spectacular sight to itself, led to sunsets rivalled only by those of Bespin and Cloud City.
The planet was fairly much run by the natives and the most trusted corporations and smuggling representatives up until the Civil War; after Endor the struggling Imperial factions began to take an interest in any system they could place their hands on. Fortunately, the New Imperium reached Ilfaygin first, learning of the system through its other territories. The Senate made a substantial offer of money to the Stygians who legally owned Ilfaygin. With total economic collapse on the horizon, the offer was hurriedly accepted.
The New Imperium allowed corporations contracts to construct in-system facilities, which were taken over by private groups, only a small number being retained by the constructor. These interests concentrated in the area of the Inner Planets because of the economic wealth centred there. The armies and fleets of the New Imperium, meanwhile, took advantage of all the area beyond and even occasionally within the asteroid belt to use for itself for classified purposes.
One corporation took use of its power to construct the Platform Eranu in orbit of the planet. This was further augmented by the presence of the behemoth Marble-Hawk star station -- named after a now-extinct species of bird on Rurejiay -- subsidised by the Stygians. The two facilities form a strong trading point within the Epsilon sector, each seeing over 3,000,000,000 tonnes of cargo and goods pass through every standard year.
TAGEL
Name: Tagel
Type: Terrestrial
Temperature: Frigid
Atmosphere: None
Hydrosphere: Arid
Gravity: Zero
Terrain: Barren cratered
Length of Day: 18,000 standard years
Length of Year: 240 standard years
Sapient Species: Humans
Starport: Imperial class
Population: 250
Planet Function: Military
Government: Military Governor
Major Exports: Zero-gravity training, hyperspace research
Major Imports: Foodstuffs, Medicinal goods
The second planet in the Civil-Restricted Zone is the small moon-like world of Tagel. Far enough from the sun to have no atmosphere and a density twice that of water, an interesting feature of Tagel is its erratic orbit, which occasionally brings it extremely close to Harezan for extremely long periods of the rotation around Danae. At this time, the combined gravities of Harezan and its 39 satellites, with Tagel's tremendous magnetosphere, have a great effect on the ether and curvature of space (and this, hyperspace). These tremendous graviton-magneto pressures on subspace force open small tears in the fabric of the curvature, in much the same way as a black hole. The difference from a black hole, though, is that the concentrated gravities/magnetospheres of Harezan and Tagel are diffused, and thus the problems of an event horizon are non-existent. Although only at the sub-atomic level, this tears are of great intrigue and an insight into the workings of hyperspace, much of which is still unknown. For this reason the New Imperium established a laboratory researching these tears into hyperspace for the duration of Tagel's proximity orbit of Harezan. The ultimate intention of the lab is to use discoveries from the tears to develop new hyperspace technologies, or even a completely new faster-than-light method of travel. However, the work so far has been limited to accelerating ion particles through the tears and tracing their signature. With 20 years remaining of the anomaly, the laboratory is working to a deadline. After the time is up, there will be a resting period of two centuries until the next opportunity to study the phenomenon.
Not related to the microscopic hyperspace tears, is a Zero-Gee training facility on Tagel, the premier extravehicular centre in the New Imperium. It provides useful weightlessness training not only for Zero-Gravity stormtroopers, but also for pilots flying fighters with ejection mechanisms. Mechanics come to the facility too, to learn how to undertake extravehicular repairs on ships or facilities. The only reason that zero gravity training may take place in the vicinity of a planet is because of the extremely slow rotation of Tagel around its axis (18,000 years), which means that any sort of gravity is non-existent on Tagel. Unfortunately, the repeated proximity of Tagel to Harezan is causing the rotation period of the former to be decreased (accelerated) by an amount during each orbit. It is estimated that within two millennia, Zero-Gee training on Tagel will be void.
HAREZAN
Name: Harezan
Type: Gas giant
Temperature: Frigid
Atmosphere: Type IV
Hydrosphere: Moderate
Gravity: Heavy
Terrain: Cloud layers
Length of Day: 10 standard hours
Length of Year: 120 standard years
Sapient Species: Humans, Ugnaughts
Starport: Stellar class
Population: 1,500
Planet Function: Supply depot/military
Government: Military Governor
Major Exports: Various supplies, testing
Major Imports: Foodstuffs, Medicinal goods
A barren gas giant, third planet from the star Danae and the largest world in the Ilfaygin system, Harezan offers nothing special to any who wish to make use of it. The dense atmosphere and strong winds make travel through Harezan's cloud layers tricky at best. Its thirty-nine range from small, irregular asteroids to planet-sized spheres. The massive gravities generated by Harezan and its orbiting satellites are suspected to have played a major part in the formation of the IAB.
The New Imperium, though, can find a use for anything and Harezan was not overlooked. Ilfaygin's position on the prosperous Endicor-Alawanir Trade Route made it ideal as a waypoint for New Imperium supplies on their way to the various branches of distribtuion. A huge supply depot was established in the upper layers of Harezan's atmosphere, which almost immediately became a major stopping off point on the trade route. The depot grew to hold several stellar class landing pads, suites, cantinas and tapcafes. Thus Harezan is where Imperium personnel on leave to Rurejiay or the IAB disembark from their ships and spend time waiting for a transport or shuttle flight to their destination. It is estimated that 14% of the war material travelling belonging to the New Imperium fleets passes through the Harezan depot at some point.
The space around Harezan, with its abundance of moons variously spaced out over millions of miles or packed together in groups, is notoriously difficult to navigate. Fringers frequently went out of the IAB or even from other star systems to try their hand at the "Harezan Maze", and when the Imperium caught wind of the Maze it immediately cordoned it off and turned it into a testing ground, not only for pilots but weapons, too. The many satellites provide an abundance of targets both large and small, and it is rumoured that recently the Super-class Star Destroyer Columbia has on occasion travelled to the Maze for testing of its repaired weapons systems. What the New Imperium does exactly in the area beyond the IAB is its own business though - a strict border on the edges of the asteroid belt marks the beginning of the Civil-Restricted Zone, an area which private vessels are banned from entering, upon pain of death. Only New Imperium vessels are allowed to go near the CRZ, and even then with permission only from the respective Fleet Commander. As such, the CRZ has become the centre of attention for many conspiracy theorists, who while away their days dreaming up new and strange ideas about what the New Imperium is doing behind the closed doors of the CRZ. Several dedicated theorists have set up observer posts on the fringes of the border, on small asteroids in the IAB. The Senate has denied the very existence of the Weapons & Personnel Testing Ground in the Harezan maze, maintaining that there only exists the supply depot on Harezan, and any craft seen in the vicinity are either departing from or travelling to the depot.
Ilfaygin system created by: Val Ricaud (valricaud@aol.com)