2601 (2601 Dark Nebula X341668-0): Red Zone.
Known by no other name than its star-chart designation, this is the
Solomani prison world for the sector. No technological development
is permitted to the eight million prisoners there. The world is far
enough from the Aslan-Solomani border not to occasion diplomatic
comment, though the Aslan despise such expedients as prison worlds
and are aware that some (or most) of the exiles are political
prisoners. -dn S&A -dn TD 17
40th Squadron (Ekhlle Ksafi): A militant
federation in Gvurrdon Sector, the 40th Squadron comprised the
Vargr segment of the Fifth Frontier War's Outworld Coalition. Of
the two fleets it sent against the Imperium, one was destroyed; the
other was routed and forced to negotiate for peace. Although
vocally hostile, the Squadron's naval strength is practically
nonexistent. Corsairs based within Squadron territory pose its
greatest threat to the Domain. -sidebar MTJ 2
494-908 (0625 Spinward Marches X893000-0):
494-908 is a barren, desolate world. The Darrian Navy uses the
world for maneuvers and orbital bombardment practice and thus keeps
other personnel out as a safety measure. A small ocean on the world
surface is open for refuelling purposes, but the rest of the world
is off-limits. -ld D
693-470 (1512 Diaspora X110750-7): In 923, a
mysterious plague wiped out half of the persons living on this
planet, then known as Gretus. The disease was never isolated,
although the Imperial Navy's rapid move to interdict the world was
seen as an attempt to cover up a failed biowarfare experiment. The
survivors of the plague are non-symptomatic carriers of the
causative virus. They had rebuilt their society to TL 7 when the
Rebellion disrupted their efforts. Solomani attacks has damaged
their solar power facilities; the inhabitants scrambles to make
repairs. Other industries has waned and falleb by the wayside as
the constant effort to control the war damage drains competent
workers away from other sectors of society.
Although some Solomani fighter pilots are
rumored to have crashlanded here, and not contracted the plague-virus, there is no solid confirmation of these accounts. Travellers
make contact with the natives of 693-470 at their own considerable
risk. -AGD
805-111 (3225 Daibei X736988-7): Red Zone.
People of 805-111 consider violence to be the primary means of
settling differences. While nominally unified, the planet is
"governed" by a shifting panorama of cliques, gangs, private
armies, and strongmen. It seems the constituted government changes
with every coup.
Locals fight anyone anytime, with or without
any notice given. Offworlders rarely have a chance of avoiding all
the possible offenses that could get them killed, so the Travellers' Aid Society posts warnings and the Imperial Navy enforces
them. -dai TD 15
971-852 (2814 Trojan Reach E78A000-0): Amber Zone. Geologists estimate that this world was habitable some
300,000 years ago during the time of the Ancients, but in the Final
War, the planet's crust was severely cracked. Many species became
extinct, as volcanic eruptions blocked the sunlight for years. The
world's tectonic plates are fragile to this day; volcanism remains
extensive, and large areas are prone to quakes and tsunamis.
At one time humans of unknown ancestry lived
here. When contacted in 504, these island dwellers subsisted on a
few plants, supplemented by cannibalism - a practice which provided
certain proteins not available in the local wildlife.
The IISS introduced livestock to provide a
socially acceptable source of protein. The inhabitants gradually
changed from a settled, agricuitural culture to a more nomadic,
herding one. To the Scout Service's regret, they persisted in
eating the old and crippled humans.
971-852 was rarely visited, and when the
Scouts last reappraised the world in 852, the small population of
islanders had vanished. As the fate of the cannibalistic natives
has never been determined, 971-852 was given an amber travel code,
despite its current listing as an uninhabited world.
The 971-852 incident forced the IISS to
reconsider its non-interference policies. Aithough the Scouts
worked to modify the islander cuiture with the thought of making it
more amenable to offworld contact, their interference might well
have been the cause of its extinction. IISS pre-stellar contact
restrictions were strengthened as a result. -tr TD 20