Location Stygian Reaches Linchpin Station

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LINCHPIN STATION

SITE LORE

Linchpin Station, also called Linchpin Torus or just the Linchpin, is a massive, ancient construct, built by the old Tionese under Xim the Despot. One of the supreme feats of engineering accomplished by Xim's empire, it was also one of their last, although unlike many others it has endured into the present day.

Linchpin Torus is perhaps unique in Galactic technological history. The first unique aspect - indeed, the main thing anyone notices the first time they travel to the Linchpin - is its location; although built by the ancient Tionese, the Linchpin in fact exists outside the bounds of the Galaxy, being constructed at a point on the outskirts of the Stygian Reaches, a largely unexplored region outside Galactic space. The purpose of this remote building location - indeed, the reason it was even possible - is the existence of a hyperspatial guideway which connects the Galaxy to the Stygian Reaches.

FUNCTION

FUNCTION

The Linchpin serves to stabilize the guideway on the Stygian end, creating a reliable terminus which ships traveling between the Galaxy and the Stygian Reaches can use to calibrate their hyperspatial trajectory while traversing between the two points. It is twinned with a seemingly natural ring-shaped asteroid in the Maw Cluster, which anchors the other end of the guideway by focusing the natural gravitic forces of the surrounding singularities. Traversing the guideway is still difficult and dangerous, but can be done with reasonable reliability so long as the guidance mechanisms on the Stygian end are active.

The Linchpin Torus itself was built by Tionese engineers to act as an artificial version of the structure in the Maw, and to house the complex guidance mechanisms which further stabilize the gateway such that travel is possible in both directions. Like other surviving examples of Xim-era architecture, it is well engineered and ahead of its time in many ways, however it has a definite "function over form" appearance that sets it apart from its contemporaries. As far as anyone can tell, the structure was fabricated in segments on the Galactic side of the guideway, then shipped through piece by piece, with construction crews on the receiving end having effectively undertaken a one-way trip, with no way to return from the Stygian Reaches until the structure was complete. On the Stygian end, every item shipped through was used in the construction; even the transport galleons which ferried cargo were dismantled, their hulls and internal systems becoming part of the station. The resulting structure is immense, nearly on the scale of the old Death Star battle stations in radius, although not nearly so heavily armed; aside from the guideway machinery, space is present for thousands of sentients to live and work.

OPERATION

OPERATION

The mechanism is, indeed, technological in nature, but only in part; proper function of the guideway requires the input of a Force sensitive individual, which was originally accomplished via a rather drastic cybernetic operation which grafted a living individual into the mechanism as a control system. The current controller is one Professor Hanami, a male Chadra-Fan who volunteered to stay behind and operate the station while the rest of his expedition returned to the old Galaxy. Many of its members vowed to return, however, and a less invasive method of maintaining the connection between Galaxies is under investigation.

HABITATION

HABITATION​

Linchpin Station has been officially abandoned since the severing of the connection between the old Galaxy and the Stygian Reaches many thousands of years ago. That is not to say it has always been completely unoccupied since then, however. Notably, one of the main hangar bays of the station is still very much active, serving as a grey and black-market commerce hub for the region. The traders who have set up shop - mostly Tionese humans and a few other species local to the Reaches - have set up a few permanent residences for themselves and their families, and have even converted some nearby areas of the station into shelters where they can hide if and when the authorities come calling. These individuals tend not to venture far from their reclaimed spaces, however, and so vast areas of the station are still preserved as they were when the last legal residents evacuated many millennia ago.

Since the reopening of the guideway between the old Galaxy and the Reaches, the few current residents of the Linchpin may find themselves coming into unique opportunities. The market is also a good place for newcomers to the station to pick up supplies, contacts and information about the region.

INTENT​

To create a profile for Linchpin Station, the connection point between the old Galaxy and the Stygian Reaches.