Pantor's Phylactery
- Thread starter Pantor
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INTRODUCTION
Beyond the Western Reaches and the Velvet Nebula are the Freestanding Subsectors. The march of time is long and slow, and there, just a little more so. The galaxy is a frightfully big place, but the Freestanding Subsectors are a reminder of how things used to be, for better or for worse.
The Republic spans across the stars; only a handful of them, but enough. Many have abandoned the ideals of old, moved on to new callings, but the people of the Freestanding Subsectors have not. The Parliament on Taloraan carries the torch of liberty into the future. People are free. Free to prosper, free to speak their minds, free to live their lives; they are free to be happy.
For some, however, happiness can't be found within the Republic and its constitution. There's a special kind of freedom that only exists far from the rest of the galaxy; the freedom to take what you please and do what suits you. The Pirate King of Kafrene and her crew offer a life of riches and adventure outside of the law. Many find it an offer that is hard to resist. The Freestanding Subsectors are still the frontier, and there are always new fortunes to be made
K'tak, the savage moon, is the gate to the Unknown Region and its long-lost secrets. Its tribes battle each other and the beasts that roam their mountainous home, directed by their shadowy masters: The Hand of the Emperor. Terrorists and extremists, the members of the Hand are the last echo of Palpatine's hateful reign. Core World renegades, homegrown radicals, primitive fanatics, they know no common bond, only their unwavering devotion to the tenets of the New Order.
Things are hard elsewhere; complicated. In the Freestanding Subsectors, though, there are still heroes and villains, still things worth fighting for and against. A person can be certain that what they are doing is right, if only because there is so much wrong to be found. But of course, as the adage goes, the trouble with being a hero is that one must do something heroic.
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THE VELVET NEBULA
Between the Western Reaches and Wild Space there is the Velvet Nebula. Stretching close to a thousand lightyears across the galactic south, it is the single largest stellar dust cloud ever discovered. So named for its deep red color and soft, faded appearance in the night sky, it has been a focal point of stellar cartography for millennia, and more recently, a haven for pirates.
THE KAFRENE ARM
If the Corellian Trade Spine is the backbone of the galactic economy, then the Kafrene Arm is a vestigial limb, which paints a fairly accurate picture of its importance. Still, it is the only hyperroute in or out of the Freestanding Subsectors. Running from its namesake at Kafrene on to Taloraan several systems over, its commercial traffic is what keeps the Republic alive.
Under the Empire there were numerous attempts to expand the arm out into the Unknown Regions as a jumping off point for further exploration, but nothing ever came of the effort. Instead, the Azura Spike is the only branch of the Kafrene Arm that moves further off into Wild Space as it meanders towards the Core. Though less well charted, the Azura Spike has been key for colonial and exploratory efforts in recent decades.
SUBSECTORS
During the High Republic Period the area beyond the Western Reaches was still sparsely colonized by Core World species. While in the rest of the galaxy the sector became the base unit of geographic and political measurement, there the subsector was more appropriate. While a sector can contain hundreds, even thousands of systems, a subsector has only a handful of charted worlds. By the twilight of the Old Republic that fact had given the region its name: The Freestanding Subsectors.
Every major world in the region is at the center of its own subsector, comprised of itself and surrounding, star systems. The Taloraan and Kayri Subsectors were the founders of the Republic as it presently exists, and as a result have experienced a degree of unusual growth; they are, far and away, the largest subsectors.
THE GRANT
Before the Freestanding Subsectors there is the Grant. Another relic of the galaxy's colonial past, the Grant represents regions handed out to various private interests by the Old Republic for colonization. Though the corporations that once owned the Grant have long since dissolved, it remains a region with a shared sense of history. Subdivided into three sectors: Thuldin's Grant, the Trailing Grant, and the Montitian Grant, it contains some of the worlds most closely connected to the Freestanding Subsectors, like Kafrene and Montitia. The Grant is the primary point of trade for the Freestanding Subsectors; Before the Union Wars of 99 ABY, there was even talk of the Grant worlds joining the Republic.
RHYDONIUM
Gestrex has doonium, Kalkovak has gold, and the worlds of the Freestanding Subesctors have Rhydonium. Industrial interests drove most expansion in the early days of the Republic and the fuel barons led the charge west. Many of the companies given rights to the Grant were refining conglomerates. Underground seas of chrome liquid wait to be tapped across the moons and planetoids of the Freestanding Subsectors. Rhydonium extraction is an expensive business, and only the megacorporations can afford to do it profitably. While the Parliament had resisted this outside influence for a number of decades, several companies were granted unprecedented mining rights within Republic space in 97 ABY.
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BASSILUS’ DIPHTHERIA
Documented in the earliest holo-reports from colonists and explorers, Bassilus' Diphtheria is one of the few remaining diseases in the galaxy with a dangerous mortality rate. A fungal infection native to the Moons of K'tak, its threat lies in the lack of scientific study the disease has received. Over the generations populations of humans have gained immunity to the worst types of the fungus. This has slowly expanded to encompass much of the human population of the Freestanding Subsectors. The most severe threat is for those near-humans who venture into the frontier, close enough to humans to be vulnerable, but lacking immunity gained from millennia of colonization. This has become a particularly relevant issue with the influx of contract workers from interstellar companies.
THE HOLONET
Like much of the galaxy, the Freestanding Subsectors have gone decades without a unified holonet. Information going from the Corporate Sector to Taloraan needs to travel though countless disjointed relays, sub-light transmitters, hyperspace couriers, and so on. Until very recently, it was impossible to send large data packets between star systems via the Holonet.
Now, with the help of Republic funding, the Salendar Holo-Relay Corporation has established a coherent network of transmitters and receivers across the Freestanding Subsectors. The most advanced displays can now receive holograms and high-density files across the Freestanding Subsectors within a matter of minutes. While the Hyperspace Courier Unions have reacted with general strikes and walkouts, they are still the primary method of information transmission within the Freestanding Subsectors.
THE UNKNOWN REGIONS
The galaxy's western half has always been a mysterious place. Strange alien races, long lost empires, and cosmic oddities the likes of which cannot be found elsewhere. The Freestanding Subsectors are a meeting place for the two halves of the galaxy, people and institutions butting up against the bulwark of the unknown. While thusfar nothing has emerged from the Unknown Regions, a great many have entered it.
Treasure hunters, hyperlane cartographers, glory-hunting explorers, and so on all flood cantinas and spaceports along the Kafrene Arm. Flush with credits and ambition, they press into the unknown. While not official encouraged by the Republic, a number of exploratory corporations have sprung up on Taloraan and neighboring worlds, funding an organizing the mass of frontiersmen in pursuit of an even more elusive goal than new worlds or uncontacted races: profit.
TALORAAN
A verdant world of planes and rivers, Taloraan was the first planet settled in the Freestanding Subsectors. Boasting a population of some two-hundred million, it is the capital of the Republic and the heart of the region both economically and culturally. Its oceans play host to countless exotic organisms - the Flisch in particular is sought after for its tender meat - and the beasts of Taloraan's grasslands are popular in both agricultural and zoological circles. Its capital city of Halon is the home of the Republic Parliament, its massive dome dominating the skyline.
Despite efforts to preserve the natural beauty of the planet, Taloraan has undergone a massive surge of industrialization during the past century. The large industrial sprawl around Halon - dubbed the Meat Works by locals for its poor conditions and high fatality rate - is able to match the output of several smaller moons within Republic Space. The spaceport at Hedara has become chocked with shipping traffic as a result. This has, to the chagrin of port authorities, made it increasingly straightforward to slip past customs and smuggle contraband onto the planet. The illegal sale of glitterstim has been particularly problematic.
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RES PUBLICA
The institutions and political traditions of Taloraan served as the basis for the Republic when it was established two centuries ago. Drawing on the legacy of the Old Republic and Confederacy, the union of nearly two dozen systems and twice as many worlds is a bastion of freedom, particularly against the encroachment of the Hand of the Emperor. A federal state, each of the member systems maintains nominal sovereignty, though in practice it would be impossible for a singular star system to leave the Republic.
The heart of the Republic is the Parliament Hall. At the center of Halon, it is nearly a kilometer long and houses close to one thousand representatives from Republic worlds. While public access to the Parliament Hall was restricted in 44 ABY its meetings minutes are still openly available for access at local holonet terminals. Next to the hall is the smaller but still notable presidential estate. Though it was traditional for presidents to reside on their homeworlds this went out of fashion within the last century and the estate was built.
When the Republic was founded Taloraan it took direct control of the central district of Halon and continues to administer it alongside various military installations and customs facilities to this day. Despite this Halon itself is a demilitarized zone. No republic forces are permitted to enter its confines or orbit without an act of parliament. This has, with one exception, never happened in Republic history.
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KAYRI
While equally as habitable as Taloraan, Kayri never boasted a similarly large population. This is in large part because most of its surface is dedicated to agriculture, animal husbandry, and forestry. That is not to say it has no industry, but unlike nearby worlds it is concentrated in orbit. One of the inner planets of the Kayri System is ringed with innumerable asteroids and planetoids; these have been the site of large mining operations for several centuries. This has also meant that, despite its key role in the early Republic, Kayri has less representation in Parliament than most other Republic worlds. Kayri is the only planet in the freestanding subsectors with a large near-human population.
PROVIDUZE
A center of economic activity coming in and out of the freestanding subsectors, Providuze hosts the largest spacesport in the Republic: KN-9. While its name is rather demure the port itself is anything but, stretching dozens of kilometers in every direction. Expansive catacombs and tunnels beneath the surface hold dry-docks, repair bays, and countless hangers, the heart of an inter-planetary nexus of shipping and production. While technically based on Taloraan, the Republic Navy is based on Providuze for all practical purposes. While it is not the only planet in the region with a shipyard, Providuze's are far and away the largest, capable of producing ships the size of star destroyers.
AZURA
So named for its pale blue sun, Azura is the newest system to join the Republic. Even if as developed as most other worlds, its history as a frontier system kept it out of the Republic for decades. It was only after 70 ABY that any kind of political will to join the Republic emerged after raids by the Hand of the Emperor. A world with rich mineral deposits and several synthetic tabanna refineries, there was fear that the Hand would try and annex the world and launch an invasion of the Republic. So, as contentious as it was, Azura voted to join the Republic and by 71 ABY they were an official member world. While many plans were drawn up to expand the Republic further into frontier of wild space, the conquest of the nearby neutral world of Lequabis ended those plans.
KAFRENE
The Kafrene System is a desolate ruin. Many thousands of years ago it was lush and habitable until a supernova scoured it of all life. In more recent centuries pirates, smugglers, and all sorts of untoward characters have made their home there. While the entirety of its asteroid belt is littered with bases, stations, and mining facilities, the Ring of Kafrene is the most prominent. A superstructure running through the heart of half a dozen asteroids, it is a metropolis.
he master of the ring is the Pirate King of Kafrene, a Chiss woman who overthrew the old Pirate King nearly a decade ago. Though her flotilla is small, she commands unwavering loyalty through cunning and shrewd negotiation. Unlike her predecessor, the new Pirate King has helped to facilitate trade and the flow of resources in and out of the Freestanding Subsectors. Still, she remains the most wanted individual in the subsectors.
K'TAKTAXKA
Known colloquially as the K'Tatk System, K'Taktaxka is the heart of neo-imperial activity within the Freestanding Subsectors. A harsh world of dense jungles and arid plateaus, it holds myriad warrior tribes and secretive imperial facilities. The Hand of the Emperor, the region's pre-eminent neo-imperial organization, draws primarily from K'Takt. Despite the primitive surface, high orbit over K'Takt is flush with dozens of asteroid mines, modular shipyards, imperial satellites, and stations.
The system's name is rumored to have originated with the native alien population, long since driven to extinction by rapacious human colonists. There were attempts by the Hand of the Emperor to have the system renamed to Palpatine, but this quickly ran into trouble when the Galactic Association of Cartographers refused to grand their request. Attempts to gain control of the holomap vaults on Corulag and make the change manually were less than successful.
The K'Takt System holds the distinction of being the furthest most point of exploration within the Freestanding Subsectors. The Galaxy's western arm is flush with stars, but even a novice pilot can tell of the dangers associated with astro-exploration. With the Hand of the Emperor in control of the outlying system, the expensive, time consuming efforts needed to chart proper hyperlanes into unknown space are impossible. Rumors abound that imperial survey ships plot courses to long-lost worlds in search of arcane lore and lost treasures. Some say the Imperials dare not return to the Unknown Regions for fear of what they will find there. The truth, in all likelihood, is far more plain: No terrorist organization can afford that much hyperspace fuel.