Starfire
Nations of Sol System

Sol System
Sol, G2 (0,0,0)
Mercury (airless), Venus (venusian), Earth (terrestrial), Mars (terrestrial), Asteroid Belt, Jupiter (gas giant), Saturn (gas giant)

See separate article for the overall history of the solar system. Individual nations include Luna, Mars, Lockheed, the Space Habitats, Earth, the Jovian League, the Saturnian Satellites, and the Trans-Saturnian Settlements.

LUNA (played by Pat Mannion)
Though it has been three centuries since Luna led rebellions against the Martian empire, and nearly seven centuries since the Lunar Revolution, the inhabitants of Earth's moon (known as "Cookies" for obscure historical reasons), still retain a strong distrust of government and a sense of revolutionary leadership. As Earth's first, oldest, and closest colony, they also see themselves as the inheritor's of Earth's legacy. A major industrial and agricultural exporter, Luna is dependent on volatiles imported from Mars and the Jovian moons. The population is currently united under a fairly loose federal government, with the exception of the independent city of Taipei Luna (population 19 million). Masters of vacuum agriculture, Luna is also the breadbasket of the solar system. Lunar companies have a share in the Mercury mines.
  • Gravity: Low
  • Abundances: Agriculture
  • Deficiencies: Volatiles
  • Iridium: 1
  • Pop: 1.3 billion
  • IndVal: 100
  • FtrVal: 3 (SL)
  • Unity: Med
  • Advantages: high morale, agricultural engineering
  • Disadvantages: anarchistic
  • Fleet (all sub-light): 4 cruisers, 10 destroyers, 5 frigates, 25 CV defense stations (most built with Lockheed technology)

    • MARS (played by John Thompson and Phil Adler)
    Terraformed centuries ago, Mars is the only planet in the solar system on which humans can live on the surface, and the Martians see themselves as the true inheritors of Earth's legacy, often exuding a sense of cultural superiority which sets others on edge; there is still a very strong militaristic faction, led by the charismatic Admiral Thay Malloren, which hopes to see the return of Mars's imperial days when they ruled the solar system. A wealthy, mature planet, the Martian government is a socialist democracy dominated by a large bureaucracy. Most people live in densely populated cities near the equators, though an increasing number of citizens now dwell in the polar "outbacks". The Martian economy is dominated by service industries, Mars being the financial, commercial, educational, and entertainment hub of the solar system, though there are also strong manufacturing and resource production sectors. Mars also has effective control of Venus, which they are currently terraforming (partly habitable in 2890, fully terrestrial in 2942), and a share in the Hermean mines.
  • Gravity: Avg
  • Abundances: Iron, other Metals
  • Deficiencies: none
  • Iridium: 0
  • Pop: 2 billion
  • IndVal: 120
  • FtrVal: 9 (SL)
  • Unity: Med
  • Advantages: financial know-how, capable media/info-structure
  • Disadvantages: little heavy industry, cultural snobs
  • Fleet (all sub-light): 5 battleships, 20 cruisers, 40 destroyers, 50 frigates, 40CV defense station (most built with Lockheed technology)

    • LOCKHEED CORPORATION (played by Brian Tatosky)
    All asteroids between Martian and Jovian orbit, combined with the trailing Trojans, are the demesne of Lockheed Corporation, the monolithic megacorp which dominates the solar system's heavy manufacturing industries. Lockheed mines over 80% of the system's metals, manufactures more than 50% of its spacecraft, including all those at the forefront of technology, and holds over 90% of its iridium reserves. In return they import food and consumer goods. Lockheed has formed its own very secretive and isolated society in the midst of the solar system. Dwelling in zero-g, its people have drastically altered from Lunar and Martian norms; they are tall and willowy, their feet and toes almost matching their hands in dexterity. Despite modern zero-g medicine, no Belter could survive for any time in a gravity field and they require expensive artificial null-g fields on their rare trips to planetary surfaces. Lockheed is dominated by secrecy. All communications with the outside world are channeled through only three asteroids, and all physical contact with outsiders is limited to Gateway, where the external relations department is headquartered. Security measures are extreme, and most transactions are handled remotely; few outsiders have any actual contact with the corporation's personnel. Lockheed is at the cutting edge of engineering technology, and many of the systems it sells are proprietary knowledge, protected by self-destruct mechanisms which prevent analysis by outsiders. The corporation is constantly developing new designs and systems to remain ahead of its competition.
  • Gravity: Zero
  • Abundances: Metals
  • Deficiencies: Volatiles, Food, Consumer goods
  • Iridium: 9
  • Pop: 600 million
  • IndVal: 100
  • FtrVal: 3 (SL)
  • Unity: Very high
  • Advantages: many shipyards, cheap ship production (85%), above average ship and weaponry technology, secrecy
  • Disadvantages: zero-g population, neutrality
  • Fleet (all sub-light): 1 battleship, 2 cruisers, 15 frigates, 300CV defense stations

    • SPACE HABITATS
    Scattered throughout the solar system, mostly between the orbits of Mercury and Luna, are thousands of inhabited spinning toroids and cylinders. The Habbers, as they are collectively known, are the physical and cultural descendants of Luna. Very independent, they retain even more of the Lunar revolutionary ideology than the Cookies themselves. Some of the more important habitats include: Phoenix, Porendra, Major Gladstone, Jakarta, Silchar, Tigris, Kismet, and Last Stop.
  • Gravity: Low
  • Abundances: Solar energy
  • Deficiencies: Volatiles, Food, Metals
  • Iridium: 0
  • Pop: 800 million
  • IndVal: 50
  • FtrVal: 2 (SL)
  • Unity: Low
  • Fleet (all sub-light): 5 frigates, 10CV defense stations

    • EARTH
    A world devoid of life beyond algae in the oceans, Earth is believed to still contain the seeds of the plagues which brought it down five centuries ago. (Incautious explorers are blamed for the 24th century outbreaks of omniplague in the Belt.) Earth is currently guarded by an array of powerful automated defense satellites, maintained jointly by all nations, programmed to destroy anything approaching within 500 km of the surface.
  • Gravity: Avg
  • Abundances: Volatiles
  • Deficiencies: none
  • Iridium: 0
  • Pop: 0

    • JOVIAN LEAGUE
    A loose federation of nations in Jupiter's moons and the leading Trojans, closely allied with Mars. Much of their income is derived from scoop-mining in Jupiter's atmosphere and ice-mining on the moons.
  • Gravity: Low
  • Abundances: Hydrogen, Volatiles
  • Deficiencies: Food
  • Iridium: 0
  • Pop: 700 million
  • IndVal: 70
  • FtrVal: 2 (SL)
  • Unity: Low/med
  • Fleet (all sub-light): 1 destroyer, 5 frigates, 20CV defense stations

    • SATURNIAN SATELLITES
    8 independent nations, including, Cassini, East and West Rhea, and the Tethys Empire. Mostly rather poor, dependent on income from tourism. Titan was declared off-limits to colonization after the discovery of pre-animate, self-replicating structures in its methane lakes. Mars maintains a research station there.
  • Gravity: Low
  • Abundances: none
  • Deficiencies: Food
  • Iridium: 0
  • Pop: 120 million
  • IndVal: 30
  • FtrVal: 0
  • Unity: varies
  • Fleet (all sub-light): 20CV defense stations

    • TRANS-SATURNIAN SETTLEMENTS
    There are no actual nations beyond Saturn's orbit, though there are a number of scattered settlements owned by other nations, mostly mining or research stations. The largest is the Extrasolar Research Community on Nereid, operated by the University of Olympus (Mars). Total population: 2 million.  

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