Casini's Reach
| Name | Casini's Reach |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Independent |
| Stellar Class | M-type "red dwarf" |
| Orbiting Bodies | 1 |
| Discovery | 2354 |
| Colonized | 2366 |
| Government | None/The Six Moon Pact |
 | |
Casini’s Reach is an independent anarcho-communist colony on the edge of human space. While often considered a singular colony by outsiders for the purposes of astropolitics, the system is in reality occupied by a large number of individual communes united by a mutual defense pact in the name of security.
Contents
Layout/Geography
Casini’s Reach is a star system consisting of a M-type red dwarf main-sequence star with a single ringed ice giant - Pontes - in orbit, though the planet has six moons of its own. The system is ringed by a distant circumstellar disc consisting of mostly dust, asteroids and a number of barren dwarf planets, known as the “Diego Belt”.
Infrastructure
The majority of settlements in the system consist of former mining colonies built deep into the extensive artificial cave networks formed by decades of excavation on the moons of Pontes. The hard rock allows the caverns to be sealed and pressurised, and extensive construction to take place within - some built into the rock, others freestanding within the open space. The only surface structures consist of exterior access points, solar arrays, industrial cooling arrays and landing pads that service most habitats. Surface travel is possible via specialised ground vehicles adapted for low gravity, although regular shuttle services operate between the six moons and a number of small orbital hub stations that have become far more popular even for travelling between locations on the same moon. Larger communes operate public transit systems, mostly in the form of combination overhead and underground rail networks. Many smaller settlements have emerged since the system’s independence, which have the noted advantage of being purpose-built and pre-planned, and as such are often far more compact and easy to navigate. Some asteroid-based habitats also exist in the Diego Belt, though these usually only support a small number of individuals, and the majority are holdovers from the system’s ruthless industrial past.
Population
The majority of the system’s population are descendents of human mine workers and their families, once employed by rival Italian and Chilean mining corporations. However, the unique political landscape of Casini’s Reach has since attracted many migrants, lending the system a wide variety of people of different cultural backgrounds and species, with non-humans making up about 15% of the population. Most of the population live on the six moons of Pontes, with the most populous being Santiago and Cotopaxi, though all are inhabited, in addition to several more isolated orbital and asteroid-based habitats throughout the system.
Industry and Economy
Casini’s Reach operates wholly on a system of mutual aid, wherein resources and services are distributed on a basis on mutual benefit. Individual communes are largely self-sufficient, but often specialise in a specific industry or service which they provide as able to the system in exchange for what they are unable to provide for themselves. Smaller or newer settlements are usually supported by communes who are able, until they are able to support themselves. Having been established as a mining colony, the system has a wealth of mineral resources, as well as refineries and foundries on a vast scale, though as the need for exports was eliminated, many were converted to production of goods previously brought in from outside. Most individual industrial facilities are on a relatively small scale, only required to provide what is needed for the community, with the expectation of surplus for the purposes of aid quite minor compared to the usual output of commercial factories.
Government
Casini’s Reach consists entirely of independent communes, with the only body resembling a government being the Six Moon Pact, a defensive pact consisting of almost every commune in the system - though those who refuse to align themselves find themselves effectively shielded from outsiders, who are usually unaware of the specifics of local politics. The administration of individual communes varies, though usually major decisions are delegated to voluntary or elected committees which will represent the needs of those they represent. These positions are quite precarious, as it is usually quite straightforward for an individual to be removed if those they represent feel they are not being properly spoken for. Matters of system-wide importance, such as the administration of the transit network, a commune believed to be violating the rights of its people, or inter-system politics can at times take quite some time to resolve, and it is not unusual for serious matters to be acted upon by individual communities in the meantime.
Notable Locations
Pontes
The main orbiting body of the system, a large, ringed ice giant orbited by six major satellites; Santa Maria, Cotopaxi, Aconcagua, Rey Pedro, Campinas, and Santiago - all rocky moons lacking any kind of atmosphere. While the planet itself is uninhabitable, it serves as the central body of most habitation in the system, and originally served as the system’s official name prior to the 2438 revolution.
Santiago
The most populous of Pontes’ moons, Santiago once served as the headquarters of the Pontes Consolidated Mining Corporation, and as such saw the most extensive non-mining development prior to the revolution. The primary settlement - now named Casini - was one of few purpose-built for housing the homes and offices of high ranking members of the corporation and following damage during the civil war, was easily refitted to comfortably support a much larger population.
Santa Maria
Once home to several large prison mine facilities, these have since been dismantled or heavily refitted, as conditions were so poor that most were deemed entirely unsafe for habitation. Those that are still occupied are usually limited to the former staff areas, as the deeper prison sectors are often prone to cave-ins, or buildup of toxic gases from years of irresponsible mining. Despite this, some communes of former inmates have flourished, and regardless of outside prejudices, have remained mostly peaceful.
Cotopaxi
The industrial center of the system, Cotopaxi is the most mineral rich of the six moons. Considered by many to be the birthplace of the revolution, due to being home to all but one founding member of the Pontes Labour Action Union. Despite the downscaling of most mining operations, several of the larger mines on Cotopaxi continue to provide minerals to communes across the system, and the cities that occupy their oldest tunnels are some of the most labyrinthine on the moons, requiring both light and freight underground rail systems to reasonably navigate.
The Diego Belt
Ostensibly marking the boundaries of the system, the Diego Belt forms a vast ring of dust and asteroids, and is home to a surprising number of very small habitats. Unfortunately, the isolation of the Belt means that these minor communes often fall victim to problems before they are able to contact the wider community for assistance - raiders, system failure, or the dubious actions of other communes who feel they are out of sight enough to target others without consequence - though often caught, it is impossible to gauge how many have escaped justice.
History
2359: Pontes’ moons Santiago, Santa Maria, and Cotopaxi are determined to be mineral rich and bidding begins on resource rights.
2366: First mining operations are established on Cotopaxi and Santa Maria by the Rivera Mining Corporation.
2369: Venturi Mineral Exploration begins large-scale excavations across Santiago, employing over 10,000 workers within just the first year, offering monetary and living incentives for those willing to work on the new rimworld colony. Immigration swells.
2380: Exclusive mining rights expire for the system. Smaller mines begin to crop up across the moons and asteroid field, including those not deemed valuable enough for the two competing corporations.
2383: Citing declining profits, Venturi cease their incentive programs, workers are now expected to pay for their basic needs - accommodation is to be rented from the corporation.
2391: Rivera Mining secures prison labor deals with nearby systems. Long sentence, “Low-risk” prisoners are brought to Santa Maria in droves. Thousands of Rivera miners are unceremoniously laid off, and remaining workers are paid significantly less. Many find work in smaller, less safe mines in the system, though more are left jobless.
2393: Venturi slash wages. Many now lack the income required to relocate from the system. Transit is almost exclusively company-owned.
2399: Riots break out in Santiago following security intervention in a protest against wage cuts, resulting in the deaths of 26 workers. Venturi introduces anti-union policies throughout their holdings, Rivera soon follows suit. Security is tightened across the system.
2408: Many smaller mines find themselves unable to compete with Rivera and Venturi due to near monopolies on export infrastructure, and are forced to sell to the larger companies.
2410: Rivera Mining and Venturi Mineral Exploration merge to form the Pontes Consolidated Mining Corporation, securing a total monopoly over the system.
2420: Conditions worsen in Cotopaxi mines as the PCMC focuses its attention on its so-called correctional facilities.
2424: Martina Casini - alongside several other miners on Cotopaxi - forms the Pontes Labor Action Union, an anarchist resistance group dedicated to combatting the mistreatment of mine workers in the system.
2426: The PLAU is officially declared a terrorist organization in an official corporate broadcast. Membership swells.
2430: Fifty-two prisoners deemed missing from facilities on Santa Maria are recaptured on a raid on a PLAU habitat in the Diego Belt.
2435: Large scale riots sweep Cotopaxi. The PCMC are unable to maintain order in several of their mine sectors. Considered to be the first major success of the Pontes Labour Action Union.
2436: The PCMC remotely shuts down critical systems in “inoperable” facilities on Cotopaxi. It takes sixteen hours for workers to restore life support system, by which time many have perished. SolGov condemns the actions of the corporation, threatening to cut protectorate status if it continues.
2438: A bomb attack on the PCMC head offices on Santiago kills several members of the board of directors. Widespread riots begin across the system, leading to the company withdrawing entirely from Cotopaxi. By the end of the year, a state of civil war is declared.
2440: Martina Casini is assassinated in a failed effort to destabilise the PLAU.
2443: The PCMC is successfully driven from the system. The PLAU renames the system to “Casini’s Reach” in honor of their lost founding member.
2444: Casini’s Reach officially secedes from SolGov, disappointed with their lack of assistance against the PCMC, and desiring not to be involved in wider politics. The current system of independent communes is established, with an effort made to provide for those worst impacted by the revolution. Prison colonies on Santa Maria are disbanded and inmates granted their freedom.
2457: The PLAU deems the system “stable” and is voluntarily dissolved, eliminating the last form of central government in the system.
2460: A commune on Campinas is raided and almost annihilated by the crew of a single pirate vessel. While the ship was observed as a potential threat by many, little was done until it was already too late. In response, many communes in close proximity begin to sign mutual defense pacts, to prevent further massacres.
2466: Mutual Defense has become so widespread that almost every commune has become interconnected with each other. The “Six Moon Pact” is coined.
2490: A Grayson Manufactories vessel is spotted surveying bodies in the Diego Belt. The crew are detained by a nearby commune, which is met with general approval. Grayson petitions SolGov to intervene, and diplomats are dispatched.
2491: After a long legal battle, Grayson Manufactories is deemed to have been in violation of local law, and SolGov states that their hands are tied. Grayson threatens Casini’s Reach with retaliation, and deploys several armed vessels to the border of the system.
2495: The Grayson crew members are allowed to leave, and return home. Grayson maintains no less than two vessels on the edge of the system at all times, though they never act. The fleet becomes notorious as a laughing stock in the system, and as a particularly boring post for Grayson corporate security.
2508: Grayson withdraw their ships, in light of looming war. Casini’s Reach remains in uneasy peace.
2525: A small group of Unbound Unathi take up residence in an abandoned facility on Santa Maria. Debate sparks between nearby communes, but conflict is narrowly avoided and the newcomers are eventually welcomed, though many humans remain uneasy.
2562: Luisa Tassis, a Casini national living in Saint Columbia, leads a socialist, pro-Association, anti-military revolution in system. Casini's Reach is accused by some of interference with Solar politics, though the decentralized nature of the polity renders that unlikely.
2563: Luisa Tassis returns to Santiago following the occupation of Saint Columbia. Requests for her extradition are, predictably, denied.
2566: The Skathari Incursion begins. Due to the isolation of Casini's Reach, low tachyon flux in the system, minimal local bluespace travel, and densely integrated nature of the Six Moon Pact, the system is largely undamaged. A small but appreciable number of refugees from nearby space, especially from the devastated Terminus Station, trickle in slowly over the next several years, largely settling in established communes in Santiago.
