Eutopia

Name	Eutopia
Affiliation	Independent
Stellar Class	G-Glass
Orbiting Bodies	Three planets
Discovery	21st Century
Colonized	2389
Government	Eutopian Foreign Relations Board
Distance from Sol	126.1

Eutopia is a secessionist state-like organization founded on anarcho-capitalist free market principles and philosophical Objectivism. Created during the 2400's by a collection of corporate interests, secessionists, and the wealthy, Eutopia has profited from its status as a tax haven and a place free from many of SolGov's more restrictive laws. After the Skathari Incursion, a decline in trade passing through Eutopia prompted a radical transition into a pirate haven and fellow-traveler with the fascist Vystholm flotilla.

Geography

Eutopia's star, Smith, is a dull main sequence star orbited by three planets and one broad asteroid belt. The system is smaller than that of many comparable stars, some to suspect that a fourth planet was ejected from the system during formation.

The nearest planet, Friedman, is a charred rock tidally locked with Smith. Extremely iron-rich, it may have been a planetary core exposed during an impact event or stripped away by the harsh solar wind.

The next planet, Rand, is a terrestrial world with an atmosphere of carbon dioxide, ozone, and free nitrogen, racked by frequent and violent storms. Some relatively calm regions exist, but the planet's surface is constantly resurfaced by nitrous acid rains and electrical discharges.

The final planet is a green-blue gas giant called Ricardo, orbited by a number of small moons and captured asteroids as well as a small ring system. Ricardo dominates its local neighborhood and contains a variety of substances, including a Titan-like cryovolcanically active hydrocarbon moon (called Malthus).

The Main Belt of this system exists just inside of the orbit of Ricardo, with occasional asteroid migrations between it and Ricardo's L4 and L5 points. Unusually dense, it is here where the main colony of Eutopia was founded, and the whole belt is often referred to by this name. Eutopia proper is a oversized pair of toruses that rotate for centrifugal gravity, although the station also includes various nearby constructions, often smaller torii.

Infrastructure

All infrastructure in Eutopia is privatized and, frequently, run by competing free market agencies. This results in most constructions on Eutopia not dominated by a single large corporate interest having a ramshackle look to them, as various parts of a given station are smashed together more or less by happenstance. The parts of Eutopia that aren't jarringly irregular are frighteningly regular, as these tend to be regions controlled by low-intelligence drones.

In between Eutopia's two torii is a spaceport capable of maintaining and fielding some of the fastest ships in human space. Shuttles from this station tie together the region's economy and ensure economic dominance by the station proper.

Population

Nearly 700,000 people live in the greater Smith system, with the majority of these being found on Eutopia proper. Of these, less than a tenth are landowners, almost 20% are indentured servants, and the remainder are tenants. The station is overwhelmingly human, with representation by a few Qerr-Katish business interests and an unfortunately large number of positronic and tajaran indentured servants, often the victims of sapient trafficking operations based out of Vystholm. Eutopia also hosts sizable numbers of Tajaran pirates and Vystholm raiders, who have been known to come into violent conflict outside of the confines of Eutopia. Many opportunistic raiders move between Eutopia and nearby pirate crews depending on which are paying better at any given moment.

Industry and Economy

For centuries, Eutopia has served as a tax haven, idyllic getaway, black site, and testing ground for humanity's richest-- both the disgustingly wealthy Eutopian landowner class, descended from the richest of its original colonists and the owners and operators of SolGov's TSCs. The station features luxury dining, accommodations, and entertainment for the ultra-wealthy, and tax-free Eutopian banks store a huge amount of corporate wealth despite SolGov attempts to stop the practice. Tourism to Eutopia has been in rapid, terminal decline following the destabilization of its surroundings during the Skathari Incursion, and even its status as a tax haven is in question following the emergence of Vounna as a rival. As a result, Eutopia's wealthy have quietly pivoted the economy towards piracy, with Eutopian "defense contractors" joining established pirate groups like the Jaguar Gang and the totalitarian raiders of Vystholm in despoiling The Bowl, though Eutopian groups tend to focus on smaller independent traders and settlements to avoid alienating their remaining TSC supporters.

Lacking SolGov's labor protection and anti-automation laws, Eutopia hosts vast, eerie networks of automated mines and farms on the system's largely uninhabited planets. The raw materials from these operations fuels the construction of more orbital habitats and more automated industry; a self-reinforcing spiral of automated development Eutopia's leadership believe will never end.

Government

Eutopia doesn't have a formal government, but as part of historical concessions made to SolGov to support their continuing independence, all residents are obligated to buy in to the Eutopian Foreign Relations Board. Once charged with overseeing technological development and reporting findings to Solar inspectors, the EFRB officially ended technological auditing in 2565. The EFRB, jointly owned by Eutopia's wealthiest landowners, retained its hold on Eutopia's main spaceport, and has leveraged its historical position to become Eutopia's "face" when dealing with local pirate crews and foreign governments. It spends most of its time, money, and effort encouraging pirates to focus their attacks on their larger neighbors, while seeing Eutopia as an ally and a port of first call. The EFRB publically disclaims any relationship with the mercenary raiders based in the system, though many of those outfits are owned by the same people who control the EFRB.

Notable Locations

Friedman

A gray ball cobwebbed by automated trawling factories that refine the planet's natural iron into usable ingots, which are then shipped by courier to orbital processing and shipping facilities. Friedman is an extremely tidy operation, especially for its low level of sapient or A-class oversight. Analysts report that Friedman's factories would continue functioning for 60 years if humans were to be removed from the situation.

Rand

Rand is full of relatively uncontested deposits of substances necessary to life. It is also a lightning-wracked hellscape too complicated for simple drones to navigated unaided. As a result the majority of laborers on and around Rand are indentured servants, often positronics. The lack of natural infrastructure prevents any sort of coup from occurring, and the high workplace incident rates of the planet are economically acceptable losses.

Malthus

Ricardo's largest moon is owned and operated almost entirely by Skrell. The caste makeup is predominantly Kanin-Katish, with the owners being Qerr-Katish rumored to be affiliated with the Qerr'Glia. The existing Skrellian population spread quickly from a relatively small seed, and the moon is covered with high-density hydroponics stations, plastic production plants, and geothermal power stations using systems more advanced than any in SolGov space.

The Halo

An informal name for a collection of privately-owned power stations that ring Smith, the Halo is a vital piece of Eutopia's infrastructure. Power is relayed to the high-population outer rim using colossal microwave lasers. The various owners of the Halo have long been known to publish reports on their military readiness, with the clear goal of dissuading a SCG invasion of Eutopia. The Halo was first employed to military ends during the Skathari Incursion, where it performed far better than expected in defending Eutopia's corporate holdings. Though damaged by direct Skathari attacks, and by exceeding safe output wattages, the Halo remains both a key part of Eutopia's power infrastructure and a strong incentive for good behavior by local pirates.

Kroptkin

Kropotkin was formerly held by a Mercurial farming collective, right under the nose of the most obviously corporate power in the galaxy. During the Skathari Incursion, a small outbreak in an outlying dome quickly snowballed into a full-grown infestation that Eutopia's leadership allowed to grow unchallenged. All inhabitants were killed, or escaped only to be pressed into indentured servitude by their rescuers. Much of the abandoned city was later glassed as part of a weapons demonstration for a delegation from Vystholm.

Reagan Interstellar Spaceport

Carved into a mined-out asteroid, Reagan Interstellar was established by the EFRB as a port of call for Vystholm militants after a high-profile brawl between a Jaguar Gang captain and a prominent local Vystholm military leader. While a controlling interest in the spaceport is held by the EFRB, Vystholm is allowed a great deal of control over local policy, including most prominently the banning of all non-humans from the premises. It serves as a first impression for what an ascended Vystholm might look like to the galaxy at large.

History

2434: The Eutopia Foreign Relations Board, composed mostly of survivors of earlier secession movements, establishes the original Eutopia torri in the Main Belt of the star they rename Smith.

2439: Early mining of Friedman begins, mostly by migrant laborers from The Bowl. The construction of a large enslaved positronic workforce begins.

2450: Friedman mines run almost entirely by positronics. Some migrant laborers find themselves stranded in system. The modern indentured servitude system is established, with migrants forced to work in extremely hazardous conditions in Rand in hopes of securing passage back to SolGov.

2453: SolGov bans positronic slavery and extends sapient rights to positronics. Trade ships entering the system become swarmed with positronic refugees.

2465: Under mounting political pressure, and in hopes of securing favorable investment from nearby Shelf, several key mine owners in Eutopia sell freedom to their positronic slaves, extending indentured servitude to them. Morpheus constructs the tiny MLS Get Bent in orbit around modern Kropotkin.

2470: The nearby mining colony of Relan secedes from SolGov under the direction of the partially Eutopia-backed Artemis Mineral Extraction. EFRB spokesman declares this the beginning of a 'corporate century' of waning Solar influence.

2480: Resurrective cloning is introduced to humanity by Vey-Medical, and then swiftly banned in SolGov. Several Vey-Med cloning labs are established on the moon of Malthus.

2490: The CEO of Aether Atmospherics is resurrected after his death from secret backups made on Malthus. The resulting legal battles highlight Eutopian involvement in the scandal, raising the spectre of a widespread SolGov inspection of the system. The first Halo satellites are constructed in response.

2496: Cloning is legalized in SolGov space. The feared Solar inspection fleet never materializes due to Shadow Coalition obstructionism of the Transgressive Technologies Commission. Halo satellites continue to publish military readiness reports.

2499: Malthus sees a program of expansion and migration from Qerr-Katish business interests, some aligned with Vey-Medical and some independent. The origin of the waves of Talum-Katish migrants is never made public.

2501: A human migration boom, caused in part by expanding civil protections for positronics in SolGov, swells Eutopia's tenant population.

2506: The Relanian civil war tanks the value of stock in Artemis Mineral Concern and severely impacts Eutopian trade. Many are forced into the tenant class by the ensuing economic bust.

2508: The First Contact War begins. Eutopia is seen as a 'safe harbor' and sees heavy investment by TSCs. An independent Morpheus-sponsored Mercurial colony is established on Kropotkin.

2514: Artemis Mineral Extraction in Relan collapses entirely. Overtures from the new governments towards Eutopia are initially ignored.

2520: The First Contact War ends, though TSCs continue to invest in Eutopia.

2521: The Sol Economic Organization includes more permissive trade deals with Eutopia as part of their inaugural platform, though Eutopia-based companies are forbidden from investing in it.

2537: After more than two decades of stalling, an increasingly desperate Free Relan Federation offers favorable trade terms to Eutopian corporations. Relani ships and habitats become an increasingly common sight in system.

2545: Key Friedman mine owners secure massive mining drone supply contracts with Ward-Takahashi and NanoTrasen, including several cutting-edge A-class minder systems. Friedman's indentured positronic population is evicted as the mines become fully automated. Displaced positronics are either reassigned to the burgeoning service industry, relocated to more hazardous conditions on Rand, or rescued quasi-legally by Shelf.

2550: Trade normalizes between SolGov and the states of Relan. Eutopia's role as a key trade hub diminishes, with more Solar traffic being routed through Solar protectorates in the Almach Rim.

2557: A failed coup on Angessa's Pearl is initially blamed on Eutopia, though Eutopian leadership is later exonerated when Boiling Point takes responsibility.

2562: The Almach Crisis begins. Eutopia is named an 'observer' to the Almach Association and becomes the center of illicit traffic through the Cordon. Eutopian arms dealers make a fortune off illicit supply of weapons to Relan and Angessa's Pearl, and off of transporting refugees and asylum seekers.

2564: The Almach War ends. Frosty relations between the SCG and the Almach Protectorate continue to bolster Eutopian trade.

2566: The Skathari Incursion begins. The Halo and remaining arms stockpiles are used indiscriminately to protect the assets of the wealthy. Many smaller habitats, reliant on the Halo for the energy required to power life support, are made derelict, though most are later recovered. Trade ceases.

2567: A Eutopian PMC raids a Relani habitat, scrapping its power systems and kidnapping its inhabitants. This begins a period of undeclared war between Eutopia and Relan, as well as the beginnings of the Eutopian embrace of piracy.

2568: The Incursion is pronounced over by Solar officials. Skrell withdraw from the Almach Protectorate, and TSCs scramble for investment in the new market. Both encourage Eutopia to intensify its conflict with the undersupplied and heavily demilitarized Relani state.

2569: The EFRB ceases technological auditing. Transgressive technologies, many with military applications, are researched in earnest by companies based in the system, though they lack the funding and institutional access of TSC efforts in the Protectorate.

2570: On the 100th year of the 'corporate century', leadership from the EFRB meets with a delegation from Vystholm. The abandoned, skathari-infested settlement on Kropotkin is destroyed in a weapon demonstration. EFRB chairperson Hadvid Parly declares another 100 years of Eutopian supremacy.

2572: The Pearlshield Coalition-controlled Outer Bowl Special Administration is formed to combat rampant piracy, much originating from Eutopia. Reagan Interstellar Spaceport is established as a Vystholm enclave in-system. A brief skirmish between Eutopian defense contractors and Relani scout vessels ends with the deployment of the Halo.

2575: Present day.