Vounna

Name	Vounna
Type	Class K Star
Mass	~0.7 Solar Masses
Diameter	452,414 km
Temperature	4,491 K
Ruling Bodies	Almach Protectorate

An aging dwarf star found within the Almach Rim, bordering the Skrell. Once home to NanoTrasen, Grayson, and SCG assets, it was the domain of the Aetolian Council during the Almach Crisis and is now a part of the Almach Protectorate.

Timeline

The linear progression of events from the initial Grayson habitation within the System, to modern day speculation and fragments of information from the Vounna veil.

• 2488 - Katai-1 set up as a Grayson Manufactories mining site. Waystation planned.
• 2498 - Waystation set up in orbit of Kataigal under authority of the SCG, serving as a refueling point and rest stop, under the name SGWP Deliah.
• 2509 - Small colony station founded by Nanotrasen in orbit of Katai-2, due to the founding of Deliah. Serves as a ‘home away from home’ for some begrudging Grayson employees.
• 2515 - Aetolus considered for colonization. Aether Atmospherics sets up an outpost on the planet’s surface for atmospheric filtration, in preparation.
• 2522 - Aether facility mothballed due to loss of interest, after multiple small habitats are constructed nearby.
• 2524 - Near-abandoned Aether facility acquired by Nanotrasen. Repurposing begins.
• 2526 - Habitats previously constructed by Aether are purchased by multiple smaller parties, including a sizable internal fraction of positronics, with the intent of colonization.
• 2528 - Small colony set up within the habitats. Aether Atmos once more requested to aid in the efforts.
• 2529 - Habitats expanded. Planetary governmental framework beginning.
• 2529 - Official colony name, ‘Aetolus’, established, marking the start of the colony’s official history.
• 2531 - Aetolus' economic base leans toward agrarian, in agreement with Nanotrasen’s previous mining rights. Mining operations continue.
• 2531 - Repurposed Aether facility dubbed Nanotrasen Mining and Observation Point (NMOP) Sisyphus.
• 2534 - Nanotrasen Research Station Prometheus constructed in orbit of Aetolus, as a sister station to NMOP Sisyphus.
• 2537 - Colony publicly supports a majority agreement with the SEO, due to Nanotrasen influence.
• 2541 - Morpheus Cyberkinetics joins the SEO board of directors. Aetoran support pushes further toward the SEO, however minor.
• 2540 - Pr-1 specimen is created aboard the NRS Prometheus.
• 2544 - Aetolian authorities contacted by the NRS Prometheus’ onsite Director regarding the petition of sapience recognition for Pr-1 and Pr-2 as a new species.
• 2544 - Legal discussion between the Aetoran government and the local Nanotrasen stations ends after a full year, resulting in the Aetoran government agreeing to tentatively consider them "protected" until further deliberation.
• 2545 - A-class drone population increases due to lightened EIO regulations the year prior.
• 2545 - Aetoran authorities discuss the prior year’s occurrences with the SGWP Deliah’s officials. More subjects created within other divisions of the NRS Prometheus, following the same Pr-# designation scheme.
• 2546 - In light of their synthetic creation the creatures, now officially dubbed ‘Prometheans’, are held by Sol under similar restrictions as early positronics under CASQ. While not classifiable under drone nomenclature, they are still believed to be a threat in the event of rapid genesis, and require observation and yearly checks.
• 2547 - Nanotrasen is permitted to authorize the creation of Prometheans within its laboratories, under the requirement of strict documentation and care that newly created forms are not a threat at large.
• 2562 (2-03/11) - Naomi Harper stages a coup on Aetolus utilizing Promethean subjects, later to declare Vounna independent.
• 2562 (2-23) - The Almach Association forms following the declaration of the Aetolian Council.
• 2562 (5-25) - Harper's Aetolus maintains a heavy curtain on information on the operation of the Vounna system, despite the loosening of the cordon. Rumors of attempts to create a more powerful strain of Promethean / "Aeoto-Promethean" / "Aetothean" form, though none are believed to be active outside the Association.

Speculation and Intelligence

Here, the timeline is roughly linear, however exact dates are unknown due to limitations of information sources within the world.

• Excavation and dredging operations are increased, in attempts to sate a new need for raw and refined materials.
• The Prometheus is expanded to include more orbital housing, as well as what are assumed to be defensive armaments and testing laboratories.
• The Deliah is set to be decommissioned. Ship movements suggest transport of components to the Agrafa logistics habitat.
• The Agrafa is set to be converted into a vessel of some measure, likely some form of super-heavy mining or defense vessel.

Star

Vounna, the system's only star, shines dimly in the void.

Planets

Chalak Desert World Home of Sand A small, barren planet covered in what were once vast deserts, with large amounts of quartz and crystalline glass among its rocky outcroppings. What remains of the planet's atmosphere dwindles by the day, as its magnetic field grows weaker. Only meager dust-clouds drift across its surface. Otherwise, it is of little note.

Aetolus Marsh World The World of Goo The seat of the system's power, and the tropical home-world of the Prometheans. The noisome atmosphere is thick, and its marshes cover a close second of surface area to her spotted bodies of water. Large, soft-cover habitats dot the surface, often clustered on areas of raised bedrock. It has a single asteroid as its moon.

Kataigal Ice Giant The Frozen Warden A massive ball of frozen and frosted particulate that clears or captures many asteroids from the inner two planets' orbits. It is home to two nearly planet-sized moons Katai-1, and Katai-2; and many smaller captured objects. Katai-1 is home to the Agrafa logistics habitat, and Katai-2 is home to the derelicted SCG Deliah.

Kory'Vi Ice Giant Lord of Ice and more Ice A massive ball of ice and gas over two and a half times the mass of Jupiter that sits on the outer-most orbit of Vounna. The planet's local system is largely made up of captured comets and other icy bodies, any true planetary moons having likely been consumed by the giant below.

Aetolus

The tropical home-world of the Prometheans, and seat of Vounna's government. The only near-garden "jungle" world in the Almach Association, its cities are commonly split into multiple soft-domed habitats in order to allow for minor atmospheric filtering to counter the noisome effects of the external air, which is otherwise hostile to human life. Mining and dredging are common occupations in Aetolian cities, though even more common is the cultivation of plants and fungi that specifically thrive within marshland conditions. Some can provide medical substitutes or chemicals through refining, allowing each to provide a base level of medical care for the organic population. Research centers are common, with a large focus in biology and medical fields. Sisyphus remains the largest mining site on the planet, despite attempts to rapidly expand Aetolus' industrial base by skrell and Trans-Stellar investors alike post-Association. Its industries are largely directed toward the research and development of new medical and otherwise genetic breakthroughs under the oversight of the skrell. The makeup of the planet's urban areas has remained relatively unchanged, though they have grown more expansive. Agriculture has expanded with a growing population, especially with the Skrellian occupation focusing on the cultivation of hardier fungi, often at the expense of other native plant life. However, mining efforts continue to expand in attempts to keep the planet competitive as a lone industrial base, combined with the Agrafa in the outer system. With the increase in Skrellian presence, the planet has had minor terraforming projects initiated through Near Kingdom investment into the system before the Incursion, and that have since resumed apace via independent skrell investors. The planet's biosphere at large is stable, but regions have been modified to the point that the full ecological ramifications of the projects have yet to be determined.

Government

Aetolus and Vounna at large is under the administration of the Skrell-instated government, replacing the system's prior rule by Harper's Council. A large number of weaponized Aetotheans were killed in the process of establishing the system's government, the survivors having fled to space and the planet's wilds, and are now rumored to be staging a guerilla campaign against the new government, led by any surviving council members.

In order to streamline the replacement of the council, the Far Kingdoms examined the populace according to the standards usually reserved for selecting Skrellian monarchs, and after careful testing, determined who would be an optimal individual to groom to serve as the new state's figurehead. A Promethean by the name of Domaeus, was found to be the most suited, due to their moral format and alignment toward the Skrell's ideological values. Overall, the promethean populace, owing to their malleability in behavior, were quick to adapt to the shift in governance, despite the aggressive removal of high-expression aetotheans.

After the Incursion, and the withdrawl of much of the direct Skrellian governance in the system aside from technological advisors, Domaeus Qxi'vash became a more politically powerful individual, their role shifting from merely puppet, to something more closely resembling a true leader, of the reformed Aetolian government. Domaeus Qxi'vash's government now has to manage the system's political sphere, as Solar corporations have once more begun to interact extensively with the polity after the Council, and sociopolitical "curtain" fell.

Stations

The stations or orbital habitats within the system.

Prometheus

The once-NanoTrasen owned station that was home to the experiments that created the Prometheans, earning them their name. Now, it is one of two paired governmental facilities that oversee the system and act as the state's seat of government.

The station has continually undergone refitting and expansion since the formation of the Almach Association in order to make it more defensible. The formation of the Protectorate and Skrellian presence in the system pushed it to become a facility more aligned with the role of governmental bureaucracy.

Agrafa

The Spear of Agrafa is a large spire-format mining and logistics vessel whose primary zone of operation is the orbit of Katai-1 in the outer system. It once housed thousands of workers, however a large portion elected to leave the system once it became sovereign.

Its design includes a central elevator, flanked by a logistics center (docks, warehousing, etc) and limited recreational zone. Capped by the actual housing units and command/control spire.

Long-range observations shortly after the curtain's formation were confirmed later, and the station had been retrofitted, acting as a mobile mining facility, and in limited capacity due to its cumbersome size, defense vessel. Due to the Incursion, installation of a bluespace drive capable of moving it to another system was seemingly postponed, and it now relies heavily on smaller supporting vessels, only utilizing the drive aboard for orbital corrections.

Deliah

The scarred SCG station is now derilect, anything of use or importance to the system now salvaged, including components from the hull.