Epsilon Eridani
Population: 4.2 billion
Climate: 30% warmer than old Earth, partial terraforming. High CO2 content
Orbital Period: .6 standard years
Rotation: 108 hours
Government: Technocracy
The third of the “Core” worlds, Eridani has been shaped by its long history just as much as its “sister” systems. Settled by one of the last colony ships out of Sol, the crew was left in a panic by the sudden destruction of the world they had left behind and thought they should keep running. However, their ship had only been designed for a one-way trip and could not hold out far beyond their intended destination of Epsilon Eridani, they not only would need to stop for refueling and repairs, they’d need to rebuild the ship entirely. They set up a colony on the most inhabitable (if barely) planet in the star system and dedicated as much of the infrastructure as possible to building a new starship. As the biofabbed workforce grew the crew realized that they could use the planet as a starting point for many more colony ships that could spread parahumanity across the cosmos. When the first new ship was complete half the original crew left aboard it, the other half stayed behind to direct construction of later ships and train the biofabbed (and their natural-born descendants) to crew them. Over the centuries more and more habitats were constructed to exploit new mineral deposits all over the star system and the population grew. Their single-minded purpose and the hostility of the natural environment made a totalitarian government seem a necessity, but the founders impressed upon them a necessity for the finest minds to be recognized. The government was essentially a single monopolistic company devoted to making starships, the highest ranked engineers decided the fate of the colony, promotion was, in theory, meritocratic. In practice Eridani became a familial oligarchy like so many others who came before them, half of whose highest echelons left the planet behind every generation. Dozens of colony ships were launched before contact with Centauri, Eridani colonies are still found every so often. It was a simple arrangement for the two worlds, Centauri had advanced propulsion and communication technologies, Eridani had a star system devoted to building ships, both wanted to spread their people out across the galaxy, they gave little trouble when the system was admitted to the Federation. Now, Eridani is the Federation’s primary center for building starships, most of the Federal Guard’s warships and countless mercantile craft were built there. The system has almost as many stargates as Centauri, freighters carrying rare elements for shipbuilding coming in from the frontier regions, and new freighters going out to their new owners throughout the Federation. However, a number of Centauri have emigrated to Eridani looking for work, whose democratic ideals threaten to shake the foundation of their technocratic society.
The Para-Imperium 