Lucerne System

• Initial scans and surveys of this system indicated not just one but two planets with ideal conditions for terrestrial life to survive and thrive.
• Colonised by two different colony expeditions at once. Each was backed by a different megacorp, disputing the claim of the other.
• Paragon was settled by the security corporation Hornet, while Beacon was settled by Pathfinder Networks.
• A cold war ensued, manifesting in many forms: legal battles, petty obstruction, inter-colony espionage, saber rattling, sabotage. No missiles were ever fired (barely).
• When the Stellar Renaissance ended and the supply ships stopped coming, the two colonies were forced to cooperate and trade for the sake of survival.
• Beacon and Paragon declared independence from their absentee landlords and the tyranny of the Foundation not long after.
• The megacorps have slowly diminished in influence and power, but maintain a toehold in their orbital facilities over Horus, at the system’s edge.
• The only thing Beacon and Paragon hate more than each other are the corps that pitted them against each other and then left them to fend for themselves.

Paragon

• A world covered by globe-spanning waters. Only a few specks of dry land dot the surface.
• Oceans teeming with alien life, indigenous flora and fana ranging from the infinitesimal to the truly colossal.
• The indigenous lifeforms are partially compatible with terran biology - we can eat them, and they can eat us.
• Hornet provided the pressure suits, depth charges and armoured mechs required to contend with aquatic megafauna and colonise the ocean.
• Since Hornet pulled out, many of their seafloor settlements and deep-sea mining installations have been abandoned, making the planet less independent.
• The people of Paragon mostly live on scattered islands and ocean-going “cityships” these days.
• They keep their underwater settlements to the shallows where the leviathans do not swim, leaving the abyssal depths to the monsters that rule them.
• The Paragon World Armada is a federation of cityships. Each vessel is a sovereign polity with its own laws and customs.

1d6	Digest
1	The Breakaway Fleet has launched submarines to explore the ruins of Lapis Station. The controversial expedition is the first in 20 years to go so deep.
2	Leading oceanographers sign an open letter decrying the World Armada for not taking the threat of the “abyssal cavitation” phenomenon seriously.
3	Small amounts of Helium-3 were found in the Tartarus Trench, which may offer a way to reduce Paragon’s reliance on imported fuel from Theia.
4	The siege of Faraday Isle continues. It’s still unknown how the pirates who seized the island knew about the underground Hornet facility they now occupy.
5	A new medicine synthesized from the Elan Fish, which may cure decompression sickness, starts first human trials next month. Hurricane Biotech leads the program.
6	The Breakaway Fleet has threatened to stop contributing to Paragon’s defense budget unless their independence is formally recognised by the World Armada.

Beacon

• A smaller world with somewhat low gravity, with breathable air and water. The climate is well within terran tolerances, if a little on the cold side.
• Unlike Paragon, there is no indigenous life at all. It’s an ideal world for biosphere engineering.
• Beacon’s colonists landed on a world that was empty and silent but brimming with opportunity, and they set about turning it into a new Earth.
• Hundreds of terran and meta-terran species were introduced to the planet in their efforts to bootstrap ecosystems: everything from insects to fish to canids.
• Then Pathfinder Networks pulled out, abandoning their terraforming projects practically overnight. The Beacon of today is a half-finished world.
• The carefully engineered ecosystems have mostly fallen apart, replaced by invasive species and mutated meta-terran throwbacks.
• Nature has found its own balance and it has a stark beauty, but it’s not the world that was imagined by the first colonists. Pockets of greenery are surrounded by wastelands.
• Because the world is far from ready for full-scale habitation, about half of the population lives on Doldrum Station up in orbit, rather than on the surface.

1d6	Digest
1	The incumbent Commissioner, if re-elected, has promised to resume construction of Beacon’s unfinished space elevator to heal divisions between the groundlings and orbitals.
2	More incidents of cattle mutilation reported in the Promise Barrens. Authorities are seeking sightings or information about the so-called “Promise Prowler”.
3	A new programme has been launched to survey meta-terran wildlife in the frontier regions. Interested contractors should contact the Terraforming Initiative.
4	The Planetary Commission has officially abandoned the Celadon Settlement after it was overrun by maned gators, though some stubborn holdouts remain.
5	A terraforming engine and fusion reactor that were lost during the Pathfinder Networks withdrawal are now suspected to be hidden somewhere in the northern polar region.
6	Miracles are supposedly being performed at the remote mountain village of San Clares, which is unincorporated and beyond the Commission’s mandate.

Pelagos

• A mostly uninhabitable planet with an extremely dense, hot, oxygen-rich atmosphere.
• Inhabited by indigenous aliens, creatures which resemble giant insects and are extremely territorial.
• The northern region is home to a mountain range of immense size. Their summits rise so high that the atmosphere becomes thin.
• This archipelago of mountain peaks is thin and cold enough for humans, and the “bugs” don’t venture there.
• The “island dwellers” of Pelagos are an assortment of outsiders and outlaws from across the system who have made homes on the slopes of the mountain.
• Individualistic and idiosyncratic, these island settlements sometimes trade with each other and sometimes squabble.

1d6	Digest
1	A village was targeted by a vicious nighttime raid, but no one knows who the perpetrator is. Accusations are flying.
2	Bugs have been venturing higher and higher up the slopes, even though it kills them. It’s unclear what prompted this change in behaviour.

Warren

• A dwarf planet located in the system’s White Belt, which lies between the orbits of Beacon and Horus.
• Low gravity, but higher than you’d expect. Warren is unusually dense.
• A labyrinthine network of tunnels and caverns, only recently discovered, is accessible via a deep crater.
• The surface is hard vacuum, but there is an atmosphere that “pools” in these subterranean regions.
• The atmosphere is toxic and cold, but can be survived by humans with special rebreathers and heated suits.
• The tunnels of Warren have recently become home to a fringe group known as the Immanent.
• The Immanent believe that all people are connected by otherspace, and seek to cultivate this factuly in such a remote and desolate place.
• They have learned to domesticate the indigenous alien lifeforms of Warren, blind creatures that sense by vibration.

Theia

• A small, low-gravity planet that orbits a little too close to Lucerne for comfort.
• Bathed in solar winds, this planet is the system’s primary source of helium-3 for starship fuel.
• Huge refinery plants operated by Lamplighter Heavy Industry huddle in crater settlements on the icy poles, which are bathed in shadow.
• Helium miners issue forth to the burning lower latitudes on huge, segmented regolith miners known as “mileworms”.
• The planet has recently been consumed by a spate of sabotage and factory shutdowns, countered by reprisals and crackdowns from management.
• The situation threatens to jeopardise the system’s supply of readily available fuel.

Horus

• An unusually small black hole in orbit around Lucerne. Its mass is on par with a gas giant.
• A black hole this small has never been discovered in orbit around another star. Its presence here represents an incredible scientific opportunity.
• It was a black hole - a wormhole - that unlocked the stars in the first place. Who knows what the ability to study one directly might unlock, given time?
• Pathfinder Networks has been studying Horus since the Beacon colony was first established here, based out of a research facility on Modi.
• Since the system declared independence, both Pathfinder Networks and Hornet have made Modi their unofficial base of operations in the system.
• Many of the scientists on Modi were born on Paragon or Beacon, and many resent having their life’s work co-opted by corporate security thugs.
• It’s an open question just how loyal they’ll be to the ones funding their research, in the long run.

The Chantry

• One of the two colony ships that arrived in this system centuries ago, carrying the hopes of a promising young colony.
• It lay dormant in a stable parking orbit until about 30 years ago, when it was hijacked and turned into a freehold by the “Horizon Coalition”.
• Drawn from the disillusioned populace of both Paragon and Beacon, the Coalition rejects the centuries spent fighting with each other and the corporations.
• The Coalition hopes to refit this old colony ship and make it ready for another jaunt between the stars.
• They plan to take it far beyond the reach of the Foundation, beyond the memory of old feuds and tired grudges.
• That promised day will be a long time in coming. The ship has been rusting away for centuries, and it was never designed to make more than one voyage.
• In the meantime, the Chantry is a neutral port with no affiliation or allegiance, a place where you can dock and refuel regardless of who you are or who you’ve upset.
• The Coalition is pretty hands-off, as long as your credits spend and you don’t mess with the ship. They really don’t like it when you mess with the ship.

Factions of Lucerne

Faction	Tier	Hold	Notes
Paragon World Armada	IV	Strong	World government of the Paragon colony.
Beacon Planetary Commission	IV	Strong	World government of the Beacon colony.
Lilac Syndicate	III	Strong	Pervasive crime syndicate specialising in vice, with “branches” in Paragon, Beacon and the Chantry.
Foregoers	III	Weak	“Megachurch” faith that believes Horus is a wormhole that leads to salvation. Wildly popular, but plagued by corrupt preachers.
Pathfinder Networks	III	Weak	Communications megacorp that originally founded Beacon and controls the Horus Facility.
Hornet	II	Strong	Security megacorp that originally founded Paragon. Based out of the Horus Facility, these days.
Chariot Cartel	II	Strong	Extortion gang that runs out of spaceports and transit hubs. They sponsor pirates to do their dirty work.
Lamplighter Heavy Industry	II	Strong	Local corporation that operates essential mines and refineries on Theia.
Bluestar Enterprises	II	Weak	Conglomerate of small shipping companies and semi-independent space truckers. Being squeezed by the Chariot Cartel.
Pelagos Collective	II	Weak	Loose federation of island communities that pool resources for mutual aid.
Horizon Coalition	II	Weak	Rebel faction and colony project who operate the Chantry, a pirate holdout.
The Bureau	II	Weak	The long arm of the Foundation and their intelligence assets, stretched thin out here but not helpless.
Seraphim	II	Weak	Co-op guild of pirate hunters and security specialists, with about a dozen captains under their banner.
Yellowjackets	I	Strong	Crew of pirates that splintered from Hornet and stole a lot of materiel on the way out. Small in number, but disciplined.
The Immanent	I	Strong	Transcendental psychic-witch cult that inhabits the tunnels of Warren.
Ronin Club	I	Strong	Loose camraderie of unaffiliated space truckers, itinerant crew, passenger pilots, pirate hunters.
Undernet	I	Weak	A network of high-minded scholars willing to take risks to pirate and smuggle data across territorial borders.
Apeiron	I	Weak	Transhumanist movement that seeks harmony with the “true soul” through body modification. Prone to infighting.