Kilian System For the recruits who flock here to learn the art of modern warfare, Kilian is a shining symbol of UEE military might. Located at the heart of the Empire, Kilian is home to hundreds of military barracks, training facilities, shipyards and support facilities. Its economy is based entirely on the massive military presence, with weapons manufacturers and ship designers flocking to the system to offer their wares. Between the shipyards at Naval Station MacArthur to the Marine headquarters on Corin, Kilian may be the safest place in the galaxy … if you’re on the right side of the law.
Kilian itself is a yellow G-type main sequence star orbited by fourteen planets. The discovery of Kilian occurred in 2463, during Humanity’s early expansion into the universe. While there was no specific plan to build out the system specifically as a military base, it naturally evolved from a forward base in the early days of exploration as more and more systems began to be discovered and power shifted towards the region of space surrounding Terra, Kilian found itself centrally located for effective security deployment. In 2631, the UEE moved their main shipbuilding operations from Magnus to Kilian where it has remained ever since. Only the UEE Army continues to maintain their formal headquarters on Earth; the Navy and Marine top commanders now direct troop and ship movements from the Kilian System. As a collateral development, Kilian has generated a large civilian population and is fully represented in the UEE Senate.
The Three Sisters The first three planets in Kilian are known informally as the Three Sisters, and travel too close to the star to be habitable. The First Sister is the largest; a hot Jupiter that combined with the system’s star creates the necessary centripetal force to keep the other two sisters in the same orbit. The Second and Third Sister are protoplanets that sit, respectively, in Lagrange point L4 and L5. Limited metallurgical resources are mined on the smallest of the sisters, Kilian III. For the most part, the worldlets are an outlet for UEE weapons testing exercises, and bear the scars of hundreds of years of ordnance detonations. Due to this testing, public access to the Three Sisters is restricted.
Magma Kilian IV is the system’s primary mining outpost. As the name — chosen by a particularly uninventive explorer — indicates, Magma is covered in superheated metals and features heavy volcanic activity. No land area on Magma is stable, so it’s been impossible to establish any facilities on the surface itself.
MacArthur Home of UEE Navy headquarters and birthplace of the Bengal-class strike carrier, MacArthur is named after a famed army general of the previous millennium, in what naval historians and personnel choose to find amusing irony. It’s where tens of thousands of naval aviators train every year and where all major naval exercises are planned and coordinated. The planet is orbited by countless rings of spatial moorings and drydock facilities. Many of Humanity’s capital ships, including the Bengal, are constructed in the space around MacArthur. As a result, MacArthur is a place where there are credits to be made. On the legal side, merchants can bring in processed ores, weapons components, shield generators and a myriad of other elements needed for constructing large warships. Those affiliated with the black market can also get rich on MacArthur, as the planet’s population of lonely ship crews has a variety of appetites.
Osha Osha is a terraformed super-Earth, home to many of the families and support personnel for the system’s military population. It’s a temperate world that has been highly constructed: arcologies now dot the surface, providing homes for husbands, wives and children of military personnel who are either assigned elsewhere in the system or deployed to distant stars. There is some profit to be made shipping to Osha, whose population generally seeks luxuries from the rest of Human-settled space.
Keene Slightly smaller than Osha, Keene is another civilian world. Unlike Osha, Keene is the domain of military-aligned corporations and businesses. If a manufacturer has a military contract, you can bet it has a field office located on Keene. Manufacturers compete for factory slots on the world because an in-system factory allows one to be a much more efficient supplier. This means that regardless of resources, everything from toilet paper to starship bulkheads is manufactured here. Roberts Space Industries and Anvil Aerospace both maintain formal showrooms on Keene which may be visited by civilians.
Kilian VIII Kilian VIII is an ocean world with an open secret: it is highly toxic to the point of total inhospitality. What appears from orbit to be a tropical paradise is in fact an orb of high-density water, ammonia and more volatile liquids. No current space suit technology is capable of protecting a Human on Kilian VIII’s surface and even most starship hulls will dissolve with minimal contact.
Corin Corin is a deadly ice world that is used as headquarters for the UEE Marine command. Dotted with icy tundras and craggy rock caves, Corin is outside the system’s green band, so the Marines maintain a massive underground base, but also require that all trainees survive a six-month boot camp on the planet’s surface. Marine units not in the field are engaged in constant wargames here. Corin is one of the best-protected worlds in the galaxy, with a Marine battle group preventing unauthorized access at all times. The best advice: do not approach.
Outer Planets Kilian X through Kilian XIV are uninhabitable. X has a thin atmosphere and a dense mineral-rich surface. Metal rights to the planet are currently locked in an ongoing court battle, so only claim hoppers need apply … and the massive military in the region makes that an unappealing prospect for all but the boldest miners. Kilian XI is a gas giant that is surrounded by automated harvester platforms which are gathering resources for refinement. Kilian XII, XIII and XIV are small, essentially dead worlds. Although of the three, Kilian XIII does feature an impressive smoky-quartz surface that looks like nothing else in the galaxy.
Travel Warning All pilots are warned not to attempt any approach vector to Corin. The UEE Marines garrisoned there have a standing shoot-to-kill order for all spacecraft entering their airspace.
Heard in the Wind “I was born on Angeli, but I was forged in Kilian.” - Anonymous
“Anything you’ve heard isn’t true. Anything you’ve seen is a lie. Corin defies explanation.” - Brig. General Carl Wimmer (UEEM), Press Briefing, 2861.04.09