VEGA SYSTEM
The Vega system is a planetary system in the United Empire of Earth (UEE). It consists of one mesoplanet, two terrestrial planets, one gas giant, one asteroid belt, and a G-type main sequence star. It was discovered in SEY 2402 and colonized only seven years later, owing to the presence of two planets that needed only minimal terraformation to be habitable. Selene (Vega III) is recognized by the UEE, holding one seat in the Senate. Aremis (Vega II) was recognized by the UEE on 10 November 2945, in the aftermath of the Battle of Vega II.
As one of the UEE systems bordering Vanduul territory, Vega is under heavy patrol by the UEE military.
PLANETARY SYSTEM
The system's star, Vega, is a G-Type main sequence star roughly 6.6 billion years old and about 80% the size of Sol. The closest planetary body to it is the mesoplanet Vega I, a hot and desolate rock with a silicate crust. Aremis (Vega II) and Selene (Vega III) are rocky planets terraformed to support Human life. An asteroid belt with an active mining population sits between Selene and Vega IV, a reddish-brown gas giant orbited by refineries.
DISCOVERY
Vega was discovered during the Human Colonial Expansion Era, thanks to the United Nations of Earth (UNE) Eastern Expansion Program. On 02 June 2402, surveyor Barbara Nagasaki found an anomaly in the Oberon system that suggested the presence of a jump point. After conferring with her son Marcus and her sister Vicki, who had accompanied her on this mission, the family decided to bring their ship closer to the anomaly to scan for its signature. Moments after they launched the scan, they accidentally triggered the jump, and the ship was pulled into interspace. Thanks to Marcus' experience in navigation and Vicki's quick piloting reflexes, they regained control of the ship and safely guided it to a new planetary system. Once the Nagasakis completed a survey of the new system, they safely traveled through the jump point a second time, journeyed to Earth (Sol III), and reported their findings to the UNEEEP.
HISTORY
Located in the green band, the planets Vega II and Vega III were lightly terraformed and opened for settlement in 2409. The population rapidly increased after 2412, when Alaine Viktus found the Virgil-Vega jump point in the Vega system. This discovery kicked off Project Far Star, a program that provided funding to navjumpers and terraforming companies in an effort to expand the borders of the UNE outward from the Virgil system.
As expansion continued, Vega became a crossroads between such systems as Orion, Tiber, Bremen, and Terra. Vega II was largely settled by the military, while Vega III rose as a center for commerce and culture, receiving its recognition from the UEE Senate as Selene in 2573. It seemed that the Vega system was well on its way to becoming one of the most influential in the UEE.
In 2712, however, its fortunes shifted. The Orion system, only three jumps away from Vega, was suddenly and unexpectedly lost to the Vanduul. Population growth stalled. Sprawling construction projects built ahead of a projected population increase were abandoned, and the economy entered a recession. In 2736 and 2737, Selene's situation became even more dire when the Vanduul wrenched the Tiber and Virgil systems from the grasp of the UEE, putting Vega directly on the border of Vanduul territory. Refugees from Virgil chose to resettle on Vega II instead of Selene, due to its strong military presence. Experts believed that Vega would be the Vanduul's next target. Once one of the fastest-growing systems in the UEE, Vega's population growth entered the negatives.
In the mid 2800s, Vega II broke this pattern. Initially drawn by the cheap and available real estate, people from outside the system began to purchase homes and settle there. Then, in 2884, the Vanduul invaded the Caliban system instead of moving on Vega as had been predicted. The prevailing sense of danger in the system eased, especially on Vega II, under the direct protection of the military. By the early 2940s, it became more populous and prosperous than Selene, and the planet made a bid for Senate recognition.
The feared Vanduul invasion finally arrived in 2945, when a large Clan accompanied by a rarely-sighted Kingship entered the system and launched a direct attack on Vega II. The UEE Navy's 2nd Fleet, commanded by Admiral Ernst Bishop, had been tracking scouts of this Clan and was in the area when the attack was launched. After a lengthy battle, the vastly outnumbered UEEN forces managed to destroy the Kingship and drive the Vanduul out of the system. The effects on Vega II were devastating; entire cities were wiped out and the death toll was in the millions.
In the aftermath of the attack, Imperator Costigan and the UEE Senate officially recognized Vega II as Aremis and Edward Aemile as its first senator. Buildings damaged in the Battle of Vega II have since been restored or replaced.
CULTURE
Vega is known throughout the UEE for its food. Selene's low cost of living and available land supports an urban farming movement in most of the planet's cities. In Titus, the planet's most populous city, there is a rising number of farm-to-table restaurants supported by city-grown fruits and vegetables. The nature of the food served changes depending on the time of year and what can be grown in each locale. On Aremis, the food culture is centered around molecular gastronomy. Elaborate meals based on experimental techniques are commonplace in New Corvo.
Because it is located on the border of Vanduul territory, the threat of Vanduul invasion never fully leaves the consciousness of the people of Vega. Absurdist art, reflective of existential dread and the folly of war, is popular on Selene. There is also an artistic movement towards returning to nature. Bizarre pieces that express irrationality and degradation of form can be found in local galleries as easily as a sculpture made entirely from reclaimed or organic materials. Aremis, home to many descendants of refugees from Orion, Tiber, Caliban, and Virgil, offers a contrasting picture; the art there is decadent, sensuous, and experimental.