DX-01 “Newhaven”

DX-01, or Newhaven as it is otherwise known, is a star system located in the northeast of the Kikyo sector. It was recently surveyed by NDC exploration teams, and settlement began in YE 43. It has limited terrestrial settlement, and a mobile colony serves as the hub of activity in the system. Security forces in the system are still struggling to retain their grasp over the piracy situation in the system, due to limited resources.

Along with many other uncharted systems, for most of its history the star system known as DX-01 served as a safe harbor for pirates, smugglers, and outlaws. These pirates primarily created small outposts and bases throughout the system’s asteroid belts and outer cloud. For decades it served in this role, until the New Dusk Conclave arrived to the northeast of the Kikyo Sector.

DX-01 was among the first system surveyed by the New Dusk Conclave after its arrival in Sanctum, and was quickly earmarked for colonization after scouting teams conducted short-range scans of the system. However, lack of resources or a particularly pressing need forestalled serious colonization efforts until YE 43.

By then, the situation after the assassination of Archduke Pine had calmed down enough to allow for a CAFF squadron, including Ferryman class colony ships, to be sent to begin clearing the pirates who called the system home and settling in their place. It had been decided to have the colony ships serve as the first wave, delivering initial populations and infrastructure to prepare for the later arrival of an Island Class Mobile Colony.

By early '44, the leader of that squadron, one Commodore Emile Liselotte, had been appointed as provisional governor of DX-01, or Newhaven as it was then known. Settlements had been established, built out of prefabricated buildings and the disassembled remains of the Ferryman ships that had carried the initial settlers there. Upon arrival, the NDC forces were surprised by the pirate levels, which were beyond initial projected levels.

Towards the end of YE 44, Liselotte had been officially granted Dukedom over the system, moving the administrative capital of the system to the newly arrived space colony dubbed “Port Astionage”.

The Newhaven System is centered around Newhaven Prime, its star. The system is notable for its abundance of terrestrial worlds and resources, which are located in the system’s two rocky asteroid belts.

Newhaven Prime is the star of the Newhaven system. It is a class G main sequence star, massing out at roughly 1.04 stellar masses.

This asteroid belt is the closest explorable stellar body to the star, and is composed primarily of rocky and metallic asteroids. It is not particularly wide, only about 20 million KM in thickness, but is very dense and is one of the primary sources for mining in the system.

Newhaven I is a hot and rocky dwarf planet. It is about 5,100 kilometers in diameter, and has a very thin atmosphere of toxic gasses. It possesses 4 rocky satellites and a moderate mineral wealth, primarily of silicates and crystals. Due to the planet’s thin atmosphere and said atmosphere’s composition, it is recommended to wear an environmental suit when performing work outside.

Newhaven II is one of the two planets in the Newhaven system with a breathable atmosphere, and is located in the system’s habitable zone. It is a watery world of about 7,600 kilometers in diameter, with less than 20% of its surface covered by habitable land, and dotted with islands and small continents. It has a day length of 23 standard hours, and an orbital period of 215 standard days.

It has a variety of flora and aquatic fauna, as well as small land fauna, but is generally free of large land predators due to the planet’s relatively high gravity of 1.5g.

There are three major continents, the Northern, Eastern and Southern continents. There does exist some debate between geologists on whether or not the Northern continent should be considered two separate continents, Northern and Central.

The Northern continent is relatively flat, with one major mountain range near its center and plains spreading out from it. Across a land bridge to the west of the northernmost point of the continent, it connects to a vast network of tundra plains and inland seas.

The Eastern continent is more mountainous, with mountains and high-elevation areas making up the bulk of the continent with the exception of a few coastal plains. A small island chain forms a connection between it and the southern continent. The southern continent is located close to the southern pole of the planet, and is very mountainous, with the vast majority of its landmass taken up by tundra and mountains.

Aside from these continents, the surface of Newhaven is dotted with many large islands, most of which are relatively flat. Newhaven II is the primary focus of the NDC’s colonization efforts in the system, with two Dawn pattern cities, one each on the Northern and Eastern continents.

The city on the Northern continent, known as Littleport and named for being the planet's primary spaceport, is located close to the equator of the planet. Littleport is, in addition to being the main spaceport on the planet, also the planetary capital. The city on the Eastern continent, Stacrina Falls, is situated near to a seasonally active waterfall fed by snowmelt from the nearby mountain ranges. This city mainly focuses on mining and provides most of the common ores used by planetary industry.

Surrounding these cities are several outlying smaller settlements. These settlements are typically focused on agriculture or resource extraction and composed of public and commercial spaces, the industry of that settlement, and housing mainly created from OHI housing units installed in various arrangements from the standard low-rise apartments to full on high-rise buildings or smaller townhouses or standalone units.

Port Astionage is the name given to the Island class mobile colony that serves as the main hub of activity in the Newhaven system. It orbits between Newhaven II and Asteroid Belt Bravo, and is the primary port for shipping in and out of the system. It also serves as the de-facto seat of government in the Newhaven system, and is planned to remain so for the foreseeable future.

This is the second of Newhaven’s asteroid belts, it is about five times as thick as Asteroid Belt Alpha, and is home to the main mining effort in the star system. Like its smaller sibling, it contains primarily rocky, and icy asteroids.

There are several small mining stations dotted throughout the belt close to the mobile colony in the system. In addition to this, a number of pirate holdouts still call this area home.

Newhaven III is a cold world with a thin but nontoxic atmosphere. Located at 2.8 AU, outside of the habitable zone, it is tidally locked. This has the effect of making a large band, beginning at the planet’s equator and creeping up the sun-facing side of the planet, the right temperature enough for habitation with minor environmental equipment when out-of-doors.

This, combined with its comfortable 1.1g gravity and slightly small diameter of 10,000km have made it an attractive prospect for limited settlement. The fauna is largely small herbivores, adapted to survive in the thin atmosphere and the flora is mostly lichens and grasses, with some low shrubbery.

The main attraction to Newhaven III is the volcanic activity at its poles, which are proving an attractive prospect to independent miners, and the Mining Guild looking to harvest crystals and precious gems. There is a settlement of local miners present, located on the dark side of the planet, as there is little competition there due to larger mining groups being able to get an easier return from the system's asteroid belts.

Cold, like its nearer sibling, Newhaven IV’s atmosphere is toxic. While it has high grade minerals present in relatively accessible deposits, it has a heavier gravity and this combined with its location at 3.7 AU, the toxic atmosphere and the mineral wealth of Newhaven’s asteroid belts have dissuaded exploitation of Newhaven IV.

Newhaven V is a large gas giant located at 6.2 AU with a radius of about 100,000km and a strong 3.8g of gravity. It has several rings, and just under 30 moons. The planet is the primary source of gas for plasma in the system, and its moons are still being surveyed.

The Outer Cloud is a thick cloud of icy bodies which spans from 30-50 AU from Newhaven Prime and demarcates the limit of safe FTL travel into the Newhaven system. Further inwards, gravitational interference from Newhaven Prime makes FTL unpredictable enough to be considered impossible.

As many ships come out of FTL in the Outer Cloud, there are many small monitoring bases set up on ice asteroids to guide ships safely through the belt. However, in areas that they cannot cover pirates still lurk.

Transportation into the Newhaven system primarily is accomplished by liner, freighters and colony ships, depending upon what is being transported. All traffic into the system must navigate the Outer Cloud, the easiest and safest way of accomplishing this being following established routes.

Once within the system proper, most freight and passenger traffic passes through Port Astionage, though it is not uncommon for smaller freighters and liners to bypass the port in favor of proceeding directly to their destinations.

Within the system, most long-distance transportation is accomplished by taxi shuttles for both planetside and interplanetary traffic, as limited infrastructure means that it is the most efficient method.

The population of Newhaven is primarily composed of laborers and settlers who are settling the system. The system’s total population is about 250,000 all told, with about ⅔ of the population living in Port Astionage.

There are numerous small settlements and the beginnings of a city on Newhaven II, and smaller mining settlements on Newhaven III and among Asteroid Belt Bravo.

In addition to the citizens of the New Dusk Conclave, there are also many pirate holdouts throughout the system.

Here's an automatic list of all characters currently in this place (based on structured data from their character pages).

While in the Newhaven system, characters can explore the seascape and islands of Newhaven II and sample the local fish, or hike the rocky wilderness of Newhaven III to see vast crystalline formations at its poles.

Characters can also take advantage of the amenities on Port Astionage, with its cities, hotels, and zero-gee section.

Pirates still plague the Newhaven system, with the Duskerian Orbital Guard unable to be everywhere at once without a dedicated garrison fleet to protect the colonies. The local Newhaven government is offering bounties for the capture of the pirate gangs lurking in the asteroid belts.

• 1x Island class Mobile Colony: Port Astionage
• 5x Shipyards, arranged around Port Astionage
• 1x Orbital Guard task force (25x frigates)

Alex Hart created this article on 2022/11/04 10:03.

This article is approved by Andrew on 2023/08/31¹⁾