Chronos system

In the outer reaches of the UEE sits the Chronos System, which, since its discovery in 2863, has been shrouded in government secrecy and political controversy. Official government documentation list the Navy’s 18th Battle Fleet, then stationed in the Kellog System, as the first to make the journey into Chronos upon discovery of the jump point during a routine scan patrol. However, it is worth noting that a recent court case, Contraly vs the UEE, lays a counter claim that it was Contraly’s great-grandfather who discovered the system and reported it to the 18th, but was denied proper credit due to complications involving an outstanding warrant for poaching Orms on Xis. Expert historians have chimed in on both sides of the debate, and it as yet remains in the court’s hands to decide.

Either way, at the time of discovery, the system consisted of a G-type main sequence star, two uninhabitable planets huddled near the sun and nothing else. With its remote location and lack of resources and habitable locations, few thought the UEE would have any interest in the system, so observers were shocked when the UEE quickly claimed Chronos to be restricted for government use and development. When military ships started to frequently enter an empty system, curious members of the public questioned what was really going on in Chronos.

For years, theories ranged from the unimaginative (doomsday device) to the inspired (invisible space station). One dedicated conspiracy theorist supposedly even went so far as to stow away on a military vessel bound for the system. When she later claimed that there was nothing hidden there, her inability to uncover anything scandalous infuriated her fellow theorists and only fueled the fire of speculation. The claim was that the only way she would have found absolutely nothing is if there was something to hide and the government had again silenced the truth. Those who believed in the cover-up were even more certain that there had to be a reason the UEE wanted Chronos to themselves.

It wasn’t until 2872 that Imperator Corbyn Salehi stepped forward to formally announce what the government had been working on. Chronos would become the home of Project Archangel, commonly called “Synthworld,” a massive UEE initiative to build a planet. After centuries of rewriting planets with terraforming technology, Humanity now set its sights on creating one.

"For too long Humanity has lacked a cohesive goal to inspire us to achieve the impossible. Centuries ago, the idea of anyone visiting Earth’s moon, let alone leaving the system, seemed like only a dream. Though Humanity has gone far, our goals have stayed grounded. It’s time to change that."

- Corbyn Salehi, Synthworld announcement press conference, 2872

"At least I was doing something useful with the credits."

- Ellie Kanis, as quoted in “The Synthworld Scam”, 2931

This vast, sparse system contains only two dead worlds closely circling the G-type main sequence star at the center. Chronos' green zone was empty, making it the perfect location for the UEE's ambitious Synthworld project. Currently Chronos' only landing zone is Archangel Station, which was built to observe and aid the Synthworld's construction. Although the system's need for resources might make it a tempting target for outlaws, the UEE maintains a military presence to safeguard the project.

Bruder : Chronos I
Nicknamed Bruder, Chronos I is a tiny, barren rock that orbits fairly close to the sun. While there are a moderate amount of metallic ores available in the planet's crust, the surface temperature is prohibitive for mining operations of any significant duration.

Schwester : Chronos II
The Synthworld's little sister lives near the outer edge of the system's so-called "red-band". Chronos II has a very dense atmosphere, causing greenhouse effects to heat its surface to temperatures that are consistently higher than even Bruder's scorching heat.

Synthworld : Chronos III
The Synthworld (also known as Project Archangel) is intended to be a temperate terrestrial planet. The UEE is building it in an attempt to prevent the need to terraform a world again.

Trivia

 * The nicknames of Chronos I and Chronos II are from standard German origin. Bruder is the german word "brother" and Schwester the german word for "sister".
 * Chronos in is the greek mythology the personification of time (and eponymous with the greek word for "time"). Chronos was worshipped by the Orphic Sect as the god of time and is in some old scriptures synonymous with Cronus, Son of Sky and Earth (Ouranos and Gaia) and father of Zeus.