Post by Darth Xaos on Apr 23, 2015 0:10:12 GMT
New Bethrezen is an advanced, torus-type spacestation populated by several million permanent residents and - at any given time - housing between twenty and fifty million temporary occupants. It orbits a gas giant in the forgotten star system MX-4039, deep in the heart of the Stygian Caldera. It serves as the capital of the Obsidian Union.
Characteristics
A landmark achievement in aerospace engineering, New Bethrezen boasts a diameter larger than the first Death Star, and is the single largest space station in the galaxy today. A full 200 kilometres in diameter, New Bethrezen’s design resembles a wheel with eight spokes meeting at a large, central hub. This hub serves as New Bethrezen’s spaceport, with uncountable private hangars, warship docks, and freight terminals.
Activity and population on New Bethrezen is concentrated on the inner side of its ring, which is covered by a great transparisteel canopy reinforced by a durasteel frame that also conceals emergency shutters. This ring measures 450 metres deep by 750 metres wide, giving a total total surface area of almost a thousand square kilometres and an average population density of almost 50,000 people per square kilometer at peak population density. Buried within the ring is the city’s unimaginably vast infrastructure network, maintained by an army of droids, and the docks holding its defensive satellite weapons.
The eight spokes securing the ring to the starport hub measure almost a kilometer in diameter. These contain numerous freight turbolifts and passenger inclinators, which gradually re-orient themselves in transit to transition from the artificial gravity of the starport to the rotationally-induced gravity of the ring.
History
Originally charted after the Great Hyperspace War during Old Republic explorations of the Stygian Caldera, the gas giant which New Bethrezen would some day orbit was marked for tibanna gas mining. However, after several months of searching it became painfully obvious that all gasses present were useless. The Republic abandoned the mining effort shortly thereafter. Not even the effort to name the system was spent and both the star, a blue giant, and the lone gas giant orbiting it were simply labeled MX-4039.
For millennia MX-4039 went unvisited and unnoticed by all. But, during the earliest phases of the Union's formation, Darth Xaos rediscovered MX-4039 while examining star maps in the search for a secure location for a capital. Seeing a golden chance in MX-4039 (an isolated and virtually unknown system) Xaos contracted the Arkanians to design a cutting-edge spacestation, financed by loan from the InterGalactic Banking Clan. Within a few years the station was completed and Xaos dubbed it "New Bethrezen" after his homeworld. Since that time New Bethrezen has served as the Union's capital.
Though New Bethrezen’s location remains a closely guarded secret, it was the site of the final battle during the Second Union Civil War. Insurrectionist forces lead by Lady Vidia attacked the station but were rebuffed by the New Sith Brotherhood and members of the Brotherhood of Independent Traders during the Battle of New Bethrezen. A permanent defensive fleet was established to guard New Bethrezen in the wake of the Civil War.
Local Government and Security
Though the Union's federal government is nominally in charge of New Bethrezen's local government, in actuality the federal government is far too busy to directly run the city. Most local functions are under the auspices of the Brotherhood of Independent Traders. The BoIT is an organization of privateers loyal to the Union and is a huge economic force within the Union. Headed by Kas, the BoIT consist of former pirates who have been recruited, bribed or impressed into serving the Union.
For further information on Kas and his associates, see the Pirates of the Union fanon article.
The Brotherhood of Independent Traders controls all commercial (and a vast majority of the private) travel to New Bethrezen. They frequently butt heads with New Bethrezen’s military presence, rapidly expanded after the Second Union Civil War. All military travel to New Bethrezen is coordinated and secured by New Bethrezen System Security under Rear Admiral Tarion Jago. Under Jago, New Bethrezen’s defences have been expanded from its weapons satellites, two Cardan-IV stations, and Golan NovaGun weapons platform to include a sizeable Home Fleet, consisting of Star Destroyers, cruisers, interdictors, frigates and gunships.
Law aboard the station is kept by New Bethrezen Security, a branch of the Obsidian Union Military Police. Pirates and ne’er-do-wells visiting the station expecting a lawless shadowport are in for a rude awakening; the laws of the Union are strictly enforced, and any threats to its security harshly punished.
The ultimate authority on New Bethrezen is, of course, the Consul, and the extensions of his will, the New Sith Brotherhood. They are held above the law - for after all, they are the ones who decide it.
Economy and Infrastructure
New Bethrezen’s secret nature necessitates a high level of self-sufficiency. Multi-level agricultural facilities are numerous in New Bethrezen. These facilities contain dozens of floors, each nearly two square kilometres wide, which simulate the natural conditions of livestock and crops. As a result, all of New Bethrezen's food supply is grown locally. Despite the artificiality of this arrangement, the food is of high quality and varied as each floor of the compounds grows food from a different planet. Natural fabrics are also grown in these facilities.
New Bethrezen’s obscene water demands - numerous rivers, parks, and lakes, sufficient water for up to 55 million varied sentients, and water for crops and livestock - have necessitated a water recycling system with close to 100% efficiency. Colossal pipes run through the hull of the station, carrying water to waste/water treatment plants. New water is supplied by ice mined from comets and ice moons found through MX-4039.
Industry is almost as equally localized. The majority of durable items in New Bethrezen are made of Plasteel and manufactured in local factories. Naturally, since metal can’t be mined in New Bethrezen, it is the one raw material that must be imported. Rather than importing requisite metal directly, New Bethrezen sends out buyers. Though this practice ensures the secrecy of New Bethrezen’s location, it also means that its metal supply is less than abundant.
Consequentially, a customer can expect to pay double for items that contain metal parts and up to ten times as much for items made entirely of metal. This has led to the practice of the most successful Brotherhood of Independent Traders captains replacing lost teeth with solid gold substitutes. Other than metal, the only other imports which arrive in New Bethrezen are luxury goods such as wood furniture, stone building-materials, exotic substances, etc. These arrive on the ships of merchants ‘licensed’ by the Brotherhood of Independent Traders.
Layout and Artificial Geography
Surprising to many is the fact that New Bethrezen has weather. The inside of the station has an artificial climate that behaves like a normal, temperate climate and maintains itself without the need for special facilities. There are many parks, preserves, and organic oxygen factories around New Bethrezen and therefore the need for artificial oxygen production is minimal. Massive UV lights create an artificial sunlight that fluctuates in length and intensity over the course of a year. The city itself is positioned on the inside of the ring so that if one were to look up at "night" one can see through the windowed ceiling and see the buildings on the opposite side of the city. On festive occasions the UV lights are temporarily switched off entirely, bathing the station in the light of the system’s blue star.
New Bethrezen’s ring section is divided into dozens of districts, which are grouped into zones. Districts are usually classified as either population housing, water/waste processing, power and infrastructure support, argiculture and livestock, and commercial space (which includes parks, tapcafes, markets, and so on). A single zone can house several million residents, with all of the water processing and agriculture needed to feed them and all of the parks and commercial services needed to keep them happy. While given official designations, these zones are named after notable patrons of the fine arts, such as the Starflare zone being named after famed actress Wynessa Starflare.
Zone Ragnos
The heart of New Bethrezen is the Ragnos Zone, named for the architect of the Sith’s Golden Age and House Xaos' patron Dark Lord. Spanning eight kilometers, it is the central nexus for the entire Obsidian Union, housing the Union’s center of government and the New Sith Brotherhood’s Sith Temple. Zone Ragnos is divided into four districts, two on either side of a wide artificial river running from New Bethrezen’s famous gardens.
Governmental Quarter
GLP Congressional Hall
The Governmental Quarter is home to the Galactic Liberation Party Congressional Hall. Here the Union's Congress meets to govern the Union, and it was here that an assassination attempt almost took the life of a Sith Lord in the halls of their own power. The governmental quarter also houses the majority of the GLP Officials and the vast network of supporting departments and divisions required to administrate a galactic superpower; unofficially, this region of the Governmental Quarter is referred to as the Blue Blood district.
Consul’s Palace
The true seat of Union power, the Consul’s Palace is where the Consul of the Obsidian Union resides and administrates the Union. The new Consul’s Palace was constructed by Darth Lucifer after his appointment to Consul/Dark Lord and serves as his personal estate. Since the dissolution of the house system it has also become home to a number of Knights in the New Sith Brotherhood.
Federal Tower
Yaxon VI is the home of the Union’s Federal Military, but New Bethrezen is its nerve-center. With the number of Sith filling important positions within the Federal Military - including Executor and High Marshall - the Federal Tower is the overall headquarters for the Union’s military forces, housing communications centers, intelligence databases, command staff, and countless offices.
Old Consul’s District
Old Consul’s Palace
The oldest structure on New Bethrezen, the Old Consul’s Palace was the home of Darth Xaos during his time as Consul/Dark Lord. It also served as the home of House Xaos, and continued to do so even after his death until the dissolution of the Houses. As his successor as House Lord, Darth Reaver currently serves as the Palace’s castellan; under Darth Reaver, efforts have been made in exploring and mapping the Palace’s numerous hidden rooms, passageways, and secrets. Like the new Consul’s Palace, it houses a small number of high-ranking Sith. Situated at the edge of the Old Consul's District, the Palace offers a grand, panoramic view of New Bethrezen's majestic gardens.
Sith Temple
The home of the New Sith Brotherhood, and a dark mirror of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. A foreboding, malevolent place seemingly untouched by New Bethrezen’s heavy lighting, the Sith Temple houses everything the New Sith Brotherhood may require; training rooms, armouries, rare artifacts and weapons, sleeping quarters, hangars, starships, the Tower of Meditation, and more still. Only Darth Xaos truly knew the extent of the building’s facilities - it would seem rooms appear whenever they are needed. The vast majority of the Brotherhood resides in the Sith Temple, training, probing the Force, growing more powerful. And deep in the building’s heart, the Dark Council changes the galaxy.
A major wing of the Sith Temple is the Repository of the Ancients, the sum total of all of the Brotherhood’s acquired knowledge. The Repository holds the Brotherhood’s holocrons, artifacts, and relics, and is home to one of the greatest libraries in the galaxy, with information on every subject from Sith history, to the Republic Dark Ages, and even the Hundred Year Darkness. Here too are collated the scraps of pre-history - the pilgrimage to Tython, the rule of the Rakata, and even fragmentary records on the mighty Celestials.
Grand Commercial Quarter
Sith Row
Running for more than a kilometer to bisect the Grand Commercial Quarter, Sith Row is famous for its many tapcafes, bars, shops, and nightclubs. One must watch their step here for, as the name implies, it is the favorite haunt of many members of the New Sith Brotherhood. The number one place for recreation on New Bethrezen and a hot destination for all visitors on the station, Sith Row is also home to the Condor Club, a lavish nightclub owned and frequented by members of the New Sith Brotherhood. Many Sith also own stores and property along Sith Row.
New Bethrezen Opera House
Darth Xaos was a firm believer in spreading the Union's message through culture. Constructed to meet his designs, the New Bethrezen Opera House stages many operas dedicated to preaching the glory of the Union and the Sith. Famous operas include Plagueis, the secret story of Emperor Palpatine’s Sith Master, Exar Kun, Champion of Freedom, the legend of the Brotherhood’s millennia-old inspiration, and Karai, Son of Sith, the autobiographical embellishment of Darth Exolus.
New Bethrezen Public Baths
Due to the fact that New Bethrezen is an enclosed environment (and perhaps also due to the sizeable number of ex-pirates in the city) hygiene is an important public concern. As such the Public Baths were created. Here all aspects of physical health - and many of psychological - may be serviced with massage, barbers and other such services being made available (at reasonable prices) to visitors.
Canna Pax Medcenter
A cutting edge medcenter staffed by some of the galaxy’s very best, Canna Pax Medcenter - named for the great matyress of Iliabath - services the Ragnos’ zone’s medical needs. It is also home to a private wing reserved for use by members of the New Sith Brotherhood.
New Bethrezen Gardens
Spoken of like a mythical paradise in urban sprawls across the galaxy, New Bethrezen’s Gardens are a five kilometer natural arcadia. Entirely natural (save for the water pumps that drive its circulation system), the Gardens are home to numerous rivers (that ultimately converge where the Gardens meet the rest of the Ragnos Zone), waterfalls (with several reserved for private Sith use), fields, orchards, and forests, sculpted carefully from hundreds of different planets taken from all across the Union. Within the depths of the Gardens, it’s impossible to remember one is on a space station.
District Null
Far from Ragnos Sector, this district was once home to House Sentia, domain of Lady Vidia. After her traitorous nature revealed itself and she was executed, House Sentia was given to the Dark Side Witches. Since then, the plants and wildlife have grown out of control, transforming the mansion and its surroundings into a dark, gloomy place. Members of the surrounding districts live in fear of the deadly predators bred by the Witches, and all attempts by the station to hold back the growth have failed. Only the dark power of the Witches holds nature in check.