Jayne's Defense Weekly - A Physical and Economic Description of the Memphian Sector: Part One, the Heirtaic Province and the Dog Track.

          Here at Jayne's we've been putting the offensive in the defense industry for generations. Jayne's isn't just about estimates of ship classes and fleet sizes, it's also about where to build them, refuel them, maintain them, and equip them. We've talked about the Hexie Wars in depth in the past. Given the recent instability, we bring you a series on the extreme galactic north; places like the Agfa Sector, the Memphian Sector, and the Tartarus Rim.

          The Memphian sector is a remote segment in the Sagitarius Arm in the galactic north averaging more than 70,000 light years from Sol. To its interior lie the Halonite and Agfa Sectors. Beyond it is the Tartarus Rim. It isn’t an especially star dense or busy area, but there are two significant trade lanes that travel through it: the Dog Track traveling through the Hieratic Province, which is safer, but somewhat slower, and the Sickle traveling through the Mesostimonic Province, which is slightly shorter, but more susceptible to closure by transit space anomalies, since it lies between two regions of considerable instability: the Storm Wall and the Sea of Sorrows. At the north end of the Mesostimonic Province is a small, isolated region called the Helene Pocket.
          The coreward boundary of the sector lies in two systems, Irkalla and Khartoum. Irkalla serves as the gateway to the Halonite Sector. From Khartoum it is possible to reach the Agfa Sector, which guards a spur star-bridge to the rich Scutum Minor Sector of the Centaurus Arm and its favorable route around the core to central Terran space. This fact alone makes the Dog Track the somewhat preferred route for merchant traffic to and from the core, since the Imperial Beacon is usually detectable from Scutum Minor, making navigation safer and easier and reducing reliance on freespace navigators.
          The spinward boundary is marked by the Anubis Gate system and the Pillars of Hercules binary. Spacelanes from both lead to Vide Poche in the Tartarus Rim.

 The Heiratic Province and the Dog Track

The Route known as the Dog Track is highlighted in bright green.

 Anubis Gate

          Anubis Gate is a blue giant with one distant gas giant. There is a small hydrogen mining and metastable metallic pressing operation and a small commercial station with limited refueling capabilities, sufficient for both chemically and fusion powered vessels, with total tankage capacity of around 30Ktons liquified deuterium (LD) and 40Ktons metastable metallic hydrogen (MMH) and a refining capacity of about 1K tons of each per day.

 Karnak

          Karnak is a red sub-giant with nine planets, and two in the habitable belt. The fourth planet, Henut, is the only planet with significant human settlement. It is a modest, rocky planet that was terraformed for human habitation during the first imperium. There is an administrative center with local government facilities, and it serves as a minor local trade center with routes serving Kadre, Djoser, and the binary Isis-Osiris system beyond, but the planet is otherwise primarily agricultural. There is a modest orbital port facility, with bunkerage of 40Ktons LD and 20Ktons MMH and civilian hull and drive systems repair and one repair bay with a length of two hundred meters and a capacity suitable for a ship of approximately 30Ktons.
          The other habitable planet, Karnak III, is primarily aquatic with only one modest, low lying land mass that is frequently flooded. There is a Batrachian settlement here of some interest for study, but little commercial value. The other three rocky planets, Karnak I, II, and V, have little to no breathable atmosphere and only limited mineral value. There is some metal mining on the moons and in the rings of Karnak VII. Karnak VI is highly energetic, almost a dwarf star itself, it has no rings, and its moons are unsuitable for mining. Karnak VIII and IX are both modest ice giants of no known interest.

Amarna

          The Amarna system is unremarkable system, save that is it s a G type star with only one small, rocky planet in the habitable belt that has been terraformed. The world is otherwise a fairly typical agricultural world. There is a small dock, with a modest fuel storage depot of perhaps 20Ktons total (all types), but there are no heavy repair facilities and there is no industry to support it.

Memphis

Confederacion on a rare cloudless day.

            The Memphis system is the military and administrative capital of the sector. There are two major worlds in the sector and two stations of note. Memphis I, Confedaracion, is a lush and remarkably clement world with an ample temperate zone and several major cities. The world is largely self-sufficient, with ample agriculture and even modest industry. There are two orbital stations, the first is an330 Imperial dockyard called Barancas Station. The station has a barracks adequate for a legion or regiment and provisions to scale. Sufficient slips are available to simultaneously service four ships of approximately capital size and a dozen escorts, and there is bunkerage of 200Ktons each of LD and MMH. Additionally there is a civilian dockyard called Mud Island with 100Ktons of LD and 50Ktons of MMH. Mud Island is also in possession of a 300m repair bay, two 100m repair bays, and a pair of 50m mobile repair docks. The station has full civilian heavy repair facilities for handing any civilian drive, communication, reactor, screen, or environmental system.

            Memphis II is a gas giant with several mineral rich moons and a substantial series of rings. There is a mining and refining operation with a capacity of around 2Ktons each of LD and MMH per day, though there the tankage is surprisingly modest, with a storage capacity of only 20Ktons each. The flow of in-system tankers is fairly constant.

The largest moon of Memphis II, Kroaker, is a tectonically active frozen water world with a breathable atmosphere. It gets its name from the unusual sound of its most famous geyser. While surprising, there is a small Batrachian colony there, living in habitation domes under the ice. They don’t venture off their world, but they are well equipped, possibly due to occasional trade with cultural tourists. They have been permitted to remain as there is nothing of any known value on the moon.

            A fair volume of trade runs through the system as it lies on not only the Dog Track, but also the primary cross sector trade route, between Bastet and the Trojan Binary. At least one major merchant vessel passes through the system daily, sometimes more, and there’s generally one or two merchants at the Mud Island docks. In spite of the size of the military dock, most military vessels seen in the sector are auxiliaries moving materials or service personnel into or through the sector. There are no galleons or galliots home ported at the docks, but there is a usually gunbarque for local patrol and trade inspection and two or more gigs for system defense.

 Faiyum

          The Faiyum system centers on a red dwarf. There is only one small, rocky planet in the system. It serves as an occasional rest or fuel stop for merchant vessels, but is otherwise arid and unremarkable. There are a few small mines on the surface, and there is a quite small orbital station, but it is otherwise unremarkable. Tankage available is 10Ktons each of LD and MMH. 

Luxor

          Luxor is the rare G-type star possessed of but a single planet, but in this case the planet is not only habitable, but relatively temperate and fairly developed. There is a commercial station in orbit around the eponymous planet with a 200m repair bay and fuel storage capacities of 100Ktons LD and 50Ktons of MMH.

          Past Luxor the Dog Track splits into two branches. The more heavily trafficked southern route leads to Aswan, beyond which the track splits again to either Khartoum, or Irkalla. The northern branch leads through Ellil, which gives access to both Irkalla and the Halonite Sector beyond, and the Pass of Storms leading to Enki and the Sickle.

 Aswan

          Aswan is a Class Ia luminous supergiant. It is quite unusual in having five planets. The innermost two are rocky planets with neither atmosphere nor satellites.  Aswan III is a gas giant with four useful satellites, one of which, Amada, was terraformed long ago thanks to its generous frozen hydrosphere covering subsurface oceans of substantial volume. Between Aswan III and Aswan IVa there is a broad and mineral rich asteroid belt. Aswan IVa is an ice giant, tilted on its axis, likely by the same cataclysm which created the asteroid belt.

          Aswan IVb is likely the source of that cataclysm. It lies on a very high eccentricity orbit that usually makes it the systems fifth planet, but which at periastron brings it briefly inside the orbit of Aswan IVa. It’s orbit, and mineral composition make it quite likely that this was a wandering planet captured by Aswan early in its life cycle. Aswan IVb is the single largest planet in the system, and its orbit carries it both above and briefly below the system’s primary plane. Its close interactions tend to cause meteor swarms on both Aswan IVa and Aswan III, which makes permanent habitation virtually impossible. Settlements on Amada are universally portable.

          There is a modest orbital station that can be moved as necessary around Aswan III to shield it from the worst ravages of the meteor storms. It boasts only rudimentary ship servicing facilities. The single repair bay is sufficient only for light craft of 50m or less and fuel storage is quite modest, which only 10Ktons each of MMH and LD. The extraction plant produces around 1Kton per week.

 Khartoum

An Imperial Revenue Service Cog approaches and inspects a TRS liner entering orbit at Soba.

          After Memphis, Khartoum might be the richest system in the sector. It has six planets, one of which is inhabited, a small, but stable asteroid belt, and a good gas extraction network. It isn’t heavily industrialized, but it is rich enough in natural resources and its position is sufficiently strategic to make it a popular refueling stop.

          The innermost planet is devoid of atmosphere or mineral interest. The second planet, Soba, is the most developed, having just enough water and a stable enough nitrogen atmosphere to allow terraforming. It’s a bit arid, and rather hotter than earth, but just habitable in the temperate zones, which have temperature variations comparable to earth’s larger deserts. The orbital station would probably be larger if there were a significant manufacturing base to support it, but even without heavy repair facilities it is nonetheless impressive. The station boasts a tankage of 200Ktons each of LD and MMH. There is also a substantial transloading facility, and microgravity warehousing and even an orbital university with a gas mining program and a small private dockyard supporting the school’s own mining ships. Further, there is a bustling orbital market where small merchants from not only the Memphian sector, but also adjoining sectors trade local wares for materials from coreward worlds.

          Khartoum III is an unremarkable small rocky world without atmosphere. Khartoum IV has a thin nitrogen/methane atmosphere, but almost no water, and only one small, irregular moon. The asteroid belt lies between these two planets. There is a mining station on one of the larger bodies in the belt, along with a small customs station which hosts a small dock to support three system patrol cutters, but none of these cutters are capable of warp transition. Generally two are on patrol and one is in port at any given time.

          Khartoum V and VI are both gas giants with substantial extraction operations, but little local tankage. The product is mostly shipped inward for storage by a fleet of small gas tenders.

The Karnak Subsector

          The Karnak Subsector incorporates five systems: Karnak and Anubis Gate have been previously described. The other three systems are Kadre, Djoser, and the Isis-Osiris binary.

Kadre

          Kadre is a small, isolated system with two planets. Kadre Prime is a rocky world with a research station studying the effect of stars on warp field mechanics. Kadre Secundus is an ice giant. There is no orbital station in the system.

Djoser

A pair of unidentified Tahti galleons are seen orbiting the ghost world Saqrra in the Djoser system.

          Djoser has but a single planet, Saqarra. It was at one time a factory world, but now lies abandoned.

 Isis

          Isis is one of a pair of binary stars with one planet of its own. The planet was terraformed in the distant past, but the colony collapsed for unrecorded reasons. It is suspected that it might still support life, and there is currently consideration of re-colonization.

 

Osiris

          Osiris is a dwarf star with four small, rocky planets. Osiris II, the only one with an atmosphere, is an extremely cold world with scant resources, but the presence of water makes it the subject of some speculation.

The Giza Independent System

          Giza system constitutes an independent subsector all its own, since it lies between Memphis, Amarna, and Alexandria. The system primary is a bright giant, and the system includes seven planets and an asteroid field. The first two planets are modest dead planets, stripped of their atmospheres by the strong stellar winds. The asteroid field lies between these two and the fourth planet. It’s presence in Giza’s “goldilocks” zone is quite unusual, and has allowed several of the larger bodies in it to be colonized independently.

          The largest, Cheophis, has a gravity of just .15G. This isn’t enough to allow it to retain an atmosphere of any appreciable density, but it is enough to make hydroponic farming in domed habitats quite simple, and so the three dwarf planets serve as unusually large and profitable, almost self-sustaining stations. Khafren and Menkaurum both have two stalks with space elevators to microgravity docks with tankage for 20Ktons MMH. Cheophis has five stalks, two provide  tankage for 50Ktons each of MMH and LD, as well as three 50m slips capable of light and medium repair.

          Giza III and IV are gas giants supplying the system’s needs. Giza V and VI and VIIa are ice giants. And Giza VIIb is a captured comet on a relatively stable orbit.

The Qarun Independent System

          Qarun centers on a large brown dwarf. Orbiting the star are fully seven planets, though all but the closest two are frozen. No planet in the system has a breathable atmosphere, but the location of the system makes it a useful waypoint, and there are some useful minerals to be mined on the smaller bodies. The inner two planets are airless rocky worlds. Qarun III and IV are frozen rocky worlds with thin CO2 atmospheres. Quran V is an ice giant with several moons, once of which has subsurface water. Quran VI and VII are small, frozen worlds. The only permanent station orbits the water moon of Quran V. It has tankage for 20Ktons MMH and LD.

The Cairo Subsector

The Cairo and Abu Simbel Subsectors in relation to the storm belt known as the Cat's Cradle

          This subsector comprises Cairo, Mut, and Bastet. It can be accessed from Memphis or Abu Simbel, and it provides the sole entry into the stable space pocket in the storm system called the Cat’s Cradle.

Cairo

          The administrative center of the subsector is Cairo, a system with five planets. The inner two planets are the airless rocks one expects in such a system. Cairo III is inhabited, but arid. The surface provides some mining and light industry. The orbital station has tankage for 50Ktons MMH and LD.

          Cairo IV and V are ice giants with insufficient free hydrogen to make mining profitable, so fuel is mostly shipped in from Mut or Memphis.

Mut

Mut IV as seen from the orbital station of it's principal moon Mut IV-C

          Mut is a red sub-giant with five planets. The three inner, rocky planets are all too close to the star to be useful. The fourth planet is rather distant gas giant, so there is gas mining sufficient to support both a local station and fuel for Cairo and Bastet. There is an orbital station at the principal moon, which is rocky and mineral rich. The station has tankage for 40Ktons of MMH and LD. The fifth planet is a small and distant icy world.

Bastet

          Bastet is a red dwarf with one rocky planet, Bubastis, on a relatively close orbit. While the atmosphere was probably dissipated in the stellar winds, it was later terraformed sufficient to give it both a breathable atmosphere and sufficient water. There is evidence that it was a substantial colony once, thousands of years ago, but the only remaining institution is a compound belonging to the Sisters of Bast. The orbital station has tankage for 10Ktons of MMH and LD.

The Abu Simbel Subsector

          This subsector comprises two systems: Abu Simbel and Semna. There is a minor shipping lane that traverses the subsector and connects Khartoum to Memphis via Cairo.

Abu Simbel

          Abu Simbel is a comparatively rich system, particularly for one whose primary is a red giant. The six worlds of Abu Simbel provide a wide variety of resources. The inner two planets are relatively rich in useful metals, if difficult to mine given their heat and proximity to the primary. Abu Simbel III hold some promise for terraforming. Its methane rich atmosphere is too thick and traps too much heat, but properly engineered microorganisms might be able to metabolize it into something more useful. Abu Simbel IV is a rich agricultural world with a modest transfer station and 40Ktons capacity of both MMH and LD. Abu Simbel V is a gas giant with extractable concentrations of various hydrogen isotopes and other useful gasses. Abu Simbel VI is an ice giant, but it has two mineral rich moons and a series of quite lovely rings.

Semna

           Semna and its five planets comprise the final part of the Hieratic Province. The primary is a small K3 type star. Semna I is just distant enough, and the primary is just dim enough, to allow terraforming. The world is primarily agricultural and mostly self-sustaining. There is an orbital station with 30Ktons bunkerage of both MMH and LD. Semna II and III are both gas giants, but their composition is too low in useful isotopes to allow for any substantial mining interest. Their moons are simple silicates with no real mineral interest. Semna IV and V are both small, icy planets.

. . . . .

          In our next edition we'll bring you a description of the Mesostimonic Province and the Sickle. It is ever the hope of Jayne's that a fuller understanding of the complexities of the galactic situation will help to bring a more complete and lasting peace and a prosperous future for humanity. The galaxy is a large, and complicated place, but it is not beyond our ability to learn and understand it, and good intelligence is the first step in achieving a positive outcome in any complex situation.