Civilization

Established human civilization currently encompasses over 6000 star systems with a spherical region centered on the Home system. The innermost region, the Interior, has been colonized for the longest amount of time and is thus the most developed. The edge of the Interior is known as the Civil Periphery, where star systems are sparsely populated in various stages of development. The outermost shell is referred to as the outer volumes, where humanities presence is extremely sparse and few systems have ever been reached.

Between the stars interstellar space provides its own unique opportunities; vast swathes of open space have been colonized as well.

The Interior

The Interior is the innermost core of colonized space, with Home at its center. The star systems in the Interior have been occupied for the longest period of time, and as such are the most developed, having the largest populations and most widespread infrastructural development. Civilization across the interior is diverse and active. Societies draw their borders not just on planets, but stable orbits or around lagrange points. Far from the pioneering cultures of the periphery, inhabitants of the interior focus inward on building up their society and relationships.

Civil Periphery

The Civil Periphery, also known as simply the periphery, is a loosely defined shell of space approximately 20-30 lightyears thick that lies between the Interior and Outer Volume. It contains the most potential for development and exploration. Star systems in the periphery are well within reach of established colony systems, and contain relatively mysterious worlds with a variety of undiscovered resources waiting for their full potential to be revealed.

Though the definition varies on what the term “colonization” actually means, one generally accepted threshold is that a system is said to be colonized when it begins operating its first particle accelerator for the production of warp drive fuel. This opens up the system from being limited as a waypoint, to a potential origin from which warp craft can begin or end new excursions.

The periphery is ripe for bountiful, dangerous, and mysterious exploration. The political environment is cutthroat and volatile; information and time are the most valuable resources of all, as countless rivals vie to claim and maintain the most efficient and profitable regions before anyone else. Many locations are largely lawless, as no sizable population has the ability or desire to enforce their will beyond the little space they possess. Pirate bands seek to extort goods or information for sale to those without concern for where the resources came from. A single bad choice can bankrupt an entire corporation, the assets of which may find their way into the hands of someone with a new agenda. Colonies lie abandoned, satellites transmit data no one is receiving, hulking stations and spacecraft lie scrapped in decaying orbits or on far-flung worlds.

Outer Volumes

The Outer Volume, also known as the volumes, is the region of space beyond the Civil Periphery that is within reach but where human presence remains sparse and most systems have never been visited. Observational intelligence on the region is widely available, and basic catalogs on the entire volume and beyond are publicly available on the uninet. This information is however relatively superficial; some forms of detailed analysis require lengthy observations or close inspection that are not sensible or possible at long range. Other types of information difficult to acquire are too valuable to freely publish.

The volumes are not bordered by any definitive line; they are merely the concept of the most distant regions of space that humanity either has reached or has the potential to reach. The volumes are said to extend 211 lightyears from home, as defined by the K’vel, though this is a singular star system several dozen lightyears further than the next farthest reaching vessel. No other star system at this distance has been visited, the number of which exceeds the number of systems within the periphery and the interior combined.

However it is defined, the volumes are very sparsely populated. Long-range exploration expeditions and wealthy isolationist groups make up the majority of inhabitants. A great many ships (most of them automated) are intentionally stranded in the volumes, having taken a one-way warp trip deep into unexplored space. They use their remaining warp fuel to transmit data they have collected and encrypted. Many such ships once stranded far beyond the periphery have since been swallowed up by encroaching civilization, to be turned into local museum pieces or refitted and sent on their next excursion.